Expert: Ovadiah ben Avraham - 5/30/2007

Question
hello.  i once heard that there's such a thing as a travel mitzvah, where i give a dollar to a friend who is travelling and ask that person to please do me a favor and give it to a person who could use it once they reach their destination.  ostensibly, this is so the plane won't go down.  have you ever heard of this mitzvah?  if so, could you tell me from where it originates?

thanks.
lev

Answer
Lev,
Thanks for your kind question. Judaism has a tradition that HaShem protects the messanger on a mission of goodwill. When we send a dollar to be given to charity at the destination we are, in fact, creating such a messenger. It is an old custom (not mitzvah, commandment) that I'm honestly not sure of the origin. Hope this helps. Shalom!