The money given for such an occasion is often referred to as mitzvah gelt, or good deed money, and the person making the journey to Israel is called a shaliach mitzvah-a messenger of a precept. The rabbinic sages have said that if a person is involved in the commission of a good deed, no harm will come to that person. By transforming a person who is traveling into a messenger of a good deed, the traveler thereby comes under the sanction of Divine guardianship to complete this specific act.
Rabbi Ron
Why do people sometimes give people who are making a trip to Israel an allocation of money to give to tzedakah?
