Question:
B”H
Kavod haRav,
Thank you for your help.
I was in a store in the checkout line and noticed a tzedeka box. I went into my purse to get a quarter to donate. A person near me said something regarding the fact that it would help them to have quarters. I went to give them several (five) quarters from the roll I had, and they wanted to give me a dollar back. I insisted no, and said it was fine. I told them to give the dollar to tzedeka. They said I could give it for them. So I took the dollar, and then realizing that it would have been giving $1.25 and “receiving” $1, I said that I gave them $1.25 and they gave me back the quarter. I was left with the dollar they gave me, plus the quarter they gave back to me, and they were left with four quarters. I gave the dollar and the additional quarter to the tzedeka box. My question is:
did I somehow accidentally make a mistake regarding ribbis?
Thank you sincerely
Answer:
Hello,
What was done was very correct and there is no issue of ribis here. First of all because there was no loan, as no one kept anyone’s money for any length of time. Secondly, You didn’t get any extra from anyone, and you and the other person just made donations to tzedkah.
Best wishes
