Recurring Donation

For years, the Adlers had a quiet but steady zechus. At the suggestion of a friend, they had set up a monthly recurring donation to their community’s Tomchei Shabbos, ensuring that needy families receive food packages every week. The charge appeared faithfully on their credit card every month, and after a while, they barely noticed it.

“Baruch Hashem,” Mrs. Adler often remarked. “It’s a good feeling that even when we’re busy, this mitzvah continues automatically.”

Life, however, has its changes. After a decade in the same neighborhood, the Adlers moved to a new community, hundreds of miles away.

One evening, a few weeks before Rosh Hashana, Mrs. Adler was looking over their credit card statement. “I see we’re still giving monthly to Tomchei Shabbos in our old neighborhood,” she said. “Do you think we should continue now that we’re living here?”

Mr. Adler thought for a moment. “It was a wonderful cause, but now that we’re here, perhaps we can cancel it,” he replied. “I think we should support the Tomchei Shabbos here instead. There are needy families in this community as well.”

“That’s true,” Mrs. Adler agreed. “But because we set it up as a recurring donation, and it’s been going for years, maybe it’s like a neder to give tzedakah. Can we cancel it, even if we are going to redirect the funds?”

Her husband hesitated. “On one hand, we never said ‘bli neder’ or stated that the donation was temporary. On the other hand, it was an online form, not a verbal neder,” he said. “I’m not sure. Perhaps I can mention it when I do hataras nedarim.”

The question lingered as Rosh Hashana approached.

Mr. Adler decided to ask Rabbi Dayan:

“May I cancel or change the recurring donation? Do I need hataras nedarim?”

“The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 6a) teaches that a tzedakah pledge is like a vow,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “Although vows generally require a verbal statement, some maintain that tzedakah vows are binding with a firm thought commitment and certainly with a written statement” (C.M. 212:8; Y.D. 258:13; Chavos Yair #194).

“Rema (C.M. 60:3) cites a dispute about whether a person who commits to sustain someone else is required to sustain him so long as the other person needs, or whether a year suffices. Many maintain that even a shorter time usually suffices according to the second opinion (Sma 60:16).

Several Acharonim resolve the matter by ruling that if the recipient is needy, it becomes a tzedakah pledge so that we are stringent to interpret the commitment for as long as he needs; if the recipient is not needy, a year or shorter time suffices, as with other cases of doubt concerning monetary payments (Pischei Teshuva C.M. 60:7).

A recurring donation would seem similar. At the least, a good deed done with intent to continue, certainly when done three times, is considered – mi’d’Rabbanan – like a vow (Y.D. 214:1). Yet there is a seeming umdena (assessment) that people do not intend to contribute forever.

Indeed, B’Orach Tzedakah (14:39) cites a dispute regarding this. HaRav Elyashiv, zt”l, maintains that a person may not cancel without hataras nedarim, whereas HaRav Karelitz, zt”l, maintains that a year suffices because this is a substantial time that people generally intend.

Although most recurring donation forms explicitly allow the donor to cancel the donation, this may not affect the halachic aspect of the vow or minhag tov, so hataras nedarim is recommended. However, perhaps one can rely on the declaration before Rosh Hashana that good practices are done without intent of neder (Tzedakah u’Mishpat 4:14[35]; Minchas Shlomo, vol. I, 91:20).

We should note, furthermore, that while hataras nedarim is valid also for vows of mitzvah or tzedakah, one should not do so without good reason, nor should the chacham or panel easily grant such hatarah (Y.D. 258:6; Pischei Teshuva 258:8; Kol Nidrei Chap. 9).

Even if the person wants to contribute instead to another tzedakah cause, there is a dispute as to whether one who pledged to one needy person can give instead to another. Many poskim allow this, though, in conjunction with hataras nedarim (Machaneh Ephraim, Hil. Tzedakah #7; Tzedakah u’Mishpat 9:1[3]; Minchas Yitzchak 4:29).

“Thus,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “you may cancel your donation or change it to your new community’s Tomchei Shabbos, but it is preferable to also do hataras nedarim.”

Verdict: Some poskim allow canceling a recurring donation after a reasonable time or at least changing it to another cause, but many poskim recommend also doing hataras nedarim.