Aliyos to the Torah with Maaser Money
29. Money designated for the poor. When one buys an aliya in shul and he knows the proceeds will be for tzedaka to the poor, he may pay for the aliya with maaser money if, when he bought it, he had intent to be able to pay with maaser money (של''ה מגילה פ' נר מצוה, אהבת חסד ח''ב פי''ט ס''ב, הליכות שלמה תפילה י''ב סט''ז ). This is because maaser money is designated for the poor, and one is allowed to benefit [טובת הנאה ] from giving tzedaka (ט''ז יו''ד רמט ס''א ).
30. Designated for the shul. Strictly speaking, maaser money was established for the poor, and it is their money (מהרי''ל, רמ''א יו''ד סי' רמ''ט ס''א ; see Issue 55 at length). The poskim argue whether one may use maaser money for non-chiyuv mitzva purposes, e.g., for a shul’s expenses, lighting, etc. Some say one should not buy mitzvos with maaser money if the money goes to the shul (רמ''א שם ).
31. Others hold one may buy mitzvos in shul with maaser money, especially if he cannot buy the mitzva without maaser and he has intent when buying it to pay with maaser (תשו' מהר''ם, מהרש''ל דרישה, ט''ז סק''א, ש''ך סק''ג ); this is the prevalent practice (הגר''נ קרליץ, באורח צדקה פי''א הע' ח'). However, if one did not originally plan on paying with maaser money, he may not then pay with maaser money; that is paying off a debt with maaser money, which is assur (ט''ז ).
32. Thus, it is proper l’chatchila for one to stipulate when he first takes it upon himself to give maaser from his money that he will also be able to use maaser money for mitzvos, buying aliyos, and the like; then all poskim agree it is mutar (שו''ת חת''ס יו''ד סי' רל''א הובא בפתח''ת סי' רמ''ט סק''ב ). Even if one did not do this and already gave maaser to the poor three times, he can still stipulate that going forward, he will also be able to use maaser money for mitzvos (שו''ת בצל החכמה ח''ד סי' קס''ג ), as future maaser money is not yet in existence, so the poor do not yet have the rights to it (שו''ת ערוגת הבשם יו''ד ר''כ).
33. One who gives 20% [חומש ] to do the mitzva in the best way (Issue 54, par. 9) may use half of it – i.e., maaser – for mitzva purposes and aliyos in shul even if he did not stipulate in advance that he can do so. He may use it even just for hiddur mitzva (שו''ת אג''מ יו''ד ח''ג סי' צ''ג ). The other half of the 20% should be given to the poor (אהבת חסד ח''ב פי''ט ס''ג ).
34. Paying the entire sum with maaser? Some hold that when aliyos are auctioned to the highest bidder, one may only use maaser for what he added to the previous bid, but everything beyond that must be paid with personal funds. For example, if the current bid is $100 and someone bids $150, he can only use maaser for the extra $50 he bid, as the previous bidder might have paid $100 from personal funds. If the new bidder will pay the entire $150 with maaser, he just caused a $100 loss to maaser funds (של''ה מגילה שם, גליון רע''א שו''ע יו''ד ריש סי' רמ''ט, שו''ת כת''ס יו''ד סי' קי''ב ).
35. However, in a place where it is known that all the mispallelim usually have in mind to pay with maaser, e.g., in a minyan of bnei Torah, all poskim agree he can pay the entire sum with maaser, as doing so does not cause any loss to maaser funds (אחרונים ).
Mi Shebeirach Money
36. One may use maaser money for a “mi shebeirach” pledge (חזו''א, ארחות רבינו ח''א סי' ש''ג ) if he had in mind when he originally made the pledge to use maaser.
Seat in Shul
37. If a person can really daven in one of two places, one where he has to pay for a seat and the other where he does not, but he prefers to daven in the place that requires payment, he may pay for his seat with maaser money. This is because he has the option of davening somewhere without paying, and davening in the shul of his preference is not like a chiyuv (מו''ר בצדקה ומשפט פ''ו הע' כ''ו ). Similarly, if one place is cheaper than the other, he may pay the difference with maaser money.
38. However, if one must daven in a certain shul, e.g., he belongs to a Chassidus and would not consider davening elsewhere, it is like he has a chiyuv to daven there, and he may not pay with maaser money (Issue 6, par. 21). But he may upgrade to a better seat with maaser money (שו''ת שרגא המאיר ח''ח סי' נ''ד ב').
39. If the gabbaim charge more than the accepted rate for seats, one may use maaser money to pay for whatever is above the accepted rate (שו''ת שרגא המאיר שם ).
40. Membership. Many poskim agree that if a shul requires everyone to pay membership, which includes an assigned seat in the shul, one may not use maaser money. However, if everyone is just asked – but not obligated – to pay, one may use maaser.
41. Seat in the ezras nashim. Women have no chiyuv to daven in shul. Thus, if a woman prefers to daven in shul, one may use maaser to pay for her Yamim Noraim seat in the ezras nashim.
Paying All Pledges and Debts
42. The minhag in the Yamim Noraim season is to pay before Yom Kippur all debts, nedarim, and pledges one committed to throughout the year so that he is not held accountable on the Yom HaDin ח"ו because he did not fulfill his word. Thus, it is advisable to contact the shul gabbai to take care of all of one’s commitments that have accumulated over the year.
43. Similarly, one should remember all the places he bought an aliya or mitzva throughout the year. One should also make an accounting of all shuls to which he made mi shebeirach pledges and try to pay what he pledged.
