3,203. A Charity Without Recipients

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 9:10

Let’s say that one of the charity administrators is owed money by a friend, who pays him back in the marketplace. In such a case, the charity administrator may not put the money in his pocket. Rather, he puts it in the pouch of the charity and removes it after he gets home. They may not count the money of the charity two at a time, but rather each coin individually. This is done in order to avoid suspicion as per Numbers 32:22, “You shall be innocent in the eyes of God and Israel.”

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 9:11

If a charity administrator doesn’t have potential recipients for the funds, he is permitted to exchange the coins for dinar (which are a higher denomination of coin), though someone else must make the change rather than doing it himself. If the administrator of the tamchui (the food fund) doesn’t have potential recipients for the food, he should sell it to other people, although not to himself. We don’t audit the funds collected with the charity administrator, nor do we audit the Temple treasurers regarding funds that were consecrated, as per II Kings 22:7, “No audit shall be made with them for the money entrusted to them because they are acting in faith.