LEV1031 (Continued from [[EXOD710]] Exodus 22:24 lend BLOCH 51). Charitableness is motivated by compassion (Baba Batra 10) and a sense of responsibility for the welfare of one's fellowman [this verse]. The significance of charity as a religious rite conducive to salvation and divine forgiveness is another important factor (Rosh Hashanah 16b). The underlying rationale, which denies the individual the choice of whether to give or withhold charity, is the premise that all wealth belongs to God (Haggai 2:8) and that the possessor of property is merely a custodian who is permitted to manage it for the benefit of all. Hence, the rabbis said, he who gives no charity will in the end come to lose his property and have to depend on charity for his subsistence (Bamidbar Rabbah 18). On the other hand, if one is a generous contributor to charity, and as a result runs out of funds, the Almighty will provide him with additional money so that he may continue his philanthropy (Baba Batra 9b). The rationale of charity, based on God's ownership of our wealth, is implicit in the phraseology of several biblical injunctions. Thus the command to help the needy "within any of the gates in the land, which the Lord thy God gives you" (Deuteronomy 15:7) stresses the point that it was God who gave the land and who lays down the rules for its disposition.