I donated a significant sum in memory of my mother OBM to my schul in North America to start the “xxxxxx OBM, Womens’ Learning Division.” (WLD) This past year, since I’ve been living here in EY, the Wed. evening learning sessions weren’t well attended and as far as I can tell the publicity more often than not simply referred to the Congregation WLD omitting any reference to my mother OBM. The question I have is, can I transfer any portion of the money originally donated to an entity here in E Y that sponsors, shiurim, etc. Or, because it was specifically earmarked and donated elsewhere for that purpose, am I prohibited from said transfer?
If you have other questions before you can answer, please let me know and I’ll try to respond.
Answer:
Having donated the money to a particular charity cause, you cannot back out of the donation, unless a clear misrepresentation is involved: You donated expecting X, and you received Y.
The reason for this is that making a specific donation involves a neder, and you cannot retract from it under ordinary circumstances.
If you have concrete claims against the Shul, you should perhaps contact them and inform them that you are dissatisfied with the way in which things are being run, and see how they respond.
Best wishes.
