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When a Baalei Tzedakah approaches you in shul, how does one determine the proper amount to give? Why one person you give a quarter, another a half dollar, a third gets a dollar and another five dollars?
What about when a Baalei Tzedakah visits your home? Is there a science to determine who to give $5, who $18 and who to give $50 to? Same with Tzedakah mailings received.
And is it ever proper to decline to give at all? (When?)
Perhaps “gut feelings” is an appropriate yardstick?
And is it ever proper to decline to give at all? (When?)
When you have no money.
The Wolf
The proper way to give tzedaka is described in a mishna in avos. “Hakol l’fi rov hamaaseh” which the Ra”v explains to mean: that its better to give small sums of $ to many people than to give one large sum to one person. Reason being that each time you give its another mitzvah and another time u trained urself to give. So you should gauge how much you can give a month with the amount of requests u receive and split it up. You still should use some common sense as far as importance, there are tzedakas tht are higher priority. Medical is higher than tuition for example. Also depending on the amount of money that is needed to fill the void also helps u decide how much to give.
Should you ever decline to give? If its phony and you somehow know that. Otherwise, never.
It’s hard to fumble for change while davening.
If someone comes to me while I’m davening, I ignore them.
If someone comes to me by a simcha, I will usually give a dollar until I’m out of singles.
If someone knocks at my door, it depends on what they’re collecting for. I’ve told people that I don’t support the organization and won’t donate to it. I offer them a drink and a bite to eat, but tell them, sorry, nothing personal, I just don’t support this organization.
You can’t turn a poor person down.
This weeks Mishpacha had an interesting article regarding something similar.
Someone once gave a larger than usual sum for tzaduka (accumulated masser), did not take long for people to start knocking on their doors requesting money and appointments.
I had the same thing, after donating to a cause, I made it to the list. Each night I have rabonnim and gabaim demanding to sit with me for just five minutes, it always turns into some 30/45 minutes.
I don’t have the time for them.
Besides that whatever I pledge, they start arguing that I have to give at least xxx amount of dollars.
I really don’t know what to do about this.
It seems counter-intuitive for one tzedaka to share its list with others, as that may cause its donors to be stretched too thin.
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