Reply To: Honest Tzedakah

To zahavasdad — I hear what you are saying that people are making a parnasah from this. But I’m still not happy about this situation. Suppose you knew that 50% of your donation to yeshivas X was going to the meshulach at your door. Would you still be perfectly ok giving him a donation? It’s going to this good person’s parnassah? I think it would still rub us the wrong way. Supporting the printer and caterer and the hall, etc, are all nice things but not if those expenses are unnecessary in the first place.

In the organization discussed earlier, I doubt that even half of the $14 million dollars spent in advertising goes to employ people in our community. Of course there’s nothing wrong with giving business to people outside our community, but I will still consider that waste as far as tzedakah is concerned.