Question:
My brother who passed away suddenly and who was religiously estranged, left the bulk of his large estate to a non Jewish friend. Our eldest brother who would be one of the halachic heirs, is understandably shocked and emotionally upset.
He has asked me to ask a shaila on his behalf.
Legally he has no recourse to get monies not left to him, in his concern for our late brothers neshama he feels compelled to try to ask for large amounts to be given to tzedaka. His question is what is his obligation to push this idea? What would be his hishtadlas in this matter?
Thank you.
Answer:
Thank you for your question.
This situation seems very unfortunate, and honestly, on a practical level I don’t think there is much that you can do about it. It seems highly unlikely that a gentle person will want to give a large amount of money to a Jewish Tzedakah for an illuy neshoma. Regarding histadlus for your brother’s neshoma, there are other things that you can do aside from using his money for his neshomas benefit. You can learn mishnayos, say tehillim or give your own tzedakah so an illuy of his neshoma.
Best wishes
