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DEUTERONOMY — 15:7 you

DEUT732 The verse speaks about when poverty exists "within you" or "within your community" (this verse). Based on this verse and the Talmudic discussion, Rema in the Code of Jewish Law rules that you come first (Rema on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 61:28). If you are poor, then you come before anyone else and you give to yourself first, in order to escape poverty. Mishna Berurah commentary, however, is quick to add that it is forbidden to rationalize in this area and be lenient with your own needs in order to give yourself more funds than you are actually entitled to (Mishna Berurah commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 156:2). You are only permitted to give yourself enough funds for subsistence and to remove yourself from abject poverty before you are obligated to begin giving to others. If any person extends his or her hand to receive charity, even a non-Jew, unless a Jew is certain that this person is a fake and not actually poor, the Jew must give this person some small amount at the minimum (Tur, Yoreh De'ah 251). Even if a Jew possess relatively little for himself or herself, he or she must never turn away a person putting out his or her hand for charity (Rema on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 249:4).

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:8 lend

DEUT734 Above all, the one refusing aid transgresses the specific commandment of the Torah regarding loans themselves, the Scriptural passage: "If you will lend money to My people, the poor that is with you." [Exodus 22:24- AJL] Chazal have it by tradition that this "if" does not denote an option, but a definite obligation, one we have been commanded to obey--to lend money to our brothers in their time of need. The commandment is repeated in Re-eh [this verse]: "You shall surely lend to him." This applies to loans. (The Torah uses the word "if" since this is the condition upon which the end of the sentence depends, "You shall not be to him a creditor"--since this injunction only applies when the borrower is Jewish and not a Gentile.

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:8 lend

DEUT735 It may further be inferred from the Sefer Hachinuch that the amount of the loan will depend on the needs of the borrower, as long as the lender can afford such an amount. Indeed this is stated explicitly in a passage of the Torah (Re-eh, this verse): "You shall surely lend him (ta'avitenu signifying lending, according to Chazal), and the verse concludes with "sufficient for his needs."

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:8 lend

DEUT739 Some authorities declare that the rule, "the generous giver shall not give away more than a fifth," only applies when the donor seeks, of his own volition, to find needy people and to distribute charity among them. When, however, hungry and bare individuals approach him, whom he is duty-bound to feed and clothe as the Torah requires [this verse]: "sufficient for his needs in which he is lacking," or, if he were to encounter captives to whom the Divinely ordained obligation to redeem applies, then, if he wished to spend more than a fifth of his capital for this purpose, he is permitted, and this is deemed a saintly characteristic (Rambam: Mishnah Commentary, Peah, Chap. 1). Apparently, the limitation does not apply where danger to life is involved. If, for an instance, the captive is in danger of his life or the hungry of starving to death, then the limit of one fifth is inoperative. The Gemara (Bava Metzia 62a) only lays down that one's own life takes priority over his neighbor's; we have found no source to indicate that one's wealth takes precedence over his neighbor's life. Know, too, that the injunction limiting one's spending to one-fifth only applies when one squanders his possessions. This is indicated by the term mevazbez. Or a person holds a steady position or owns a going concern for which from which he drives his weekly sustenance and a little more besides, he is allowed to spend the extra income on charity even if, proportionately, this amounts to more than one-fifth of his earnings. Know, further, that the ordinance as such refers only to charity in general. As for the support of Torah learning, Shittah Mekubetzeth takes the view that this is not included in the restriction. This is logical, since the donor receives a share of the reward for the Torah study, as we find in the case of Issachar and Zevulun. The tribe of Zevulun supported the tribe of Issachar and took a share in the reward for their Torah study ... (Bamidbar Rabba, Nasso, 13:17).

