Distributing Tzedakah Rightfully

 

Question:

Years ago, I received a pushka from a local Chabad House. Ever since, I’ve been filling the pushka every few weeks, at which point I count up $20 worth of coins, then put aside a $20 bill so that I can reuse the coins in the same pushka. When I run out of $20 bills, I write a check to the Chabad House that supplied me with the pushka, then restart the process again, until the next time I run out of the same $20 bills and have to write a check again.

The question is this: Last time I wrote a check was last January. I’m running out of $20 bills, so it’s getting time to write a check again. However, a new Chabad House opened up closer to home. I’ve been thinking that I should start filling another pushka so that some of the coins in that pushka will be reserved for when I write a check to the new Chabad House. But a few weeks ago I started thinking that perhaps I can split the funds from the one pushka. Being that I thought of this only recently, and for most of the time since January I had in mind that I would be writing a check to the older Chabad House, can I split the funds in half and write an equal check to each Chabad House? Or should I write a check to only the older Chabad House since that is what I initially had in mind?

 

Answer:

The check should be written to the older Chabad house whom you got the pushka from.

If you wish you can get another pushka from the new Chabad house which will be donated to them.

 

Question:

After writing the check to the older Chabad House whom I got the pushka from, can I have in mind that any future donations to the pushka will go to the new Chabad House? Or should donations using that pushka only go to the older Chabad House since the pushka was gifted to me from them?

 

Answer:

You shouldn’t use the pushka for donations to a different cause, as the pushka technically still belongs to the institution which gave it to you. Although some argue that the pushka is considered a gift and is now yours, it can be argued that it was gifted with the understanding that you will only use it for the original cause.

 

Sources:

לכמה דעות – הקופה שייכת למוסד, וקונה בקנין חצר. והארכנו בשאלה 4000. ושם שכ״מ דעת אדה״ז ואדמו״ר האמצעי. אלא שיש לחלק, שבימינו הקופסאות לא מיועדות להחזיק לאורך ימים.

ואף שפשוט אפשר להתנות בשעת הנתינה שלא להקנות למוסד המקורי, וממילא לא קנו (וראה דרך אמונה מתנות עניים ח ציון ההלכה קכא. צדקה ומשפט ח הע׳ כה) – מ״מ ה״ז משתמש בכליו של חבירו שלא מדעת בעלים, וה״ז שואל שלא מדעת. אלא שי״ל שכיון שהכי נהוג, מעיקרא מחלו. וכמו שנהוג ללות מהקופה. וצ״ע.

וגם אם הקופה שייכת לבעה״ב – הרי אפשר להתנות גם במתנה (ראה שו״ע חו״מ קיא, ג. סמ״ע ה. רמא, ה. ד״מ שטז, ג. וראה אצלנו בהלכה יומית אות שפה) ולכאורה, בנדו״ד אומדנא דמוכח הוא שניתן לו שלא לשם כך.

 

 

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