DEUT1408 Compassion is probably the primary motive for the many private groups that engage in poverty- relief efforts. It is clearly an important Jewish motivation too, but Judaism goes beyond the basic humanitarian feelings that all of us have as human beings. We are enjoined not so much to have sympathy but, more importantly, empathy, as the following biblical passage makes clear: You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow's garment in pawn. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.... When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick it over again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Always remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment. (Deuteronomy 24:17-18, 21-22). In the ancient world, even among Jews, one way people became slaves was by falling into debt; Slavery was, then, the method of last resort to regain financial solvency. (Exodus 21:2-11; compare Leviticus 25:39ff.) Consequently, the imagery in this passage from Deuteronomy is very powerful: Jews are to care for the poor because they themselves have known the slavery to which poverty subjects a person. Historical experience imposes a special responsibility on Jews because we, if anyone, should be sensitive to the indignity and, the slavery that poverty produces.