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March 19, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: The Divine is in the details
JWisdom.com Stewards of sacrifice with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama is waging war on Israel
March 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Israel's New Enemy: America?
JWisdom.com Love me not? with Rabbi David Aaron (5 minutes)
Jonathan Rosenblum: Washington Throws a Tantrum
March 17, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Orwell, Santayana, and Me
Jonathan Tobin: How Many Lives Is Biden's Pride Worth?
March 16, 2010
Steven Emerson: Combating Lawfare
JWisdom.com How to perform a miracle with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair (4 minutes)
Anne Bayefsky: Behind Obama's Dangerous Overreaction on Israel
March 15, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Father's obligations toward minor children
JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Judith Graham: Get the whole picture before a CT
March 12, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades
March 11, 2010
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.
March 9, 2010
Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss?
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause
March 4, 2010
Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses?
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub
March 2, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there
Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo?
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost
Feb. 25, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’
Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack
Feb. 23, 2010
Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes
Feb. 22, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically?
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk
Feb. 19, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us?
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain?
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review Feb. 2, 2009 / 8 Shevat 5769

How much do the poor have to help the poor?

By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Q. Our family lives on a very tight budget, but we are managing without any outside assistance. Are we obligated to give charity from our meager income?


A. Giving charity is one of the most important commandments. The Torah expounds on the great blessing that accrues to one who is generous in this mitzvah (Deuteronomy 15:10):

Surely give him, and don't let your heart be grieved when you give to him, for because of this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your deeds, and in all you set out to do.

Normally, a person should give at least ten percent of his income (after tax) to charity. This practice is called maser kesafim, a tithe of money, and is analogous to the agricultural tithes that were given by Biblical command from produce in the land of Israel.

Amazingly, the commandment of giving charity is such a basic requirement that even a poor person who is himself a charity recipient is required to give charity to other needy individuals from the money he himself receives. The community must provide needy individuals with all of their needs; this includes the human need to give charity:

Mar Zutra stated, even a poor person who is supported by charity must [himself] give charity. (1)

The Talmud then goes on to say that even for a charity recipient, giving charity to others can help rescue him from poverty.

However, a poor person does not give ten percent of his income, but rather a token amount. Regarding larger donations, the great early sage Rav Saadiah Gaon wrote, "A person must give precedence to his own support before that of others, and he is not obligated to give charity until he has enough to support himself, as it is written, "Let your [needy] brother live with you" - your life precedes the life of your brother. (2)

Exactly what is the poverty line? In the time of the Talmud, it was considered that a person could subsist for a year on an income of 50 zuz (an ancient coin). Therefore, someone who had a regular income at this level was not eligible for public support. But Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, a 14th century authority, commented that this figure itself included other forms of public support besides charity, including agricultural gifts. He adds:

Nowadays, when we don't have all this, a person is eligible to accept [charity] until he has sufficient resources to support himself from his income. . . We see that everything is according to the situation. In those days perhaps the cost of living was very low and perhaps it was possible to live comfortably on an income of fifty zuz, but nowadays it is impossible. And everything is according to the place and the time. (3)

The amount of income needed to be able to qualify for some degree of public support nowadays is far above what was considered "subsistence" level a generation ago. For example, years ago a washing machine was a luxury, but today it is a necessity -- there are virtually no Laundromats left.

So if you are at or below the level where you are obtaining or at any rate eligible for means-tested assistance, then you should be giving a token amount to charity. If you are making more than that, then you should strive to give ten percent to those needier than you, as long of course as this does not drive you back below the modern-day subsistence level.

Even if you find that you are exempt from giving a substantial amount of charity because of your limited means, you should still give a token amount in order to remain in the habit of helping others.


SOURCES: (1) Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 7b (2) Cited in Tur and Rema Yoreh Deah 251 (3) Tur Yoreh Deah 253

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JWR contributor Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, formerly of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Reagan administration, is Research Director of the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem, Jerusalem College of Technology. To comment or pose a question, please click here.

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