Friday 1 May 2015

halacha - Giving to the poor of your city first - home or workplace?


The poor of one's household take precedence over the poor of one's city, and the poor of one's city take precedence over the poor of another city, as implied by [Deuteronomy 15:11]: "[Open your hand generously] to your poor and destitute brother in your land."


What would be the ruling for someone who for example worked a whole day in one city but lived in another city ? Is "your city" determined by where you sleep or does where you spend your day (and if you are a business owner - where you pay taxes and share in the cities ordinances) have any weight in terms of Tzedakah preferences.


** The person who I was discussing this with seemed to recall something from the achronim in the laws of Kimcha D'Pischa that says you need to give in the city where you work as well. Didn't make sense to me so I thought I would ask the MY community.



Answer



According to R' Herschel Schachter, the designation of "your city" for this purpose is based on association, rather than geography. In an interview on the topic with Jewish Action magazine, he said:



However, aniyei ircha does not refer to the poor people of your city literally. I live in Manhattan. Are all the poor people in New York considered my aniyei ircha? I don’t think so. Years ago, the cities were small and aniyei ircha were the people you knew. Today, aniyei ircha are the people with whom you associate, with whom you have a kesher. There are so many shuls in New York, but I don’t daven in all of them. There are so many mikvaot in this city, but my family only uses one. The shuls and mikvah from which my family benefits are considered aniyei ircha. The yeshivot where I, my children and my grandchildren learned, even in distant cities or countries, are considered aniyei ircha. The institutions with which I have a connection are aniyei ircha, and those with which I have no link are aniyei ir acheret [the poor of another city].




Based on this principle, it would seem that institutions or poor people that you associate with in your place of business count as "your city" just as much as those that you associate with in your place of residence, and more than those that you don't associate with who happen to be located in your place of residence.


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