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DEUTERONOMY — 15:7 open

DEUT725 While the Torah and the later Jewish tradition provide a number of rationales for helping the poor, the ultimate one is that God commands us to do so. This becomes clear, for example, in the following passage. Here the Torah tells us clearly that we should not expect to accomplish the utilitarian purpose of ridding the world of poverty, which might be one of the aims we have in mind in giving charity, “for the poor will never disappear from the earth.” Nevertheless, we must help the poor in response to God's command: (Deuteronomy 15: 7-8, 11). God owns the earth. As Owner, God can, like all human owners, decide how to apportion God's property. We human beings own property only vis-a-vis other human beings but not vis-à-vis God. Therefore, when God determines that some of the earth's goods that happen to be in our hands must be transferred to the poor, God has full moral and legal authority to make that demand (to say nothing of the power to enforce it), and we must obey.

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:11 cease

DEUT794 Jewish law... does not satisfy itself with establishing a floor of expectations; it also pushes us to aspire to become even better, reaching for an ideal. For example, even though the Torah acknowledges that “there never will cease to be needy ones in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11), it does not allow us to remain complacent, but rather requires us to support the poor in a variety of ways . Similarly, the Torah announces the ideal of justice and also requires us by law to do a number of things in the quest for both procedural and substantive justice.

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DEUTERONOMY — 16:20 justice

DEUT857 Tzedek means justice, as in the famous verse, “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). The Torah's division of justice includes both procedural and substantive elements. That is, it demands that in court we ensure fairness by following specific procedures in judging people (“procedural justice”), and in society generally we must guarantee that there is a substantial safety net so that the poor, orphans, and widows get what they need to live, receive an education, and find a mate (“substantive justice”).

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