Tzedaka: How to Choose Your Charities

Allocation of Limited Resources: In our first class we will begin by studying the approach of the great Rabbis to the question of how to allocate limited resources to tsedaka. Unfortunately, no society and surely no individual can satisfy all the needs of the poor. Who takes precedence?

The non-Torah-observant Poor & How to Investigate: Today we will complete the approach of the Aruch ha-Shulcahn to supporting the non-Torah-observant poor. Then we will turn to sources that explain how to investigate the poor to guarantee that they are worthy of receiving tsedaka.

Is it Good or Bad to Give Charity? Today we will focus on the teshuva of R. Yaakov Ettlinger, outlining unusual situations in which tsedaka can have bad results even if the recipient is truly needy and will use the donation wisely.

Skipping the Investigation / Who Is Poor Torah: The sources demand investigating the recipient of tsedaka to assure that he or she is worthy. If someone fails to investigate before giving tsedaka, has he or she done a mitsva? Today we will also begin with the poverty line: how poor must a person be to receive tsedaka?

The Poverty Line — and Purim Today: In our final shiur in this series, we will complete the discussion of establishing the level of poverty that qualifies a person to receive charity. Then we will turn to the exceptional case of Purim, the only time when no investigation of the poor is required.