Administrators of Tzedakah Funds: Their Rewards and Responsibilities
Administrators
of tzedakah funds can have a greater merit than the contributors
themselves:
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One who can cause others to give has a greater reward than the giver.
Shulchan Aruch 249:5
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But adminstrators have a responsibility to conduct themselves so
that they are above suspicion. There are two biblical verses
that our sages take as evidence of this requirement, even for administrators
known to be trustworthy and reliable.
The more general is as follows:
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And the land will
be conquered before HaShem, and afterward you will return, and you shall
be clean [of your duty] before HaShem and Israel, and this land will
be your property before HaShem. Numbers 32:22
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As a result of that text, halacha places numerous restrictions on tzedakah
adminstrators to be sure they remain above suspicion. The classic source
may be found in the tractate P'sachim:
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We learn in a braisa:
if there are no poor, tzedakah administrators must exchange the tzedakah's
excess coins with others and not with themselves, if there are no poor
to feed, administrators of soup kitchens must sell any excess food to others
and not to themselves, as it is said "and you shall be clean [of suspicion]
before HaShem and Israel." Pesachim 13a
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Note that the plain meaning of the Biblical source text refers to Moses' arrangement with the tribes who wanted to settle east of the Jordan and apparently has nothing to do with tzedakah administrator's behavior. Moses says to the tribes: after you have fought along side the rest of the tribes of Israel and the land is conquered you can return to the east bank and you will have fulfilled [be clean of]
your duty to HaShem and Israel. Remarkably, our sages, learn that moderns entrusted with community tzedakah funds should remain clear of suspicion from a phrase whose surface meaning refers
to tribes of ancient Israelites being clear of their responsibilites
to the rest of the nation.
The second verse regarding the behavior of tzedakah administrators relates
specifically to the issue of providing an accounting for funds held in
their trust:
| These are the accounts of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of Testimony,
that were made at the direction of Moshe, the work of the Levi'im, by the
hand of Isamar son of Aharon, the Cohen. Exodus 38:21 |
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In that verse, our sages find support for tzedakah administrators to
provide an accounting for the tzedakah funds they hold.
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From here we learn that even though reliable tzedakah administrators
are not tightly supervised, it is good that they give an accounting as
we have found with Moses our teacher who gave an accounting of the contributions
to the tabernacle, as it is said "These are the accounts of the tabernacle..." Torah
Temima quoting the Bach Yoreh De'ah 257.
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However, while it is laudable for those entrusted with tzedakah funds
to give an accounting, trustworthy administrators are not required
to do so.
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in a baraisa that there is no accounting made for funds held by tzedakah
administrators nor for temple funds held by temple treasurers. And even
though there is no proof, there is an implied reference for the matter,
as it is said, "And they would not account with the men to whom they gave
the money for the workers because they act honestly." II
Kings 12:16, Baba Basra 9a |
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