1-07
Once upon a time in an overnight summer camp:
“Mail time!”
Joseph’s friend Danny entered the cabin with a large bag and began to distribute letters and packages to the other campers.
Joseph was pretty engrossed in his book and barely noticed when thick letter was tossed onto his bed.
“Looks like you got a good one, Joe. It feels heavy.”
Joseph looked up from his book, “Thanks, Danny! Ooh, this does look interesting!”
He opened it up and pulled out some pieces of his favorite snacks – bubble gum and chocolate. He also pulled out an unexpected twenty dollar bill. With an excited smile, he reached for the letter inside. It was from his mom who told him that she was sending the money for him to put into his canteen account to last for the rest of the summer. The campers chose a treat each day from canteen, and this was subtracted from the amount that they had in their account there.
One of the other campers called out with a laugh “Don’t forget to give maaser on your earnings, Joe!”
Danny joined in, “Hey, Joe, I’ll take the maaser from you. My last camp package had only vitamins and a tube of toothpaste in it! I have no money left for junk food and this is my last chocolate bar! I’m chocolate-poor! Your two dollars will be put to good use!”
Joseph smiled. Then he paused. Maybe he was supposed to give maaser on the money! Maybe he could even give the maaser to chocolate-poor Danny!
He left to find the camp rabbi.
Discussion
Q: What is maaser?
A: Maaser is an important practice of giving ten percent of our money to tzedaka. This means that if we made 10 dollars from a job of babysitting or shoveling someone’s snow, then we should give one dollar to tzedaka.
Q: What is the connection between our story and the parasha?
A: In this week’s parasha, Yaackov flees from his home to hopefully find safety in the land of Charan with his uncle Lavan. On the way he makes a promise that if Hashem takes care of him, then he will give ten percent of whatever he earns to Hashem (Bereishis 28:22).
Q: Does Joseph have to give maaser?
A: No. When someone receives a gift for a specific purpose – to be used to buy schoolbooks or a bike or a bus pass – then they do NOT have to give maaser. We assume the giver decided exactly how much money was needed to purchase the particular object. If the receiver gives maaser, he will not have enough money to buy what the giver wanted.
A person who receives a concrete gift (not money) does not need to give maaser from his gift (see Derech Emunah, Matnos Ani’im 7:27; Shut Shevet Halevi, Vol. 5, no. 133, sec. 7), and money to buy a specific item has the same status as the item itself. If however, the giver just gives the money and does not specify how it is to be spent, then the receiver is obligated to give maaser.
In our story, Joseph’s mother clearly stated in her letter, that the money was specifically to be spent on food from the canteen. Therefore, Joseph does not have to give maaser on it.
If the money would have been given without designating a specific purpose, Danny would not have been a suitable option for maaser allocation. Although Danny is chocolate-poor, he is not really poor, because his parents cater for his needs. Maaser is reserved for the poor, and not for the chocolate-poor!
Back to our Story:
Joseph was quite pleased with the explanation that the camp rabbi gave. He went to the canteen to deposit the full $20, as his mother had requested. Later, he returned to the cabin with a chocolate bar, sat down beside Danny, and said “Maaser or no maaser, Mom always taught me to share”.
He proceeded to break off a generous piece off his chocolate bar and give it to his ‘chocolate-poor’ friend.
“Thanks!” said Danny. “And to show you that I can be a good sport too, I’d like to share my toothpaste with you when we’re finished the chocolate”.
They both had a good laugh.
(Written by Josh and Tammy Kruger in collaboration with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer of the Institute for Dayanim)
