DEUT804 See [[DEUT713]] Deuteronomy 15:4 needy GREENBERG 74

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DEUT806 With regard to social welfare, Jewish ethics assumes that there are infinite needs, but finite resources with which to address those needs. Jewish ethics considers poverty and hardship to be perennial features of life in a "messy," pre-messianic world. Consequently, Jewish ethics insist that the social and economic needs of the disadvantaged must be addressed and that they must be assuaged, but that it would be unrealistic to assume they could be completely eliminated. Consequently, Jewish ethical teachings regarding social and economic welfare relate more to treating the disease of the individual in need rather than trying to completely cure the economic or social afflictions of society as a whole. Jewish social welfare is individual centered, "client" centered, rather than focused on the messianic task of curing society of all of its economic and social woes. Jewish ethics deals with the problems of the individual poor rather than with trying to solve the problem of poverty.

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DEUT802 In 1949, the New York Times, which has been running an annual "Neediest Cases" fund raising campaign since 1919, made the editorial decision to stop distinguishing between the "deserving" and the "undeserving" poor. As the paper explained: "What a bleak world it would be if we helped only those who were thoroughly blameless. A good many of us make our own bad luck, and we suppose that some of the people represented in the Neediest Cases would not be in trouble now if they had managed their lives differently. It may even be appropriate once in a while, when help is asked, to recall Lord Chesterfield's words: 'Do not refuse your charity, even to those who have no merit but their misery.'" [Cited in Julie Salamon, Rambam's Ladder, pages 75-76. Salamon, in her discussion of this action by the New York Times, notes a conservative critique of this position: "The elite once held the poor to the same standards of behavior that it set for itself: moral character determines the strength of a person's claim for assistance. Those who worked and struggled and yet were overwhelmed by adversity deserved help; the idle and dissolute did not. Over time, though, elite opinion came to see the cause of poverty not in individual character and behavior but in vast, impersonal social and economic forces that supposedly determined individual fate. In response, need became the sole criterion for aid, with moral character all but irrelevant" (Heather MacDonald, The Burden of Bad Ideas).] Julie Salamon, author of Rambam's Ladder, cites a man she interviewed, Paolo Alavian, a successful immigrant to the United States who had long regarded beggars with contempt: "Now I realize that not everyone can make it. Now I see he may be young and look like he could work, but when you get close you see he has many problems--drugs, alcohol, disease, and bad habits." (Salamon, Rambam's Ladder, 14). Realizing that such behavior will always characterize some people might be behind the Bible's belief that "there will never cease to be needy ones in your land" [this verse].

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DEUT803 Perhaps because hunger is an ongoing problem, the Bible warns us not to become accustomed and indifferent to the hunger pangs of others. We should realize, as noted, that "There will never cease to be needy ones in your land…" [this verse] and feel obligated to help provide them with food. That a large number of people still starve to death is a terrible indictment of those of us who have the means to help feed the poor, but don't. In the first paragraph of the Birkat HaMazon (Grace after Meals), Jews praise God as One "who feeds the entire world (hazan et ha-olam koolo), with goodness, grace, lovingkindness, and compassion." Thus, this prayer assumes that despite periodic famines throughout the world, God has arranged human society so that nobody need starve. Although this strikes some people as naïve religious thinking, it is true. If human beings starve to death (an estimated seven to eleven million people do so each year) [see George McGovern, Bob Dole, and Donald Messer, Ending Hunger Now, pages 2 and 10. The figure of eleven million would translate into 30,000 deaths daily from starvation, or 1,250 people an hour. Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has said: "Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year."] that is because we do not equitably distribute what God has given us. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "There is enough for everybody's need, but not for everybody's greed."

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DEUT805 While the Torah places great emphasis on helping the poor, it also teaches that there will "never ceased to be needy ones in your land" [this verse]. This verse should inhibit the more affluent from feeling that the problems of poverty are invariably the fault of those in need; rather, the Torah's words remind us that a certain degree of poverty is part of the human condition, an insight that should make us less judgmental of those who suffer from it. [In addition, this verse helps explain why Jewish giving has historically focused more on the problem of the "individual poor rather than with trying to solve the problem of poverty" (Sherwin and Cohen, How to Be a Jew, 214). Elsewhere, Sherwin notes that "when discussing economic justice, many contemporary Christian ethicists call for the eminent realization of full employment and an end to poverty. Jewish ethicists perceive this view as a messianic hope rather than a realistic confrontation with the problems presently besetting us in our 'messy' [as opposed to messianic] world. An example of the messianic approach characteristic of a great deal of Christian ethics is the 1986 'U.S. Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Letter on the Economy.' In that document, the eradication of poverty and the attainment of full employment are considered realizable goals, rather than desirable hopes. Nowhere does this document quote the biblical assumption that 'There will never cease to be needy ones in your land.'" (Jewish Ethics for the Twenty-First Century, 131)].

