If you've lost something, don't give up; Ebood is a good place to start looking for it.
By DAVID SHAMAH
Okay, so maybe Israelis haven't quite gotten down the concept of "line" as we Westerners understand it, and maybe they speak at a decibel level far above what the human ear can tolerate - at a mile (sorry, kilometer!) a minute. But they have their good points: As a group, Israelis are very honest.
How do I know? All it takes is a few minutes of surfing around the new Israeli lost-and-found site, Ebood (http://www.ebood.co.il). If you've lost something, don't give up; Ebood is a good place to start looking for it, and judging by the range of items and how long the some of the finders have been seeking their rightful owners, you may have a far better chance than you think of retrieving your property. It doesn't cost anything to sign up at Ebood, and when you do, you can post items you've found, or look at details of items others are trying to return (note that Hebrew is predominant on the site, although basic information about each item is in both Hebrew and English).
In only six months, finders have listed almost 1,000 items of all kinds: cellphones, books, cameras, keys - all the usual stuff that people lose, plus some unusual items, like in the category called "bags full of stuff," which could entail anything from luggage to groceries to spray paint. Although, to be fair, the finder said he found it right after Purim.
And then there's money: People on Ebood seek to return not just photos with sentimental value, but cold, hard cash. Lots of it, like one ad that lists NIS 2,000, another that offers $500, and several with undisclosed sums.
Each ad lists the general area where the item was found, and each finder sets the criteria for proof of ownership, with many asking for "simanim," or unique identifiable signs known only to the true owner.
Ebood is new, but judging from the popularity of the site, it's likely to grow as word gets out. After all, there is a huge backlog of items waiting to go home. Like this one: "Found at the Kotel, about 10 years ago, possibly on Jerusalem Day, medium size purple sweatshirt. Will be happy to return it to its owner and/or descendants." Israelis may not get lines right, but they do know what's right.
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