Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
The Torah describes how to treat people who are poor.
כִּי פָתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת יָדְךָ לוֹ
וְהַעֲבֵט תַּעֲבִיטֶנּוּ דֵּי מַחְסֹרוֹ
אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ׃
You must open your hand to them
and lend them enough for their needs
whatever they need.
What does it mean that we’re supposed to give both דֵּי מַחְסֹרוֹ (day mahsoro, enough for their needs) and אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ (asher yeh’sar lo, whatever they need)? These two phrases seem to be saying the same thing!
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״דֵּי מַחְסוֹרוֹ״ — אַתָּה מְצֻוֶּוה עָלָיו לְפַרְנְסוֹ, וְאִי אַתָּה מְצֻוֶּוה עָלָיו לְעַשְּׁרוֹ. ״אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ״ — אֲפִילּוּ סוּס לִרְכּוֹב עָלָיו וְעֶבֶד לָרוּץ לְפָנָיו.
The Sages taught: The words “enough for their needs” teach that you are commanded to support a person, but you are not commanded to make them rich.
The words “whatever they need” expand this to include even a horse to ride on and a servant to run in front of them.
The Sages explain that the language in our pasuk teaches something specific: Not all people’s needs are the same. When we are giving to people who are poor we must focus on the dignity of the receiver, and give to them based on their personal situation.
In the continuation of this Gemara, there’s a story about Hillel the Elder.
Hillel wanted to help a person who was poor, who had grown up in a wealthy family. So Hillel got a horse for this person to ride on, and hired a servant to run in front of this person. (This was a sign of respect for wealthy people.) Once, Hillel wasn’t able to hire a servant to do the running job. So Hillel himself acted as the servant, and ran a significant distance in front of this person!
- Why do you think Hillel was willing to play the part of the servant? What can this teach us about protecting people from embarrassment?
- How far do you think we should go in order to ensure that someone who is poor can keep their dignity?
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