Monies In A Pushkah
What Constitutes Giving?
(Menachos 59b)
Since the pre-state yishuv in Eretz Yisrael was largely impoverished, many Diaspora Jews used to place money in charity boxes designated for the poor of Eretz Yisrael. A certain community once needed a large sum for an important charitable cause and wondered if they could take money for it from these charity boxes. Does money in a pushkah belong to the people designated to receive it?
If a person vows to give charity to a certain poor person, Acharonim disagree whether he can change his mind and give the promised charity to another poor person (see Ketzos HaChoshen, 212). Concerning the case at hand, Rabbi Mordechai Zev Etinger, zt”l (author of Mefareshei HaYam on Bava Kama and brother-in-law of the Sho’el Umeishiv) argued that according to all opinions, the community could not use the money from the charity box for a different cause because the money was not theirs to take. It belonged to Eretz Yisrael‘s poor (Responsa Maamar Mordechai, 15).
However, the Beis Yitzchak (Responsa, Orach Chaim 21, s.k. 2) argues that we should pay attention to Tosafos on our sugya before deciding the matter. Tosafos (60a s.v. “Mi ba’inan simah“) explains that every “giving” in the Torah implies a certain amount, a halachic shiur. When it comes to money, nothing less than a perutah is considered giving. Thus, to fulfill the mitzvah of charity – “Give, you shall give” (Devarim 15:10) – a person must give at least a perutah.
Joint Rights
The Beis Yitzchak advances the following argument: A person who puts money in a pushkah for the poor of Eretz Yisrael certainly wants to observe the mitzvah of charity. However, even if he puts very valuable gold coins into it, he does not observe the mitzvah since the poor of Eretz Israel are numerous and as soon as he drops money in the box, it legally becomes theirs and is divided among them equally so that each individual winds up getting far less than a perutah.
(The only apparent way to fulfill the mitzvah would be to specifically stipulate when dropping the coins that the money does not belong to the poor until it actually reaches them, by which time there will almost certainly be enough money for every poor person to receive at least a perutah.)
Therefore, since the money does not belong to the poor yet, presumably the community can use it for another cause.
The Beis Yitzchak ultimately concludes, though, that giving charity differs from all givings mentioned in the Torah. Even if a person gives less than a perutah to charity, he fulfills the mitzvah (the Maharil Diskin agrees; see also Derech Emunah, Hilchos Matonos Aniyim, halachah 1 in Beiur Halachah).