The question that arises when running from one gemach to the next is, if it is permissible according to halachah to borrow money, when one doesn’t have a concrete plan of how to actually pay back all the money at the end of the day?
R’ Michal Yehudah Lefkovitz zt”l (Darchei Chaim, Vol. 1, pg. 101) ruled for someone who owned a gemach and wanted to know who he should lend money to, that he should lend money to those who need it for making a chasunah, or to those who have a plan of how to pay back. However, for someone who goes from one gemach to the next without a concrete plan of how to pay back, he shouldn’t give him a loan, as it is a stumbling block for him. If the owner of the gemach wants, he can give him a donation, but he shouldn’t lend him money from the gemach itself.
R’ Chaim Kanievsky zt”l also held that for marrying off children it is forbidden to take a loan upon oneself, if he doesn’t know at the time of receiving it how he will pay back, and it is forbidden to rely on miracles.
On the other hand, they asked R’ Aharon Leib Steinman zt”l if it is incumbent upon the father to run from one gemach to the next to be able to marry off children, and he answered: One should be prepared to take debts upon himself and Hashem will help. The parnosah of Bnei Torah, and especially marrying off children is a miracle beyond nature, and one can to some extent rely on miracles. He then added, one should take “a bit more” than what he is able to afford.
