If a person keeps a charity box in his home and occasionally places money in the box on behalf of a charitable institution, may he borrow money that had been placed in the box and then return it later? It occasionally happens that a deliveryman comes and a person needs small change for a tip. Is it permissible to take some money from the Tzedaka box and then repay the money at a later point?
Some authorities allow taking money from the Tzedaka box if one immediately writes a check for that amount to the institution on whose behalf he keeps the box in his home. In this way, he is not considered borrowing Tzedaka, since he right away gives the same amount as he takes. Others, however, disagree, arguing that a check is not equivalent to cash, and therefore in such a case one does, indeed, take money from charity even if he writes a check right away.
The Pitchei Teshuva (commentary to the Shulchan Aruch that cites rulings of later authorities), in Hilchot Tzedaka (259), cites the work "Chamudei Daniel" as permitting one to borrow money from a charity box. The Chamudei Daniel explains that since this has become accepted, there is a presumed condition that the money placed in the box does not transfer ownership until it reaches the intended recipient. What more, it is common for people who borrow money from a charity box to return more than they took, and the Shulchan Aruch explicitly allows investing charity money if it will likely yield a profit on behalf of the needy recipients. Thus, by allowing people to borrow money from the charity box we increase the amount of charity distributed to the needy and to charitable institutions, and it should therefore be permissible.
Nevertheless, the work "Tzedaka U'mishpat" recommends that one stipulate when he begins placing money in the charity box that the money does not attain the formal status of Tzedaka money until it reaches the intended recipient. In this way, there is no concern at all if one wishes to borrow money from the box and repay it in the future. Some authorities have noted, however, that if one makes such a stipulation then he does not fulfill the Mitzva of Tzedaka immediately when placing the money in the box; since the money becomes Tzedaka money only upon reaching the intended recipient, one fulfills the Mitzva only at that point. Some authorities claim that one can overcome this problem by stipulating that the money indeed becomes Tzedaka money when it is placed in the box, but that it does not enter the ownership of the recipient until the money actually reaches him.
In any event, according to strict Halacha, it is permissible to borrow money from a Tzedaka box even if one had not made such a stipulation.
It should be noted that according to all views, one may exchange bills and larger coins for small coins in a Tzedaka box. Since one gives the precise equivalent of what he takes, this is entirely permissible according to all opinions. Therefore, one may, for example, place a dollar bill in a Tzedaka box and take four quarters.
Summary: One may borrow money that had been placed in a charity box and then repay the money at a later point. Some authorities advise making a stipulation when one first begins placing money in a Tzedaka box that the money becomes Tzedaka money only when it reaches the intended recipient. According to all authorities, one who needs small change may exchange bills and large coins for the equivalent in small coins taken from a Tzedaka box.
