LEV21 A person cannot use his poverty as a justification for stealing. Regarding the burnt offering of cattle, which eat only from the feeding bin of their owner, it is stated, "But the inwards and the legs he shall wash with water…and he shall burn it on the altar" (verse 13). In the case of fowl, however, which eats stolen food (birds fly onto fields of strangers and eat what they can find) it is not stated that the priest shall burn the entrails on the altar, but that he shall cast them away, for they have eaten stolen food. (Yayikra Rabbah 3, cited by Rashi). The Alshich notes that this lesson -- that stolen goods have no place in the Sanctuary -- is taught by the offering of a fowl, an offering usually brought by the poor. This is significant because it emphasizes that even if someone is very poor, he has no right to steal. He should ask others for charity if he is not able to earn a living. But his poverty does not give him license to take something from others without their permission.