THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5776 Issue III Parshas Lech-Lecha His and Hers: Whose Tzedaka Money is it? Can a Wife Give Tzedaka From Her Own Funds, Without Her Husband’s Knowledge? By Rav Shlomo Cohen, Dayan, Beis Din Ahavas Sholom of Yerushalayim, Author of Pure Money

Mr. and Mrs. Stein* had been married for decades. Mrs. Stein survived the Holocaust as a young girl and she had applied for retribution from the German government years earlier. As Mr. Stein grew old and infirm, Mrs. Stein took over the running of the house hold and managing the family finances. She was pleasantly surprised when the German government eventually sent her a large check, as payment for the damages she suffered during the Holocaust. The elderly couple did not have children, and Mrs. Stein decided to give a large portion of the money to tzedaka. The shaila presented to Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, was the following: May Mrs. Stein give a few thousand dollars to charity without consulting her husband? If not, was the tzedaka fund obligated to give the money back to the husband? Rav Moshe’s teshuva is based on Bava Basra, Daf 52.