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:8 lend

DEUT741 The use of the hyphenated word tzedakah-charity indicates equality between tzedakah and charity, and for those unfamiliar with either the Hebrew word or the concepts of tzedakah, they might indeed appear similar. However, from the psychological and philosophical viewpoints, they are quite different. One only needs to begin by analyzing the two different words to see a vast difference. The word charity comes from the Latin caritas, similar to the French cheri, which means love. In a similar vein, the word philanthropy is derived from the Greek philo, which means love, and throp, which means man. Thus, philanthropy means love of man. Therefore, the non-Jewish or Christian basis of charity is love. When I feel compassion for an unfortunate person, I give charity. The word tzedakah comes from the Hebrew tzedek, which means righteous, justice (Deuteronomy 16:20) or the correct thing to do (Leviticus 19:36). The Jew, then, must give tzedakah because it is the proper and right thing to do, not because he or she has a particular feeling for the recipient. One very practical difference would be the case of an insulting, cursing, foul-smelling beggar who demanded charity. It certainly would be hard to feel any love or compassion for such individual. Nevertheless, Judaism obligates the Jew to give this person tzedakah (Maimonides, Hilchot Matanot Aniyim 10:3). Where does the Jewish obligation to give tzedakah originate? Why can't the Jew say, If the person is foul-mouthed I will not reward such behavior? Why can't the Jew say, I worked for my money, and he should work for his? The answer is that it is not the Jew's money to begin with. God clearly says (Haggai 2:8) that all the money, gold, and silver in the world belongs to Him, and not to man. The psalmist says (Psalms 24:1) that everything in the world belongs to God, implying that nothing belongs to man. Therefore, in the act of tzedakah, a Jew is giving back to God what is already His. This is exactly what the MIshnah teaches (Avot 3:7), based on the verse in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 29:14). Since it is His to begin with, He tells to give back a small percentage and then we can use the rest (which still belongs to Him). Therefore, we are obligated to give because it is not our money at all, and God makes our keeping the eighty to ninety percent conditional upon giving the other ten to twenty percent to tzedakah. It is for this reason that some Jewish people have opened special tzedakah bank accounts where they take off a percentage of their income before it even reaches the regular bank accounts. In addition to the psychological advantage (the person does not feel that he or she is taking money out of his or her pocket), it is actually the more correct way to behave on a philosophical level as well, since the money never belongs to the person. We can now understand why a Jew must give to that unkempt, cursing poor person, irrespective of feelings--God, the owner of the money, told us to give. The Abarbanel (Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:7-8) says that we must look at ourselves like a broker, handling someone else's money. When it is our job to use someone else's funds, we must be very careful about every decision we make in regard to how the monies are invested and spent. If the owner tells us to invest in one particular manner, we must adhere to his or her request or the owner will take away the money and use another broker. God gives us His money, and tells us to invest part of it into tzedakah. If we do not follow the instructions, the owner, God, may decide to give these funds to someone else.

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:8 lend

DEUT736 Said he [Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai] to them: Go out and see which is the evil way that a man should shun.… Rabbi Simeon said, One who borrows and does not repay. When someone borrows from a man, it is one in the same as borrowing from the Omnipresent God--as it is said, "The wicked borrows but does not repay, but the righteous one deals graciously and gives" (Psalms 37:21); Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 14. In a very real sense, when someone will not honor a loan, he commits a crime not only against his fellow man, but against the Almighty. For the Almighty Himself, and His Torah, enjoins us to extend a helping hand to our brother in need. "If there be among you a needy man… You shall surely lend him enough for his need, that he is lacking" [this verse]. The Almighty orders us to lend it to the needy, it is only just to regard Him, as it were, as the endorser and guarantor of every such loan, that is made in obedience to the Torah's decree. When the needy borrower will not repay a loan, he wrongs not only his creditor but also the Almighty, his Maker who is here his "co-maker." For not only will his creditor consider himself deprived by the borrower of his rightful money; the Almighty will have to reimburse the creditor, as it were, so as not to face the charge that His mitzvah has proven to be unjust.

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DEUTERONOMY — 15:8 lend

DEUT740 The Rabbi taught: "lend" -- This refers to one who is impoverished, but does not want to take from charity. In such an instance he is given the money as a loan, and [when he wishes to return it], it is ceded to him as a gift. "shall you lend"-- the Torah speaks in the language of man [i.e., No halachah Is to be derived from the redundancy] (Ketuvoth 67b)

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