LEV1036 The Talmud presents the following hypothetical case: "Two man are traveling together [in the desert], and one has a pitcher of water. If they share the water, both will die, but if any one drinks, he can reach civilization [and survive]. Ben Petura taught, 'It is better that both should drink and die, rather than one of them look on while his comrade dies.' But Rabbi Akiva came and taught, [the verse in the Torah] 'that your brother may live with you' [this verse] means [only if you both can survive must you share the water, but in case of conflict] your life takes precedence over his]" (Bava Mezia 62a). While the Talmud never formally rules as to which of these two opinions is binding, Rabbi Akiva's preeminence in Jewish law and thought has guaranteed that his view has been widely accepted by Jewish scholars. Akiva's insistence that we are not obligated to sacrifice our life in an attempt to save someone else seems compelling for two reasons: ∙ Jewish law could not legislate that A be required to give water to B, for if that were the case, then B would be required to give the water back to A, and on and on, until two emaciated bodies would be discovered in the desert alongside a bottle of water. ∙ Akiva's explanation that "your life takes precedence" also makes intuitive sense. Otherwise, the biblical and rabbinic ethic would presume that your responsibility to your neighbor is greater than to yourself, and that your neighbor's obligation to you is greater than to himself.

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LEV1037 … the poor of our city have a clear priority. Rabbi Saadiah [882-942, the famous Gaon of the Babylonian community] wrote that a person is required to put his own sustenance first, and is not duty-bound to give charity to others until after providing for his own. The Torah says, "And your brother shall live with you" [this verse], a verse which clearly establishes that your life comes first and only then, the other person. Also remember what the widow of Tzarefat said to the prophet Elijah [1 Kings 17:12], "And I have done this for me and my son," first for herself and afterward for her son, a comment he approved of since Elijah said [v. 13], "Do it for yourself," "and your son" only afterward. After one has seen to his own sustenance he may then give priority to the sustenance of his needy parents over that of his adult children, and then he should see to the sustenance of his adult children. Arbaah Turim, Yoreh Deah, Chapter 251. (Continued at [[GEN840]] Genesis 15:6 reckoned BOROJMV 126).

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LEV1038 There are eight gradations in the giving of charity, each higher than the other. The highest of these, which has no superior, is to take the hand of a fellow Jew and offer him a gift, or a loan, or enter into a business partnership with him, or find him a job, so that he may become economically strong and no longer need to ask others for help. Scripture says about this, "… And you shall strengthen him, that is, the stranger or sojourner, so that he may live with you…" [this verse]. In other words, you shall strengthen him so that he does not fall into poverty and need charity. (Section 7) (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Matanot Aniyyim, Chapter 10). We tend to think of charity as something we give to unfortunates to offset their calamities. There is much merit in that, as Maimonides will indicate [i.e., in his tzedakah hierarchy -- AJL]. But here this great Jewish conceptualist introduces a new and illuminating hierarchy to Jewish tradition. Tzedakah, he wants us to understand, involves more than merely alleviating symptoms. At its best, it is about eliminating causes. Don't scrimp on vision--think big, even if you must give little. Raise your tzedakah sights beyond tiding people over; instead, try to get them firmly back on their own two feet.

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LEV1039 Rabbah b. Avahu found Elijah and asked him: Must one make an "arrangement" for a debtor? [i.e., When estimating the value of his property to pay off his creditors, must it be arranged that a certain amount of food and clothing be left for him?] He answered: It is written: "and if your brother grows poor," and, in respect to erchin ["valuations" of human beings for sacred purposes] (Leviticus 27:8): "And if he is too poor," just as in the case of valuations, "arrangements" are made, in the case of a debtor, too, "arrangements" are made (Bava Metzia 114a)

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LEV1041 See [[DEUT809]] Deuteronomy 15:11 open DORFFDRAG 159-60

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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.

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LEV1042 Rabbis David Hartman and Tzvi Marx recommend that donors engage in "preventive tzedaka" have not just "crisis tzedaka," by not waiting until someone is impoverished before offering help. We should offer assistance to those who have fallen on hard times so that they can avoid total economic collapse. The biblical verse that mandates extending interest-free loans to the poor begins: "If your brother is in bad straits, and his means fail with him [that is, he loses the ability to support himself] ... You shall strengthen him" [this verse]. The rabbis understand the command to "strengthen" another as meaning that we must offer help when someone is just beginning to stumble.

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LEV1043 There are eight gradations in giving charity, each higher than the other. The highest of these, which has no superior, is one who helps a fellow Jew who became poor and offers him a gift, or a loan, or enters into a business partnership with him, or finds him a job, in order to strengthen his economic situation before he needs to ask [for help]. Concerning this, Scripture says, “You shall support him... so that he may live with you” (Leviticus 25:35), that is, help him before he falls and needs. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:6-14

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LEV1046 Giving intelligently involves, above all, observing how best to benefit the recipient, giving so as to extricate him from his poverty by granting a gift or loan, or by finding him employment, or any other means that will make him self-supporting. The donor fulfills the mitzvah of [this verse]. It is similarly stated in the Sefer Chassidim: "There is a form of giving which does not appear to be charity. Yet it has always appeared eminently so in the eyes of God. Suppose a poor man was selling some product or a book which no one wanted to buy, and this person bought it from him. Or else the poor man looked for a position; no one wanted to hire him--but this man gave him employment. There is no higher form of tzedakah." I have known rich and respected people of this type. They have undertaken certain business activities for the specific purpose of providing employment for poor Jews to earn a living. All of this, and the like, is tzedakah, if not higher. Happy is their lot.

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LEV1049 Know further, that the provision of gainful employment, or similar assistance to the poor, fulfills the mitzvah of "and you shall uphold him," according to the legal authorities. This is an open reprimand to those who are not particular in giving the employment to a Jew when they require unskilled labor. These workers are certainly not rich. They are almost paupers. [This] verse: "and if your brother be waxen poor" certainly describes their circumstances. Furthermore, even where the man is known to be rich, and is not referred to by this verse, nevertheless, as a Jew he takes priority over a non-Jew, in buying from him, selling to him, and the like. So we find in the Sifra. Know too, that the Rama in his Responsa (Chap. 6) rules that even when there is a slight difference in price, a Jew is to be preferred to a non-Jew…

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