Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses legal exemptions from the obligation to return lost items, focusing on situations where retrieval of the object would conflict with the dignity of the finder:

“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep wandering and ignore them; you shall return them to your brother” (Deuteronomy 22:1).

The use of the unusual phrase “and ignore them,” rather than a more direct “do not ignore them,” implies there are circumstances when ignoring a lost item is permissible. The Gemara elaborates:

If the finder is an elderly person, and retrieving the object would be beneath their dignity, or if the finder’s work—suspended to retrieve and return the item—is of greater value than the lost item, the verse permits ignoring the lost object: “And ignore them.”

Rashi clarifies that the exemption applies because the elderly individual would not retrieve such an object even if it belonged to them; therefore, he is not obligated to retrieve it for someone else.

Despite this exemption, there are opinions that it is a middas chassidus (an act of extra piety) to return the object anyway (see Shulchan Aruch, CM 272:3, and Bava Metzia 30b).

Sefer Daf al Daf quotes Rav Yissachar Dov of Belz, who offers a metaphorical interpretation of this principle in the context of the selichos liturgy. In the prayers, we say:

“Almighty! King! Who sits on the throne of mercy, governs with chassidus, forgives the iniquities of His people.”

While chassidus may be understood as deriving from chessed (kindness), there is a deeper meaning to this prayer. The word teshuva (repentance) comes from the root shuv, meaning “to return” or “be restored.” With this in mind, we can interpret the prayer as follows:

Even though it is beneath God's dignity, so to speak, to forgive our iniquities and restore us after our failings, God nonetheless goes beyond the strict letter of the law. He acts with middas chassidus and returns us to our best selves and thereby to Him, like a lost object lovingly retrieved and restored.

This idea has profound implications for our own behavior. If we emulate God by acting with extra piety and forgiving others—restoring relationships physically, emotionally, or spiritually—we arouse heavenly compassion in return. As we learn in Rosh Hashanah (17a):

“Whoever lets go of rightful resentments and claims against others for injustices done to them, the heavenly court in turn forgoes punishment for all their sins.”

The lesson is clear: sometimes, exercising a right may not make us right. The willingness to go beyond strict justice, to act with middas chassidus, can transform not only our relationships but also arouse divine mercy.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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