Giving Tzedekah After Death

Question

I am very bothered by the organizations that advertise to give tzedakah or learn for someone else’s merit. I have seen many Rishonim, including Shu”t Maharam Chalava (17), the Rashba (Shu”t 7:539) and others, who write that it is not possible to transfer reward for someone else’s actions. I have seen the opinion of the Rokeiach cited as a source for this practice, but I have many questions on what he writes. Can the rov explain how these organizations can go against the opinions of these Rishonim? Isn’t this a lack of integrity on their part?

Thank you.

Rav Auerbach 

A very important part of getting to the final halacha is to see the entire sugya with all of the Rishonim. Too many people rely on a casual glance at modern-day Acharonim and kitzur seforim and do not really understand the final ruling that is being issued. Therefore, I commend you for taking the time to learn the sugya with all of the Rishonim. 

That being said, the basic premise of your argument is completely incorrect. Many people today feel that if they find enough Rishonim to support a position, it becomes accepted Jewish thought and the halacha. However, this is not true. The Rokeiach (217) you mentioned is cited by the Shulchan Aruch (621,6) Rama (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 249:15) and is the accepted halacha.

The Rokeiach writes as follows: “Regarding the custom to give tzedakah for those who have passed away, etc., how can it help to give tzedakah for the deceased if he has already left the world? Hashem knows the hearts of people, whether they are dead or alive, and if the person who is deceased would have given tzedakah, then the act of the live person does provide some benefit for the deceased. We find a precedent for this regarding Dovid Hamelech, who did so for Avshalom, and for Rav Yochanan, who did so for Acher and stopped the smoke that was coming out of his grave when he passed away. The only case where it will not help is in the case of someone evil.”

We see from the words of the Rokeiach that giving tzedakah in the merit of the deceased helps. Once the Shulchan Aruch and the Rama, the two amudei hora’ah, have ruled, then you can “pile up” Rishonim from here to the moon and it is of absolutely no consequence. The accepted halacha determines the belief and practice of Klal Yisroel, and therefore the deceased most definitely receive reward for tzedakah given in their name.

You can ask as many questions as you wish on the Rokeiach, and maybe you were not zocheh to understand exactly what the Rokeiach meant, but this does not change that Jewish practice and thought is shaped by the halacha. Therefore, there is not the slightest lack of integrity for Jewish organizations to promise reward to the deceased for giving tzedakah. To the contrary, people should open their hearts and wallets and donate as much tzedakah as possible in memory of their deceased relatives and it will definitely help them have an easier din in the next world.

On a final note, the Rokeiach implies that this halacha does not work if the deceased was a rasha. This is difficult to understand, for the Rokeiach himself brings a proof to what he says from Avshalom and Acher. There are ways to resolve this question, but not in the context of this article (see Shu”t Takanas Hashavim 1:12). However, if the deceased were not practicing Jews during their lifetime, but were tinokos shenishbu, then we can suggest that if they had been taught Torah and understood the true value of giving tzedakah, they would have done so, and it was only because they were not that they didn’t, so we can still apply the words of the Rokeiach.