Mitzvos & Money: Striking a Balance

Gain perspective on how we balance financial hardships with Torah and Mitzvos, as illuminated by Torah and the Rebbe’s Hadracha.

• When to Go Into Debt

• When to Avoid Debt

• Working in הפצת היהדות

• Notifying בעלי בתים About a Financial Crisis

• Having More Children = Boost in Income

• The Printing of the Sdei Chemed

• The Salary of a Communal Religious Figure

• One Who Needs to Pay Employees

• A Bitachon State of Mind

• A Financial ״לכתחילה אריבער״

• Trust IS the Process

• The Remedy Precedes the Illness

• Maaser: The Rebbe's View

• Maiser vs. Inflation

• Using Maiser Money as a Loan

• When One May Overspend on Mitzvos

• Spending Money on Mitzvos

• The Mitzva of Tzedaka

• Giving Tzedakah on Someone Else's Behalf

• Hashem Has Many Messengers to Provide

• Review Your Actions

• Everything Hashem Does is for the Good

View Them All Below

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The Salary of a Communal Religious Figure

In the following teshuva, the Chasam Sofer lays down the principle of how a community is obligated to support their communal religious figures:

The foundational principle is that we are to provide according to their needs. If their needs fluctuate, so should our provisions notwithstanding the surge in cost: 

…ידעו ויבינו כי ת"ח הממונה פרנס על הציבור מחויבים לעשות לו פרנסתו לא הספיק … מוסיפין להם כדי צרכן הם ובניהם ובני ביתם וא"כ… כשנתייקר השער ולא הספיק זה הסך לצורכם…

The Chasam sofer goes on to explain the reason for this sliding scale salary:

והלא לא בסך שיעור הממון נשתכרו ח"ו כפועל אלא בשיעור פרנסתם כדי שיהי' פנוים לעבודת ה' וא"כ כל הצריך לפרנסתם לפי הזמן הוא המגיע להם בדין…

שו"ת חתם סופר ח"מ סי' קסו

Maiser vs. Inflation

In response to a quandary regarding how to evaluate one's Maiser considering the rising inflation Reb Moshe Feinstein eloquently explains how inflation is to affect one's giving of Maiser. 

The following is a short synopsis of the Teshuva:

Maiser is calculated from the real profit rather than the nominal profit earned. To illustrate, suppose Mr. A Purchased An Asset For $1,000 and sold it two years later for $2,000. Suppose further that the inflation rate in this interim period was 100%. Considering the 100% inflation rate, the nominal profit of 100% on the sale is reduced in real terms to zero. Consequently, the nominal profit earned here would not be subject to any Maiser obligation. R. Feinstein further posits that the difference in the purchasing power of the monetary unit in the relevant periods of time only considers changes in the prices of necessities. Changes in the price of residential homes and luxuries, however, do not enter the index.

אג"מ ח"ה יו"ד סי קיד