If
a thief steals an object, and the owner despairs to ever get it back,
does this despair effect acquisition for the thief? Rava says that it
does not, because “...and you bring what is stolen, the lame, and the sick...”
- just as lame has no remedy to make the offering fit, so too stealing
makes it forever unfit, because it remains stolen from the owner.
However,
Rabbi Elazar says that since the thief is later punished for selling
the article, the only way for his sale to be valid is if he has
acquired title to it through its owner's despair.
Quiz