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DEUT807 [This verse]. The biblical prediction that poverty will never be wholly eradicated has been fully substantiated by history. Even the wealthiest of nations has its share of needy and deprived people.… To give or not to give is a question no one is permitted to dodge. The answer depends upon the individual and his innate disposition. Some give indiscriminately, others are selective, and still others dismiss all requests on the grounds that "they are all phony" or that "charity begins at home." In all honesty, one must admit that not all appeals are a fraud and that charity does not begin at home but in the home.

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DEUT808 The earliest legislation of the Bible contains special provisions for the helpless, and for the amelioration of their lot (Exodus 22: 20–26; 23:6-12). The still more humanitarian law of Deuteronomy is particularly insistent upon regard for those in want. It urges liberality toward the poor, the manumitted slave and the landless Levite and consideration for the hired servant, the fugitive slave and the unprotected foreigner. With grim realism coupled with deepest sympathy, the Deuteronomic Code states: (this verse). The enjoyment of God's bounties must be shared with those who are in need (16:11, 14). Acts of kindness rate as tzedakah (24:13). The still more advanced Code of Holiness prescribes that the corners of the field, the gleanings and the fallen fruit of the vineyard shall be left unharvested. The original purpose of this legislation may have been, as Frazer suggests, to leave some of the corn for the spirits of vegetation on whom the following harvest depended. Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, I. p. 2234ff.; A.S. Peake, A Commentary of the Bible, p. 207. That motive is wholly forgotten and the humanitarian purpose is announced: "Thou shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger" (Leviticus 19:9-10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:21f.; Ruth).

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DEUT809 While “there will never cease to be needy ones in your land,” we are not permitted to sit back and apathetically let that situation persist. Hence Deuteronomy 15:11 continues: “which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land.” Judaism has accepted the continuous nature of the problem of poverty but is anything but fatalistic about it. On the contrary, in both theory and practice Jews have assumed throughout history that it is within our ability to provide for the poor and that it is our sacred task to do so. In this, all of the Jewish convictions described in the first section of this chapter play a role, but perhaps the fundamental, underlying principle is the dignity of the human being created in the image of God. Fulfilling the duty to care for the poor makes it possible for a fellow human being and perhaps a fellow Jew to escape the slavery of poverty and live as a respected member of the community, thereby gaining the status of free individuals that we all need and deserve. Preventing poverty and honorably assisting the poor are nothing short of holy activities. In making these aims our priority, we act as human beings should and imitate no less an exemplar than God: “If your kinsmen, being in straits, comes under your authority... let him live by your side as your kinsman. ... I the Lord am your God who brought you out from the land of the Egyptians to be their slaves no more, who broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.” (Leviticus 25:35-36 and 26:13).

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DEUT811 (I found an allusion to the worthiness of causing others to perform good deeds in [this] Scriptural verse: "Therefore I command you to say [to others]: 'You shall surely open your hand'" -- one should say, one should order and urge others to open their hands and contribute.) I have devoted considerable attention to the subject to demonstrate, for everyone's benefit, the great importance of arousing others to perform mitzvoth. All of this activity is included in the virtue of chesed. Yet people have the habit of avoiding the tasks of encouraging others to do mitzvoth even where the need is extremely urgent. As a result the mitzvah is not fulfilled. Such conduct is not at all commendable.

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DEUT812 In one verse of Scripture we read, "there will be no poor among you, for the Lord will surely bless you…" (Deuteronomy 15:4). Yet a bit later we find, "the poor will never cease out of the land" [this verse]. Perhaps the answer to the difficulty is that the first verse is not prophecy but a directive: "No matter what, let there be no poor man within you." [Hebrew בך -- AJL] As you view and appraise yourself, do not see a "poor man"; do not imagine yourself pitiable because the threat of poverty hovers over you and your "inadequate" earnings. The grudging evil eye that… with a miserly glance at your possessions fills you with misgivings, anxiety, or dread--let it be no part of you. If it is there, get rid of it.

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