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Many times, people collect money during davening, including during birchos krias shema, and the custom is to give during that time. Is This mutar? The interruptions allowed during this time seem to be for kavod haadam, tzorchei tefillah and avoiding bizayon haTorah. Where does giving tzedakah stand?

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And potentially Osek b'mitzva patur min hamitzvah. – Shalom Sep 2 '10 at 15:32
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One shul I highly respect (both its laypeople and rov) have a sign that says: "GABBAIS' POLICY: NO Tzedaka collection from Borchu till after Kedusha." That seems reasonable, they can still collect, but not during the most uninterruptable parts of davening. – Shalom Sep 2 '10 at 15:33
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it is one of the worst interruptions you can have. you feel guilty because you want to do the right thing, but the tzedakah collectors are bringing you to an aveira. they are often quite insensitive to the whole issue and only care 'about themselves' - the exact opposite of what tzedakah is: caring for others.

i could go on, but it really is something. you dovening, trying to concentrate, and boom. wham. jingle. hand in face. so much for dovening.

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Arnie, my question was not about the sensitivity of the tzedaka collectors. Is their action so different than advertising for a program in the middle of a Torah website? I'm sure you feel that it's OK because it's all Torah. I'm sure they feel the same way about collecting tzedakah. – YDK Sep 3 '10 at 13:30
Arnie Draiman, Welcome to mi.yodeya, and thanks very much for sharing your perspective! Please remove the not-directly-relevant promotional links from this answer. You're welcome to put them into your user profile, which will be more prominent if you become a fully registered community member by clicking register, above. – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 3 '10 at 14:11
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up vote 0 down vote

shavua tov -

ydk - yes, it is very different. a Torah website is still a website. dovening is dovening. would you want someone to approach you in the middle of birkat hamazon? or ask you to help push their stuck car on shabbat? or just taste a little bit of this treif sandwich to make sure it is not spoiled? etc, etc, etc....

and, isaac - don't know how to remove what i wrote already. looked around and can't. and...fyi...they are tzedakah related, which is why i put them there - sort of showing my 'credentials'...

arnie

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Arnie, Shavua Tov! Do you see an "edit" button under your answer[s]? If so, that's how you'd change them. Also, if there's a "comment" button, that's the best way to respond to other comments. Your credentials belong in your user profile, since they're about you. – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 5 '10 at 3:31
I took care of the editing. – Isaac Moses♦ Sep 7 '10 at 14:11
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