Chapter 1 · HaShutafin

Charity collectors

Lesson 3 of 44 25 min

From partitions between neighbors the Gemara moves to communal duties - including charity collection.

Lesson goals

01Restate the source in your own words.
02Identify the central distinction and explain its significance.
03Apply the distinction in the exercise without adding a ruling absent from the source.

Source and decoding - Bava Batra 8b

Bava Batra 8b

גַּבָּאֵי תַמְחוּי שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם עֲנִיִּים לְחַלֵּק – מוֹכְרִין לַאֲחֵרִים וְאֵין מוֹכְרִין לְעַצְמָן. מָעוֹת שֶׁל צְדָקָה – אֵין מוֹנִין אוֹתָן שְׁתַּיִם, אֶלָּא אַחַת אַחַת.

Charity collectors with no poor to distribute to may exchange the coins with others but not with themselves.

Charity collectors with no poor to distribute to may exchange the coins with others but not with themselves. Charity coins are not counted two at a time but one by one. The rules aim to keep collectors above suspicion.

Building the reasoning

1Restate the source in your own words.
2Identify the central distinction and explain its significance.
3Apply the distinction in the exercise without adding a ruling absent from the source.

Terms to decode

גבאי

collector

פורטין

exchange coins

תמחוי

soup kitchen

Before moving on

Insight

This lesson is a study framework, not a halachic ruling. Check everything in the sources, and bring practical questions to a rabbi.

Practice

Find the two rules and explain which suspicion each prevents.

Lesson wrap-up

Integrity is not only good intent - it is also a structure that prevents suspicion.

Check your understanding

Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

Question 1 of 4

What do collectors with no poor do?

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