Q: I found a sweater and publicized my find. A person claimed that he lost his sweater and provided a description of it. What simanim (identifying features) are considered sufficient to return the sweater to him?

A: There are three levels of simanim.

1) Absolute identification (muvhak b’yoser): A feature that uniquely identifies the particular item, such as a stain, hole or scratch in a specific place, a name tag, etc. This is certainly sufficient (C.M. 262:3; 267:6-7).

2) Reasonable identification (muvhak or beinoni): Something that provides reasonable likelihood that this is his lost item, such as the place where the sweater was left, the number of items left together, a non-standard weight or measurement, special knot, or wrapping. This identification is sufficient for a person with an honest reputation, but not for someone suspicious.

3) Poor identification (garua): Something that many such items manifest, such as color (blue sweater), long or short, or standard measurement. This is not valid identification, since it is possible that even if he lost such a sweater, the one you found is not his, but belongs to someone else who lost a sweater of similar color or size.