A Fundraiser’s Reward
‘Those Who Persuade Others To Give Charity Are Greater’
(Bava Basra 9a)
The Unique Merit Of Charity Collectors
Rabbi Elazar, in our daf, defined those collecting charity for the poor as having greater merit than those who actually give. Many commentators and poskim contrast his statement to that of Rabbi Abahu in Sanhedrin 99b: “The Torah regards whoever convinces another person to do a mitzvah as if he himself had done it.” There is an apparent inconsistency as, according to Rabbi Abahu, it would seem that the reward of a charity collector is only equal to but not greater than that of the donors.
Two Degrees Of Giving Charity
Mahari Kurkus (Hilchos Matenos Aniyim, 10:6) and the Prisha (Yoreh De’ah 249:5) reconcile the difficulty by defining two categories of donors to charity: those giving willingly and joyfully, who earn a tremendous reward, and those who must be beseeched, whose reward is less. The Torah regards a charity collector who must intensively persuade people to donate to a cause “as if he himself had done it” in the most perfect way and his merit surely exceeds theirs.
Humiliation
Rabbi Yaakov Emden offers that a collector’s reward is so much greater since he humiliates himself by sometimes having to grovel for a worthy cause. His personal effort is greater than the hardship of parting with one’s own money. In his Chochmas Adam (Kelal 144:14), Rabbi Avraham Danzig asserts that collectors fulfill two mitzvos: supporting the indigent and enabling others to donate charity. The Chofetz Chayyim (Ahavas Chesed 2:16) maintains that a collector’s reward is greater since he causes many people to perform mitzvos.
Must Everyone Be A Fundraiser?
Nesivos Hamishpat (72, s.k. 19) explains that though everyone must give charity, the mitzvah does not obligate all to collect from others: The beis din of a community must see that everyone gives and, if needed, appoint gabbaim to oblige those who can give more. Still, those who voluntarily give their time to lead charitable campaigns earn a unique merit, as the Aruch HaShulchan (Yoreh De’ah 247:5) notes that, according to a reliable tradition, collectors of charity for the poor save their offspring and their future generations from resorting to charity themselves.
Being Discreet
In his Mateh Efrayim (427:3), Rabbi Efrayim Zalman Margolios stresses that though a collector’s reward is very great, he must try to persuade potential donors as discreetly as possible. He therefore admonished gabbaim who were accustomed to stand at the synagogue entrance on erev Yom Kippur asking for donations, sometimes telling congregants: “A person like you should give more!” He also relates that chazzanim used to put collection boxes in shul before services for congregants to contribute so that the chazzan would pray wholeheartedly for the community. In his opinion, the custom should be banned as some chazzanim become bitter at the paltry sums but “[a]s they have made it a custom, who can do away with it?” He suggested, though, that the boxes have lids to prevent chazzanim from seeing the amounts of individual contributions.
