The Story
“We did great today!” said Avi, shaking the tzedaka box.
Yonatan nodded, “Yes, we’ve now raised all the money that we need to purchase an air conditioner for the yeshiva. It’s great that our community is so supportive of talmud torah.”
“Hey!” Yonatan stopped suddenly, and bent down, “Am I seeing things, or is that money over there?”
From the grass next to the road, he picked up a crumpled five dollar bill.
“Finders keepers” said Avi. “The money is yours.”
“Maybe I should give it to the tzedaka project” said Yonatan.
Avi shook his head. “Why? So we can pay more for the same air conditioner!? We’ve collected the money that was needed, and you already donated twenty dollars of your own savings to the project. I don’t think you should feel guilty about keeping the money.”
What should Yonatan do?
Discussion
Q: What is the connection between our story and the parasha?
A: In parashas Pekudei, Moshe gives Bnei Yisrael a very detailed explanation of how their donations were used to build the Mishkan. The Kli Yakar explains that it was very important that no one would suspect that perhaps Moshe stole some of the money. This seems ridiculous! Who would ever have suspected that Moshe, the greatest man who ever lived, could be a thief! Even so, Moshe insisted that a detailed explanation be given, so that no one could ever suspect that he stole from the donations. If Moshe was so careful to be accountable, certainly all other collectors of charity must be careful as well!
Q: During the time of the Beis Hamikdash the kohen chosen to count the donations had to continuously speak the entire time that he was in the room containing the money. Why?
A: The chachamim wanted to make sure that no one would suspect the kohen of stealing money. For this reason they made the following rules: He had to wear clothes without pockets. He could not wear shoes (because someone might think he was hiding money in them) or wear tefillin (because of a similar concern). The chachamim were even worried that someone might think that he hid money in his mouth. If he spoke the whole time, then there would be no way to hide coins in his mouth (Rambam, Laws of Shekalim 2:10).
Q: What should Yonatan do?
A: The money that Yonatan found belongs to him. He does not have to give it to tzedaka. However, if someone on the street saw him putting money into his pocket, they might mistakenly think that he was stealing from the money that was donated to tzedaka. For this reason he should deposit the money into the tzedaka container. When he and Avi leave the street and are in a private place, Yonatan may transfer the money from the tzedaka container to his own pocket (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 257).
Q: Earlier in the day, Avi suggested to Yonatan that they should split up so that they can obtain donations from twice as many homes. Yonatan felt it was important that they stay together. Why?
A: The Shulchan Aruch also teaches that it is important that two people should be together when the tzedaka is collected. This makes people less likely to believe that their donated money will be stolen (Yoreh Deah 257).
Back to Our Story
After calling his school Rav, Yonatan placed the five dollar bill in the tzedaka box. The boys returned to the school and counted the money in the box with their Rav, who reminded Yonatan to take back five dollars.
“Avi” he said with a smile, “Let’s buy ourselves some ice cream with the money I found.”
“Your a great friend” said Avi.
Several minutes later, they were each holding an ice cream cone.
“That will be $4.50” said the store clerk.
Yonatan handed over the $5 bill and placed the 50 cents he received
back in the pushka at the counter.
(Written by Joshua and Tammy Kruger, in collaboration with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer of the Institute for Dayanim, and based in part on the following lecture by Rabbi Mendel Kaplan: http://www.chabad.org/
