I’m a little disturbed: I just had the experience of having someone reject my offered tzedakah (charity) at my door. This person knocked on my door and presented documents which stated that local rabbinic authorities vouched for his sincerity and his dire situation, which involved medical problems of family members. We couldn’t communicate much verbally, since his English and my Hebrew were rusty.
I checked my wallet, and had no bills of appropriate size. So I went to my change bowl and collected eight quarters. Perhaps that’s somewhat stingy, but that’s a different topic. For some reason the idea of writing a check didn’t cross my mind. (I don’t like using checks anyway, but that’s another different topic.)
When I tried to hand these quarters to the gentleman, he seemed relutant. He asked “check? check?” When I shook my head as a negative reply, he simply turned and walked away. I was left standing on my porch, quarters in hand.
Now I don’t want to be judgemental or self-rightous, but I think it’s OK for me to be at least perplexed. Is US$2 so small an amount today that it’s not worth accepting, and not worth donating? Why would someone collecting funds to help his family members with medical problems not accept a donation? I really can’t think of anything right now.