[Avodah] Torah Institutions = Tzeddakah?

[Zev Sero]

regalkit at aol.com wrote:
> I don't know if this was discussed in the past, however I was wondering 
> if anyone knows the source for calling Torah Institution donations 
> tzeddakah?

No, it's not tzedakah in the strict sense.  But today the word "tzedaka"
in common usage means any worthy cause, any mitzvah, whether it's actual
tzedaka or talmud torah or other mitzvos.   In part this comes from our
minhag to give maaser, which can be used not just for mitzvat tzedaka
but also for any other mitzvah or good cause.  So all of those get lumped
under the term tzedaka, which they are in a broader and more vague sense.

> There is definitely a priority given to a pauper who is a Talmid Chochom
> over a regular person.  "If a person is wealthy, instead of building a
> synagogue or bet midrash he rather should give his money to respected
> scholars to enable them to study Torah. Sefer Chassidim 1039"

That's not tzedaka either.  It's certainly a mitzvah, but not tzedaka.

The actual obligation of tzedaka on each person is very small: only
a third of a shekel a year (YD 249:2).  Anything more than that is
voluntary, and therefore can be given to other causes.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas