Question:
What to do if I committed theft and am unable to find the person(s) to pay them back? Do I have to repay in full or sevenfold?
Answer:
First of all don’t worry, there is no such thing in Jewish law as having to pay back sevenfold. There are times when a person has to pay back double, such as if the court caught him stealing or 4-5 times if he sold or slaughtered the animal he stole. However this is not applicable nowadays as the Jewish court system presently does not have the authority to do things like this nowadays. G-d willing the Messiah will come and the court system will be returned to what it was and then the court will have more power. Therefore the only thing you have to do is pay back what was stolen. As a side point the commandment to return a stolen item is only if it was stolen from a Jew, (Not that we may G-d forbid steal from non-Jew, however in retrospect, after it was stolen there is no commandment to find the person and return it.)
Since you don’t know who you stole from, the way to make amends is the following. If you know the area that the person you stole from lives, you should donate the value of what you stole to some sort of public service that will benefit that person, such as a local park or if that area has a local Hatzolah, which services everyone. This way we hope that the person who was stolen from will benefit from the money that you donated, and it would be partially considered having returned the money to him. The money is not to be donated to a charity, because a charity does not service everyone, but only poor people. If you need any more assistance regarding this, don’t hesitate to reach out to us again. We will be happy to help you further.
If the situation is such that you have no idea what area the person lives in, there is another option. To give the object or its value to someone else, in the sense that he is acquiring it as an agent for the person that it was stolen from. Then after it is considered in the owner’s possession, it’s value can be given to tzedakah in the merit of the owner of the money or object.
Sources:
Shuchan Aruch CH:M 367-2, Poskim.
