DEUT765 Advice for Giving to One Who May Be an Imposter: it cannot be denied that not all people who ask for charity are genuinely in need of it. There are certainly some unscrupulous people who pose as poor people out of greed. Indeed if it were not for these people, those refusing to give charity would have unbearable guilt. As it is, people who refuse to give charity often excuse themselves by claiming that the supposed poor person might be an imposter. The following rabbinic passage explains how one should not use mistrust as an excuse for not giving charity. Rabbi Chanina used to send four zuzim to a particular poor man every Friday for the Sabbath expenses. Once he sent the money with his wife. She came back and told him: "That man has no need for the money." Rabbi Chanina asked her: "How do you know this?" She replied: "I heard his family asking him on what kind of tablecloth he would like to be served, on white linen or on colored silk." Rabbi Chanina told her: "Rabbi Elazar was referring to such as he when he said: 'Come let us express our gratitude to the impostors, for if not for them, would always have sin, as it is written, And he will call to God about you, and you will have sin'" (this verse). Our rabbis have taught: Whoever pretends to be blind, or that his belly is swollen from hunger, or that he is struggling in his legs in order to collect charity although he has not need for it, will truly fall victim to that condition sometime during his life [Talmud Ketubot 67b].
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