3,199. The Daily Fund

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 9:2

We also appoint administrators who collect bread, various types of food, fruit and money from the residents of each courtyard. The donors give whatever they give (i.e., not pre-set amounts) and the administrators distribute what was collected in the evening, giving each recipient food for that day. This fund is called the tamchui (literally, “plate”).

Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 9:3

The Rambam says that he’s never seen, or even heard of, a Jewish community that didn’t have a kupah (the type of charity fund described in halacha 9:1), but some communities have a tamchui and others don’t. The standard procedure in the Rambam’s day was for the administrators of the kupah to go around collecting every day and to distribute the funds collected on Fridays.