LEV1040 As an example of the ethics of our Halachah, take the laws governing Charity (Hilchot Tsedakah). The word Tsedakah teaches us that Judaism does not consider it a favor for the poor to have their condition improved but an inalienable right. The Rabbis were so advanced in their views of Social Justice that they were convinced that indiscriminate almsgiving aggravates the misery of the recipient besides preventing other measures from being used that would be more beneficial to all concerned. It is the duty, as well as the prerogative, of him who has some of the blessings of this world not to rest content so long as others suffer for want of those very things he can spare. The Torah [this verse, Deut. xv. 8] anticipated the maxim of the text-books of the Communists and Socialists -- "To each according to his needs; from each according to his powers." Epigrammatic as this advice may sound, we prefer the warmth of the Biblical command: [Deut. xv. 7-11]. From this extract was the giving of alms amplified by the Rabbis, and later reduced to a fine art by Maimonides in the chapters on Tsedakah in his Mishneh Torah. It is apparent that Talmudic ethics proceed upon the principle that whosoever is alive has a right to be alive to be kept alive.