1. I purchased a seat for Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur in the ladies section of M shul. I paid the member’s wife’s price of 60 shekels. When I arrived on Rosh Hashana, however, I was unable to sit in my designated seat more than 5 minutes. The air conditioner wasn’t working and the room was stuffed with extra chairs to accommodate many more people. I felt faint and had to leave. Knowing that I would never survive in such conditions on Yom Kippur, I bought a seat at the new K shul for Yom Kippur. There I paid a visitor’s price of 120 shekels. (By the way, I was very happy in their women’s section – spacious and air-conditioned.) My question is: Can the payment for either or both of these seats be taken from ma’aser money?
2. I have a discount card at a clothing store which entitles me to a 5% discount on all purchases. When I return merchandise, however, they give me a זיכוי for the full price of the merchandise. I’ve asked them why they don’t deduct 5% before they give me the זיכוי, and they say, “This is just how we do it.” My question is: What do I do when I get back more money from the store than I paid? I just returned 67.60 sh. worth of merchandise and received a זיכוי for that amount, though I paid only 64.20 sh. for it, using my discount card.
Thank you.
Answer:
1. After buying the seats, you have an obligation to pay the money to the respective shuls, and this obligation cannot be fulfilled with maaser money.
However, for the first shul there is a possibility that you can claim the money back, because you clearly bought the seat under the assumption that there would be air conditioning and that sitting there would be bearable, so that it seems to be a mekach ta’us whereby you can claim back your money. If you decide not to claim back the money, you can consider the 60 Shekels a “donation” to the shul, and deduce it from maaser.
2. If you have pointed this out to the salespeople in the store, and they have told you that this is their sales policy, you don’t have to take any further action. Although the policy certainly appears to be a little odd, this is not your concern, and you can go ahead and use the zikui however you wish.
Best wishes.
