I DON'T MIND SUPPORTING my congregation. I don't mind supporting the local Jewish food bank. But there is a limit.
Recenty we had two schnorers at the morning minyan.
One, a local gentleman, shows up at our place once-a-week. The other 5 schnoring days he makes the rounds of the other synagogues in the area.
The fellow, most assuredly of Social Security and Medicare age, always comes with his own envelop with his reason du jour written on the outside.
We're not a rich congregation - we only have one doctor and no lawyers. Used car dealers we have. Tee shirt sellers we have. Mechanics we have. But on a regular basis, no people with a lot of "discretionary" funds.
The local guy collects between $20 and $30 on each visit. Multiply that small amount times the number of congregations having daily minyans in the area - by my quick count there are at least 6 within walking distance. (To the best of my knowledge, the gentleman gets around on "shank's mare" - his two feet.)
Today he sought help for his medical condition.
OK, even with Medicare and a decent "no extra charge" Medicare Advantage plan he could get stuck with bills for medications. On the other hand, if he has Medicaid, then the medications should be covered.
At least this fellow is local.
The other schnorer we had came all the way from Israel to New York. From New York he traveled to northern New Jersey, then on the Florida.
Being the winter season, the Israeli could get relatively inexpensive tickets. According to Kayak, it's possible to fly from TLV to JFK, spend more than a month in the U.S., then back to TLV via Paris on Air France for only US$543 (plus taxes). Why anyone would want to travel via Paris is beyond me, but perhaps that's why the flight is "cheap." A KLM/Delta flight via Amsterdam and Boston priced in at US$570.
The NY - south Florida ticket also is inexpensive. The round-trip ticket JFK-MIA via Delta and American is listed for US$127. Cheaper than driving.
So why did the Israeli show up at our minyan?
His story, approved by the local rabbinical board, is that he has to come up with a dowry for his daughter, the great grand-daughter of a rabbi famous in his shtetl. It occurred to me that if his grandfather was such a "gadol," the potential groom would be delighted to have the schnorer's daughter as his wife and never mind the dowry. The groom's new father-in-law could squeeze one more chair at the table for the couple's first year of married life - also traditional for haridim who only have time to study and no time at all to earn a living.
The Israeli also claims to have an autistic child, but Israel has organizations, both government and non-government, to care for such children, so why was he begging here.
The congregation has a procedure to deal with schnorers. The rabbi - if present - or another congregant reads the document provided by the rabbinical board and places an envelop on the bima (ahmud). People put whatever they wish into the envelop. (Remember, the local guy brings his own envelope.) Schnorers are not allowed to buttonhole - stick their hands in a congregant's face to bully a person into giving - congregants.
Because the rabbi was AWOL, the Israeli - in what might be considered typical Israeli fashion - went from congregant to congregant putting out his hand for his due. He ignored the envelop.
I know tzdeka is a mitzvah - the word actually means "justice" - but I can't bring myself to contribute to the dowry of a schnorer's daughter - particularly when the money he spent on airfare could have been the basis for a nice dowry.
Call it "sour grapes." When my daughter was married, we shared the costs of the henna and the wedding in Israel with the groom's family. As far as dowry - the boy got my daughter; that should be enough! Maybe the groom's father and I should have schnorered Bnai Brak or Mea Sharim. Fair is fair.
