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Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late Rebbe of Lubavitch used to give out dollars to people who came to meet him. Why did he do this?

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As explained here on chabad.org:

The Rebbe, of righteous memory, stood for hours distributing dollars and blessings to thousands of people every Sunday, and on other occasions. The Rebbe’s intention was that the recipient should give the dollar to charity. In this way, explained the Rebbe, when two meet, it should benefit another.

Usually, instead of giving the actual dollar bill to charity, the recipient would keep it and give away another dollar in its place. I know it was a long time ago, but do you remember if you did that? If you do not remember, I would recommend giving a dollar to charity as soon as possible.

At the link it explains why this was specifically a crisp new dollar bill and why it was connected specifically to giving the blessings that many were asking for.

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Yishai
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    another point is the fact on U.S. money it says "in G-d we trust" which was another pint the Rebbe emphasized in addition to giving charity – Dude Nov 05 '15 at 18:30
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  • is there any record of the Rebbe himself explaining so (or any other explanation)? There would be a grave halachic ramification; the recipient would be charged with giving the exact sum to charity. 2) if the purpose was to have a third party benefit why the need to distribute additional bills for non-present relatives of the individual meeting with the Rebbe? 3) per the reason for the crisp bills as indicated in the link, since that particular bill was usually kept by the recipient shouldn't it then be necessary for the recipient to likewise donate to charity a crisp bill?
    • – Oliver Jan 16 '18 at 15:32
  • @Oliver, 1) numerous. e.g.. Sure it would, why not? BTW, in practice as soon as you walked out there was a line of people ready to help you with that obligation. 2) I assume to give the charity in their זכות. Regarding 3) I can't imagine why. – Yishai Jan 16 '18 at 16:18
  • @Yishai 1) IMO, this is a better source; thanks. In practice, since it was meant for charity the recipient was obligated to "forward" the sum to charity, yet the responder (in the link provided in your answer) only recommends this reimbursement (unless, he actually meant it's obligatory and t'was a poor choice of words). 2) this would also be a nice gesture but it appears to negate the reason that "a third party should benefit" since it was accomplished with the bills distributed to the present individual. 3) are you agreeing with me or you can't imagine why it would be necessary? – Oliver Jan 16 '18 at 16:30
  • @Oliver, when dealing with non-religious people, language like "obligatory" doesn't necessarily accomplish anything. I don't understand your point #2, the charity still benefits. Re point #3, I can't imagine why it would be necessary. – Yishai Jan 16 '18 at 16:52
  • @Yishai 2) I understand that; I'm asking: since the whole purpose (per the link you provided) was that a third part should benefit from the audience with the Rebbe, and that was accomplished when person X was given a bill for Y, why the need to give additional bills on behalf of X's relatives? 3) Per the link, again, the bills were crisp so charity should be distributed in the most complete fashion, so shouldn't it follow that this bill (which was initially intended for charity but is being kept by Recipient X) be substituted for a different crisp bill when ultimately being given to charity? – Oliver Jan 16 '18 at 17:31
  • @Oliver, I don't follow. Giving others the merit of Tzedaka isn't a good thing? Also implicit with the giving is a blessing for that other person. O think you are overstating "whole purpose" here. Re #3, that would be up to the giver. The Rebbe's giving was with the crisp bill. If the shliach wants to do that too, good for him. – Yishai Jan 16 '18 at 18:00