Tzedakah money that my child mixed up

Question:

I woke up on Shabbos morning and find my wonderful 2 year old daughter sitting on the kitchen table emptying out all the coins from my wife’s purse into a tzedokah box. I have no idea how much money was in the tzedokah box or in my wife’s purse, but there may well have been over 50 shekel. What do I do now, do I have to give all the money to tzedokah? Is it even considered tzedokah being that it was given on Shabbos? Is it a mitzvah haboh b’aveirah? Is there anything I can do to retrieve my money?

Answer:

It is so nice to see that your little tzadekes, is such a baalas tzedaka!

What your daughter put in the tzedaka box, is not really considered tzedakah, because she has to understanding of what she is doing, and because she can’t give your money away to tzedakah. There is no issue of mitzva haba’ah b’aveiro, because she had no idea what she was doing.

The real issue that you have over here is that right now you money is mixed up with the money tzedakah money, and you don’t want to take any of the tzedakah money. Therefore whatever amount of money that you can determine what is surely yours , may be taken out of the tzedakah box. However whatever money you are not sure and it is possible that it really belongs to tzedakah should not be taken out of the box. Instead have in mind that you are donating that money to tzedakah.

Have no fears, the Gemora and Rambam say that a person never loses out by giving tzedakah.

You should have a lot of nachas from her

Sources:

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות צדקה סימן רנט סעיף ה’ “מי שיש בידו מעות והוא מסופק אם הם של צדקה, חייב ליתן אותם לצדקה

רמב”ם הלכות מתנות עניים פרק י הלכה ב לעולם אין אדם מעני מן הצדקה ואין דבר רע ולא היזק נגלל בשביל הצדקה שנאמר והיה מעשה הצדקה שלום