Lakewood, NJ – The cottage industry of “begging” is alive and well in Lakewood, as hundreds of professional beggars, most of whom are out-of-towners, flock to the town annually to benefit from the Orthodox Jewish community’s generosity. But along with it, reports NYTIMES.com (http://nyti.ms/1yHyWZl), comes the typical problems associated with any industry.
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In the TIMES profile “The Beggars of Lakewood,” an unnamed volunteer who works at Lakewood’s headquarters for all things begging-related, a charitable agency called Tomchei Tzedakah, explains that like most self-regulating industries the begging industry in Lakewood has all the same problems other industries do, including occasional abuse of the system and discrepancies as to what sometimes constitutes causes worthy of issuing the permit, or ishur, which allows one to roam freely throughout the town soliciting donations.
According to the Tomchei Tzedakah volunteer, questions on the permit cover a range of circumstances that require one to apply for the ishur, like “medial needs,” “bridal-wedding needs,” and “debts,” but there are inevitably the outlying non-typical needs that make scrutinizing the issuance of the permit difficult.
“How do you say somebody’s not legitimate, not deserving?” the volunteer asks. “Who decides? How strict are you?”
But despite the drawbacks that stem from the occasional registered Lakewood beggar double-dipping or straying a bit from their stated reason for applying for the ishur, Lakewood residents by and large feel the town’s approach to the charitable problem is more “dignified.”
Aaron Kotler, president of Beth Medrash Govoha, said Lakewood’s approach has “a certain warmth and trust to it.”
“In a big city, in Manhattan, you see indigent people collecting on the street. That doesn’t feel as dignified as this,” Kotler said.
I always questioned the idea in Lakewood of requiring a certificate to collect. Shouldn’t the giver decide if he one should give?? If one feels he wants to collect let him!
to #1 : nonsense, there should always be a level of checks and balances, just like the u.s. government (judicial, executive, congress)
you want every crook easy access?
The nonsense begging has to stop.
Legitimate cases only please.
Hashem should help we should only be on the giving end and never on the receiving end.
The Times reporter got it all wrong;a shnorrer is not a beggar – these are definitely shnorrers. As the saying goes, “Beggars can’t be shnorrers.” Or in the words of Gertrude Stein, “A shnorrer is a shnorrer is a shnorrer.”
This is to weed out impostors that make up false pretenses as the basis for their financial need. It is difficult for an individual potential donor to verify the need of an individual requesting financial help. Do we want to judge a book by its cover and pass judgment in an instant to assume credibility or not? Also, if one is indigent and needs some basic help to get by, the financial need may not be at the same level of one that has overwhelming medical care needs, accumulated debt, or other extenuating circumstances. It is also to confirm that an individual is in fact authorized to raise funds on behalf of whomever they claim to represent.
I can’t understand why Shuls and other Jewish organizations don’t have regulations banning these professional beggars or “schnorers”. Aside from the argument of them not all being legitimate, many of them are very aggressive and arrogant, and disrupt one’s davening. They have no derech eretz, and sometimes come in groups, each one demanding a piece of the pie. Sometimes, they have the chutzpah to give you an argument, by stating that you “didn’t give them enough”. The latter phenomenon happened to myself three times, including once at the Kotel. I told one individual, that if he didn’t like the amount that I gave him, I’d be glad to take it back. Whereas some of these people might have legitimate needs, the majority make a living out of professional begging. In this day and age, it is ludicrous to have to host these individuals, who go from city to city, all over the USA (many come from EY), and from larger cities in the USA; some will harass Yidden and srtand over them, until they coerce them for gelt. It is not right, to do so. I’m sure that I will receive negative responses, but I had to get this matter off my chest!
One time I was attending a wedding at 770 Eastern Parkway. The professional beggars had the chutzpah to bother us, while the wedding was taking place under the Chupah. I asked them to wait, until the ceremony was over. Then, they came into the catering hall, and not once, but about a dozen times, bothered us for money. Some of them didn’t even acknowledge the contribution, and took the money, as if they had it coming to them! Unfortunately, some of those individuals just don’t have any derech eretz, or respect, and good manners!
The only tzedakkah you should offer is not Tzedakkah.
Give them a loaf of bread to one if you feel so oblighed. That is charity for the stranger.
To offer them any coin is to give them a blessing. Begging should not be blessed.
Thats what a jew can do to make sure that his fellow-man can eat.
There is only calamity when you offer them money.
Live for Jerusalem. Not the cheap skate.
Disgusting .
The Halacha says that one must give a prutah (anywhere from 7 cents to 15 cents- so to be safe a dime or a quarter) to an “oni”.
The din of ” dey machseroi” giving an oni what he needs, which would neccesitate one giving thousands of dollars (if you have it) to say pay for a wedding meal or a health problem or late rent is very specific and certainly doesn’t apply to those going around door to door to many people. In that case a perutah suffices.
Also “ein bodkin lemezonos” if a person is asking for food we don’t check if he is in fact telling the truth.
The fact is that these certs (now in every major US city and town) are utterly worthless. In many cases they are passed around by each person.
I used to give “larger” donations to unknown people. I stopped. I give a dollar or so or a quarter etc.
Even to people that looked distinguished. I’ve learned the sad truth way too often. There are too many importers out there.
many times they are upset. But I learned not to care
The catch is: and I’m strict about it, that I DO give tzedakah (maaser/chomesh) to individuals and institutions that I am very familiar with no one else.
It’s not easy.
But guess what happened?
The flakes stopped coming.
I don’t even bother with the guys that converge on me in large settings (big Brooklyn shuls, weddings etc) I know too many stories
A recent study found that many of the people begging outside haimishe shuls weren’t Jewish at all.