A well placed reminder to people to appreciate services afforded to them by their local organizations and contribute to the pushke is always a good idea.
Actually having a pushke available would be an even better idea.......
On a related but tangential note, Moshe raises an interesting question in this post (mild profanity alert - which this blogger does not condone) as to whether or not home goods stores with mikvo'os on the premises should accommodate non-customers, and though I think two and three times before commenting in disagreement on somebody else's blog, this one struck a chord with me. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts as well in the comments section of THIS post......
10 comments:
G6, living where we do, its hard for us to even imagine what its like for people "outside" to find the public keyli mikveh, drive to where ever that might be and back again. We are really spoiled here:) Moshe's experience reminds me of those stores who's policy is "bathroom for customers only". Theres one thing to have a policy and another to be a "mentch". The owner could have made it clear that really it is for customers only, however, in this case he would tovel it for him. Im reminded of a story where someone went into a store with kids and asked for the bathroom for her child. As she was arguing about their policy (customers only) this child proved how badly she had to "go". This mom looked at the owner, said thanks anyway and walked out, leaving the mess to be cleaned up...
Toiveling may be a mitzvah but a retail store is under no obligation to toivel merchandise not purchased there. The dish mikva is present on site as a marketing tool, not a mitzvah tool, and is one way that a smaller store can compete with the bigbox stores whose prices are less, by offering a service which the bigbox stores don't.
Our community dish mikvah has a clear sign up reminding those who use the mikvah that a donation should be offered--it costs to keep the mikvah in working condition. Those smaller stores with dish mikvaot on premises could solve their problem if they posted a sign saying "Items not purchased here will be toiveled for a donation of X dollars. Toiveling will take place after such donation has been made." Those who find that it is too much trouble to take their items to the community mikvah just might decide that it isn't all that much trouble if they knew they had to pay in the stores while a donation in the community mikvah was suggested but still optional.
I have a friend who will go into a local store to Toivel, and it bothers me. We live in a community with at least three Keilim Mikvaos, and I don't see why she cant use one of them. A shul, whether you pay dues or not is there to srvice the religious needs of a community. A private store is not. My friend does in fact patronize that store, but I am constantly reminded of what a hard time these small stores have in this age of Walmart and Target, and every grocery store selling all sorts of home products!
One year before Pesach the lines were very long in this small cramped store. One person started yelling at the owner, and said "you should have a system!"
The owner responded "If you shopped here more than once a year, I would have a system!"
Could you please post the text of the sign?
This Keilim Mikvah is for the use of the Kehilla and the Washington Heights community. We welcome your use of these facilities. We request that you help defray the costs of maintenance by contributing in the Pushke.
Thank You.
The Board of Trustees - KAJ
I think it depends. A person might walk into a store with a mikveh to tovel, not intending to buy, and end up buying something. Could the store allow free mikveh use (within reason - say, 2 items only) as a loss leader? Even several people toveling 2 items a day don't cause a lot of wear and tear on the mikveh (after all, the items have to be clean). I'd say it's up to the proprieter, but there are times it might make good sense to let someone tovel without buying.
I tovel (myself) in any mikvah whether I bought a keli there or not.
One of the shops in our town has a keilim Mikva. We always ask the owner if it is OK to use, even though, we did not buy the item there. The owner has always, very graciously, allowed us to use it.
So Anonymous, are there shuls with Mikvaos, or even free standing community mikvaos? If yes, why not use those?
I guess I'm spoiled. There are a few free keilim mikvaos in my neighborhood and I've never even thought of paying. There's no tzeddakah box nearby to give a hint that donations should be dropped in the box to help defray the costs of keeping the mikvah going.
It's sad when people have a negative experience such as the one described...but hopefully that is the exception rather than the rule. If a store has a policty, there's a nice way to say it and sometimes exceptions can be made for people but that's up to the storeowner to decide.
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