Keeping Funds in a Tzedakah Checking Account for Extended Periods of Time

If I maintain a tzedakah checking account, may I keep funds in the account for extended periods of time?

The Shulchan Aruch (YD 257:3) stipulates that if a person pledged to give money to tzedakah, or if he designated money for tzedakah, he is obligated to distribute the funds immediately if there are destitute people in need of the funds. If he does not do so, he violates the Biblical prohibition known as Bal T’acher (do not delay). This prohibition is derived from the verse in Devarim (23:22): “Do not delay in paying it.”

To avoid potential violations of Bal T’acher, Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita (Derech Emunah, Hil. Matnos Aniyim 8:8) recommends that a person who commits to giving maaser should stipulate that money separated for maaser should not have a status of tzedakah until the funds are given to the poor. By doing so, there are no time constraints for distributing funds that are in a tzedakah account.

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.