DEUT712 A common debate among those involved in antipoverty work concerns the relative value of direct service addressing immediate needs and of advocacy or organizing addressing the need for systematic change. Advocates of direct service argue that the hungry need to be fed today and that the homeless need somewhere to sleep tonight. Those who prefer organizing or advocacy point out that soup kitchens and shelters will never make hunger and homelessness disappear, whereas structural change might wipe out these problems. The Deuteronomic response [15:4-11] to this debate is refusal to take sides, or better, an insistence on both. Rather than advocate exclusively either for long-term systematic change or for short-term response to need, this passage articulates a vision that balances the pursuit of full economic justice with attention to immediate concerns. In this reading, the text in question becomes a charge to work for the structural changes that will eventually bring about the end of poverty while also meeting the pressing needs of those around us. (By Jill Jacobs, "Jewish Political Ethics in America")

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DEUT713 Utopians see the day when the mitzvah of tzedakah will be obsolete since no one will be in need of financial aid from his fellow man. The Pentateuch is ambivalent on the subject (this verse, Deuteronomy 15:11). The prophet is more sanguine (Micah 4:4). However, there will never be a time when men will not be in need of gemilut hasadim, acts of loving-kindness. This fact alone bestows upon the religious element in human life a longevity equal to that of mankind, for acts of loving–kindness can be rationalized only religiously, and men will always need a rationalization for what they do.

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DEUT714 Know that the precedence giving to the poor as against the rich, mentioned above… is only in force where both apply for free loans. If the rich required the loan for an investment, and the lender would lose his share of the profits by giving the money to the poor without charge, and he cannot afford this loss, he is not obliged to give the money as a free loan to the poor. (See chapter 1 where we have cited the opinion of the Chinuch that the mitzvah of gemiluth chesed loans depends on each person's circumstances.) In this connection, Chazal (Bava Metzia 33a) have stated that [this verse] "Howbeit, there shall be no needy among you" signifies that "your" needs come first. One should, however, most carefully consider whether he really is unable to afford the loan, for the evil inclination always entices one to believe that one does not have the means. Now, if one really can afford the loan, yet he closes his fist and refuses to do chesed fearing that he might thereby become impoverished, his evil streak will eventually bring him, God forbid, to poverty. So Chazal have declared (Bava Metzia 32a): "Whoever [overtly] considers his own needs first, will come to be in need." This criterion of whether he really has the means applies not only to the case mentioned above, but also where he wants to invest the money in business and a poor man desires to borrow that sum as a free loan (See Part II, Chap. 10).

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DEUT715 This teaches us that the inhabitants of your city take precedence to those of another, and that if one begs from door to door [as opposed to "sitting in the gates"], you are not bound to give him charity (Sifrei)

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DEUT716 See [[DEUT205]] Deuteronomy 6:5 heart DUTIES 13-15

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DEUT719 See [[DEUT641]] Deuteronomy 13:14 scoundrels GATES 241-3

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DEUT720 See [[DEUT646]] Deuteronomy 13:18 compassion GATES 211

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DEUT717 It is a positive commandment to give alms to the poor of Israel, according to what is fitting for them, if the giver can afford it, as it is said, "You shall surely open your hand unto him" (Deuteronomy 15:8), and again, "Then you shall uphold him; as a stranger and a settler shall he live with you… That your brother may live with you" (Leviticus 25:35-6). He who seeing a poor man begging turns his eyes away from him and fails to give him alms, transgresses a negative commandment, as it is said (this verse). You are commanded to give the poor man according to what he lacks. If he has no clothing, he should be clothed. If he has no house furnishings, they should be bought for him. If he has no wife, he should be helped to marry. If it is a woman, she should be given in marriage. Even if it had been his wont to ride a horse, with a man servant running in front of him, and he has now become poor and has lost his possessions, one must buy him a horse to ride and a man servant to run before him, as it is said, "Sufficient for his need in that which he needs" (Deuteronomy 15:8). You are thus obligated to fill his want; you are not, however, obligated to restore his wealth.… If the poor man comes forth and asks for enough to satisfy his want, and if the giver is unable to afford it, the latter may give him as much as he can afford. How much is that? In choice performance of this religious duty, up to one-fifth of his possessions; in middling performance, up to one-tenth of his possessions; less than this brands him as a person of evil eye. At all times one should not commit himself to give less than one-third of a shekel per year. He who gives less than this has not fulfilled this commandment at all. Even a poor man who lives entirely on alms must himself give alms to another poor man. Moses Maimonides Mishneh Torah -- The Book of Agriculture.

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DEUT718 Maimonides writes, "Whoever sees a poor person begging and averts his eyes and gives the poor person nothing, has violated a negative prohibition of the Torah [this verse; "Laws of Gifts to the Poor" 7:2)]. It is acceptable, however, to give a beggar a small sum. As the Ramah suggests, "Give him something, if only a fig [that is, a small amount]" (Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh Deah 249:4). Rabbi Avrohom Feuer notes that, in modern terms, this would translate into giving, as a minimum, "the smallest coin that can buy some food item at the market." Feuer, Tzedakah Treasury, 371. However, in large cities, where we may be confronted by several dozen beggars every day, it is permitted to give to some and not all of them.

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DEUT721 "in your land": This teaches us that the inhabitants of Eretz Israel takes precedence to those who live outside the land; "that the Lord your God gives to you" -- [This extends the obligation to] all places (Sifrei)

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