DEUT728 … determining precedence [in giving tzedakah], even within categories, depends on how dire the situation is in each case. Rav Moshe Shternbuch…quotes Vilna Gaon on [this] verse "You shall not close your hands to the poor." When a person closes his or her hand and looks at one's fingers, they all appear to be the same length. It is only when the hand is opened that each person realizes that each finger is of a different length. This, the Torah is telling us not to close our hands to the poor and see each situation as equal. Rather, we are obligated to open our hands and see that each finger, situation, is of different length, need, and then we will be able to determine [which situation is more dire].