Frum New Haven Resident Finds $98K In Desk He Bought On Craigslist – And Returns the Cash

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noach-muroffImagine buying a desk under $200 on Craigslist only to find thousands of dollars hidden inside.

That’s exactly what happened New Haven’s Rabbi Noach Muroff and his wife. They found a huge pile of cash after buying a desk.

When the couple brought the desk home it wouldn’t fit through the door. “The desk did not fit into this office by fraction of an inch,” Muroff said.

The couple had to pull the desk apart, including the file cabinets. Behind the drawers they discovered a plastic bag filled with cash.

“Behind the drawers there is this plastic bag, like a shopping,” he said. “In the bag, I could already see through the bag, it looks like a one hundred dollar bill.

“We open it up and it’s full of cash. And we counted up and there’s $98,000 cash sitting in the bag.”

The couple couldn’t believes their eyes.

“Right away my wife and I sort of looked at each other and said we can’t keep this money.”

They picked up the phone and called the original owner. They recorded the call on cellphone video.

“I saw there was a bag back there and through the bag I saw one 100 dollar bill and I’, like, Oh my gosh there’s money in there’. And i picked it up and this is pretty heavy. And I brought it over to the table and sort of counted it up and was like ‘oh my gosh’.”

The thank you note that Rabbi Muroff received from the desk seller.
The thank you note that Rabbi Muroff received from the desk seller.

The original owner was speechless. “Oh my gosh, because I… oh my God,” she said.

The former owner had stuffed her inheritance in the desk and forgot where she put the money.

The Good Samaritans returned the cash to the rightful owner. The Rabbi Muroff said the most important thing in life is to be honest.

WTNH.COM

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


33 COMMENTS

  1. Imagine having enough money to “forget” where you put thousands of dollars. Something sounds fishy. Looks like they were trying to get rid of it somehow (drug money etc…)

  2. Baruch Hashem! Its wonderful to have positive news about Frumah people in the news. Last weekwehad the shoulder sleeping guy on the subway & now this. Me Ki’amcha Yisroel!

  3. We would of kept it. The one who sold it was not even aware of it. How does he know that this was HKB”H way of being mifarnes him???

  4. He should have given the money to tzedakah. What mitzvah EXACTLY was he fulfilling here? He had zero obligation here to do what the did.

  5. Wonderful story!!!! Amazing yiras Shomayim! One small quibble, however. Chas Vesholom that he was a “Good Samaritan”. That expression comes from the new testament, which contrasts the “Good Samaritan” who was kind with the Pharisee (i.e. Jews like us) who were evil. Let us not use that term…He was a good Ben Yiisroel!!!

  6. What a Kiddush hashem! Mi komecha yisroel!
    If only the media would give as much attention to this than the few chilull hashem’s that they like reporting about so much.

  7. referring to sefos harava es hatzemaya, obviously if there is a kiddush hashem there is no such issur and the talmidim of R’ Shimon ben shetach also thought it should be for parnassah. R himon thought otherwise.

  8. ????? ?? ???, ???? ???? ???????? ???, ???? ??????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??????, ???? ?? ???. (???? ? ??) ???? ?’ ??? ?????. ??? ??? ???? ?????, ??? ???? ?? ?????. ??? ??????? ????? ????????, ??? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ?’ ???? ????? ?? ???. ??? ?? ???????? (??? ????? ?”? ?”?) ????? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ??????, ????? ?? ???? ?? ????, ??????? ???, ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?.

  9. ???? ????? (??’ ??? ??? ?’) ????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ???”? ????? ???”? ??? ???? ?? ????, ?????? ?? “???? ???? ??? ?????? ?????? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ????? ????”? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ???’, ???? ??? ???? ?’ ??????? ???? ????”? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????????.” ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ???”? (?? ???? ????? ????? ???) ??? ???? ?? ????. ???? ????? ???? ??? ???? (?’ ???) ???”? ???? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????????? ?????? ??”? ???? ????? ?”? ?”? ????? ????”?

  10. ???? ????? (??’ ??? ??? ?’) ????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ???”? ????? ???”? ??? ???? ?? ????, ?????? ?? “???? ???? ??? ?????? ?????? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ????? ????”? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ???’, ???? ??? ???? ?’ ??????? ???? ????”? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????????.” ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ???”? (?? ???? ????? ????? ???) ??? ???? ?? ????. ???? ????? ???? ??? ???? (?’ ???) ???”? ???? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????????? ?????? ??”? ???? ????? ?”? ?”? ????? ????”?

  11. the mitzvah that he did was making a Kiddush Hashem, the greatest mitzvah of all. thank you, Rabbi and Rebbetzin, on behalf of all of Klal Yisrael

  12. I’m reminded of a chasidic story about the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, recounted by his descendant Rabbi Dr. Twerski. The tzadik once looked out the window and motioned someone in: “Suppose you found a bag of money. Would you keep it or try to find the owner?” “Of course I’d try to find the owner.” “You’re a simpleton,” the tzadik told him. The Divrei Chaim called in another person, posing the same question. “I’d keep it,” the second man said. “You’re a scoundrel!” He called in another person, posing the now familiar question. The third person said: “Rebbe, if I found such a bag of money, only then will I know what I will do. Perhaps I will be able to subdue my yetzer-hara and return it. Hopefully, G-d will help me withstand the temptation. But until I am placed in that particular position, I cannot predict what I would do.” “You are talking sensibly,” the tzadik said. May we indeed come to emulate Rabbi Noach Muroff’s example if placed in such a position!

  13. If the seller is not a jew, he was not required by halacha to return it. In the gemara there is a similar story, where someone buys a donkey and finds if I remember correctly diamonds inside. In that story, the fact that it was returned, caused a graet kiddush hashem,I think the story above is definitely a parallel story and too a kidush hashem.

  14. While there is no limit to cash a person or legal entity may own, transactions over 10000$ are regulated. He should have reported the incident to the police.

  15. Just one voice of reason here:
    notwithstanding all the talk of halacha and kiddush Hashem, what this person did was definitely the wise decision. What would have happened if the seller would have come to his senses a week or a month or a year later and would have recalled where he put the money? The buyer would be in hot water, and there would definitely be chillul Hashem involved.

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