Giving Tzedokah by Mincha on A Ta’anis
The Mateh Moshe (755) writes: There is a minhag to give tzedokah by Mincha on a fast day, as “the reward for a fast is the tzedokah” (אגרא דתעני תא צדקתא)... I then found Tosfos in Megillah (21a) which says: The reason we read Maftir in Mincha by a fast and not in Shacharis, is because in the Haftorah it says, דרשו משפט ועשו צדקה, and the time for people to give tzedokah is towards the evening, therefore, we wait to read the Haftorah until after people have given tzedokah.” The Mishnah Berurah adds in the name of the Elyah Rabba, that there are those who have the custom to work out how much money they would have spent on food that day, and then give it to tzedokah.
The above makes a big nafkah minah for those who daven Mincha just before Shabbos on Asorah B’Teves and they are unable to give tzedokah when they go to shul just before Shabbos, as they leave all their muktzeh at home. Such people should give tzedokah in the morning, even though normally there is a special inyan to give it towards the end of the fast.
Some suggest that one should give tzedokah in the morning and make a stipulation that it only takes place Mincha time [R’ Yeshaya Pik in his sefer Minay Targima (Vo’eschanon 10:13) brings a solution for those who make a vow during Yizkor to give tzedokah, that instead of making a vow, they should separate money before Yom Tov according to the amount they want to give, and during Yizkor they should promise to give money they separated before Yom Tov. See also Mateh Ephraim (619:53) and Luach Eretz Yisroel (Hilchos Yom Kippur)]. However, R’ Aharon Leib Steinman would say, that he doesn’t give tzedokah before davening with the stipulation that it should take place when he reaches “Vayevorach Dovid”, as such a stipulation doesn’t work so well, as the main act and reward of giving tzedokah is when one separates it (K’Ayol Tarog – Tefillah pg. 149).
However, R’ Yom Tov Sanger writes, that since the main purpose of tzedokah on a fast is so that the poor person can buy food for himself to eat after the fast, on erev Shabbos it’s better to give him the money as early as possible so that he has time to buy food. Therefore, the solution of giving tzedokah in the morning with a stipulation that the poor person only acquires it Mincha time is no good, and on the contrary, since it’s difficult to buy food just before Shabbos, one should specifically give it in the morning.
