Mr. Spitz was going through the mail. He picked up a large envelope, a wedding invitation.
“Can I soak the stamps off that envelope for my stamp collection?” asked his son, Pinchas.
“Of course,” said Mr. Spitz.
The invitation was heavy and had required three stamps. Pinchas noticed that only two stamps were postmarked; the third was not marked at all.
“Look at this,” Pinchas said to his father. “This stamp is still good; you can reuse it.”
“I don’t think the post office allows you to reuse the stamp,” replied Mr. Spitz. “Using it would be considered cheating the government.”
“How is it cheating them?” argued Pinchas. “If they didn’t bother canceling the stamp, that’s their problem! Anyway, the post office has no way of knowing whether it was already used or not.”
“Reusing the stamp means that you’re not paying for the letter that you will send,” explained Mr. Spitz.
“Why not?” asked Pinchas. “As long as you put on a stamp, it’s like paying. What if the post office had lost money and you found it and bought a stamp? Would that be considered not paying?”
“I don’t know if that’s the same,” responded Mr. Spitz. “Money that was found has inherent value; the stamp is simply an indication that you paid the postal service for delivering the letter.”
“Rabbi Dayan once gave a shiur in our yeshivah,” said Pinchas. “He invited us to discuss business halacha issues with him. Would you mind if we asked him?”
“I’d love to,” replied Mr. Spitz. “I enjoy reading his Business Weekly!”
Mr. Spitz and Pinchas met with Rabbi Dayan. “If a stamp was not postmarked,” asked Pinchas, “is it permitted to reuse it?”
“Reusing a stamp that was not postmarked is illegal and even punishable with a prison term,” said Rabbi Dayan. “It is also problematic halachically for one of three reasons, which may differ between the U.S. and Israel.
“Since reusing the stamp is illegal, many authorities consider this issue one of dina d’malchusa, the law of the land,” explained Rabbi Dayan. “The government is entitled to pass laws relating to taxes and the financial functioning of the government. These laws achieve halachic authority as well and are binding on the Jewish citizens of the country also (see Mishneh Halachos 6:288).”
“How might the U.S. and Israel be different?” asked Mr. Spitz.
“There is a major dispute between contemporary authorities whether dina d’malchusa applies in Israel,” answered Rabbi Dayan. “Some say it applies. Others disagree, because they base dina d’malchusa on the government’s consent for you to live in the land, whereas all Jews are rightful partners in Eretz Yisrael and are entitled to live there with or without the government’s consent (see Pischei Choshen, Geneivah 1:[4]; Yechaveh Daas 5:63).
“On the other hand, when dealing with a Jewish postal service, there may be an additional element of hashavas aveidah (returning lost items),” continued Rabbi Dayan. “The unmarked stamp is like a lost item of the postal service which should be ‘returned’ by not using it. Some consider the lost stamp abandoned property (yei’ush), though, which you are not required to return.” (See also Shevet Halevi 5:173.)
“What is the third issue?” asked Mr. Spitz.
“Beyond the issues of dina d’malchusa and hashavas aveidah, some authorities suggest that there may be an element of theft here,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “The stamp is not a government tax or a lost item of inherent value, but rather an indication that you paid for the service of delivering the letter. By reusing an unmarked stamp you are deceiving the postal service to deliver the letter and perform a service without paying them. This may be a form of theft, which is prohibited whether to Jew or gentile, private delivery service or governmental.”
(See C.M. 348:3; Shach 348:3; P.C., Geneivah 1:[1]; Oz Nidberu 6:74.)