Donation from Maaser Money, Knife with Doubtful Meat Use

One question: Is it permitted to use maaser (tithe) money to donate toward purchasing an Aliyah La'Torah (a donation to the synagogue)?Another question: A knife that there’s doubt whether it was ever used for meat in the past—but it definitely hasn’t been used in the past 24 hours, and maybe even 48 hours—and it was used to cut hot dairy. What is the halachic status? And what is its status going forward regarding dairy and pareve use?Thank you and Tizku Le'mitzvot.

Shalom Uv'Racha,

A. If the aliyah was purchased with the intention to pay for it using maaser money, it is permitted. But if one did not have such intention at the time of the purchase, then it is not allowed.

B. If a meat knife was used to cut hot dairy food:
 – If it was within 24 hours of the meat use, there are cases where the dairy food becomes forbidden.
 – If 24 hours have already passed since the knife was used for meat, the food is permitted.

In a case where we do not know whether the knife was used for meat within the past 24 hours, the food is permitted.

As for the knife itself: if it was used for both hot meat and hot dairy—even if a significant amount of time passed between uses—it becomes forbidden for any use and must be kashered by doing hagala.

However, if you don’t know if it was ever used for hot meat, and you do know it was used for hot dairy, the knife may continue to be used for dairy.