[Avodah] Tzedaqah Before T'filah

[Zev Sero]

Rich, Joel wrote:

>>> Question: how come most qehilos routinely collect tzedaqah during
>>> hazaras hasha"tz?
 
>> Because more people are there, and they aren't busy davening.
>> Or listening to chazarat hashatz???

> IIRC the S"A says to give before davening, the Ari at Vayivarech
> (actually iirc "to set aside"), and no one that I could find says
> during chazarat hashatz.

This is all true.  From the giver's POV, the best time to give is before
davening, which psukei dezimra is.  That's when you get the best mitzvah.
But from the collector's POV, the best time to *collect* is when the late-
comers have already arrived, and people are not too busy to deal with you.
Since the time of collection is determined by the collectors and not by
the givers, it's not surprising that they collect at the time that gives
them the best results.  If their purpose was to be mezakeh you with a
mitzvah, rather than to collect for tzedakah, then they would go around
earlier.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher