10% tzedaka | Imamother

amother

Mon, Sep 22 2014, 7:43 am

I earn just over 100,000 NIS a year, B'H.

I pay a therapist 1,200 NIS a MONTH.

that's over 10% of my salary.

can I count that as my mayser money?

I am not asking in order to be stingy. I am asking bc I want to be makpid and make sure I've done 10% and that any more I give on a regular basis and for the chagim etc is above that and I don't have to recalculate what makes it to 10%. (probably I've given more than 10% in pure tzedaka - I.e. not on therapy bills but to organizations and people - but I want to be sure - and am curious I guess if this could count...)

amother

Mon, Sep 22 2014, 8:03 am

amother wrote:

I agree aylor. Are you paying for the therapist for yourself or someone else? What is the tzedaka here?

happy7

Mon, Sep 22 2014, 8:39 am

There is a difference between maaser and tzedaka. Maaser is 10% of ones earnings. There are many ways to take care of maaser and many who are not obligated in maaser. Tzedaka is charity beyond tithing. Everyone is obligated in giving tzedaka. There isn't a specific amount of money that one has to give for tzedaka. There are many things that can be paid with tzedaka money that maaser cannot pay for. Of course this is just a clarification not a halachik ruling.

doctorima

Mon, Sep 22 2014, 10:01 am

As others have said, you should ask your LOR, but my gut reaction is that while therapy can certainly be a valuable use of your income, I don't see how it could be counted toward a calculation of using 10% for maaser, which is intended to be used for charity for the poor. If you think about it, food and rent are also good uses of our income, but nobody would say they could be counted toward the 10%. Why should therapy be different, unless you meant that you're paying for somebody else to go to therapy?

Chayalle

Mon, Sep 22 2014, 11:30 am

I've heard it said that one can use maaser money for therapy, though I've never heard it quoted in anyone's name, and don't know a source. So ask your LOR.

MaBelleVie

Mon, Sep 22 2014, 1:20 pm

happy7 wrote:

Exactly this.

amother

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 6:15 am

OP here. thanks for this. it's what I thought but was curious... I'm not looking for a way out of anything - as I said, I give tzedaka to orgs and individuals but wanted to see how it worked together

I guess because out of 100,000 NIS
50,000 goes on rent
10,000 on bills
15,000 or so goes on groceries
10,000 goes on medical expenses, travel, clothes, household etc.

and I see the therapy as essential for life and soul to remain together. very necessary - and if I weren't paying for it, someone else would have to pay for it.

chani8

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 9:09 am

You give 10% to charity, after your bills (of necessity) are paid. Count therapy as a necessity.

100,000 - 50,000 rent - 14,400 therapy - necessary bills = "amount to maaser."

runninglate

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 10:52 am

chani8 wrote:

You give 10% to charity, after your bills (of necessity) are paid. Count therapy as a necessity.

100,000 - 50,000 rent - 14,400 therapy - necessary bills = "amount to maaser."

Really? Where did you get this from? I thought maaser should be ten percent of whatever income you make.

ora_43

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 11:06 am

chani8 wrote:

You give 10% to charity, after your bills (of necessity) are paid. Count therapy as a necessity.

100,000 - 50,000 rent - 14,400 therapy - necessary bills = "amount to maaser."

Not everyone holds like this.

For those who do hold like this, AFAIK it's not so simple to just say that "rent" and "food" are necessities. A certain basic standard of living is necessary but that doesn't mean that any housing at any standard is maaser-deductible.

I do agree that therapy should be considered a necessary expense.

I do think that a rabbi would almost certainly tell OP not to give maaser at the expense of her own basic needs, and would include therapy in those basic needs.

finallyamommy

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 11:17 am

Yeah, I was under the impression that it's 10% of what is leftover after work-related expenses (travel, etc.)

chani8

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 4:08 pm

ora_43 wrote:

Right. I was taught that unless one is very frugal, you should maaser before food, but that's a stringency, so I didn't mention it above.

amother

Tue, Sep 23 2014, 4:11 pm

DH was told that we can use maaser money for mental-health related expenses by a rav in Yerushalayim.