The sounds of despair TB Baba Metzia 23

Once the owner of a lost object despairs (yayush-יֵאוּשׁ) of ever retrieving it, the lost object becomes ownerless (hefkeir-הפקר) and anyone may pick it up and acquire it. Today’s daf TB Baba Metzia 23 teaches us what yayush (יֵאוּשׁ) sounds like. How does the owner articulate his despair or resignation that he will never retrieve the lost object?

“§ Rav Zevid said in the name of Rava that this is the principle of a lost item: Once the owner of a lost item says: Woe is me for the monetary loss, this indicates that he has despaired of its recovery.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rashba rules the only time one needs to articulate his despair by saying, “Woe is me for the monetary loss” is when the lost object has a distinguishing mark (seeman- סִימָן). As long as he can identify the lost object through a distinguishing mark, he has hope to reclaim it. The object becomes ownerless when he gives up hope of ever finding it by articulating his resignation. However, if the lost object does not have a distinguishing mark there is no need for a verbal articulation of despair or resignation that he will never ever retrieve the lost object. Yayush is almost immediate.