Need for the Needy
by Eliezer Segal
I have long been bothered by the passage in Deuteronomy that declares “the poor shall never cease out of the land.” Back in the days when my youthful idealism was more uncompromising, I really did expect that Jewish tradition, if implemented fully, should produce a utopian society that entirely eradicates poverty, hunger, homelessness and exploitation.
And indeed the Torah is not lacking in texts that seem to promote a very radical economic program. This is not confined to its repeated exhortations to donate generously to the poor and not to abandon the widows, orphans and strangers.. There are specific regulations about cancellation of debts, restoration of ancestral property to families who were pressured to sell it, and generous severance packages for those unfortunates who are forced into personal servitude. In light of all this, one might legitimately imagine that a Torah-based society would ultimately stamp out poverty altogether.
To further complicate the matter, another verse seems to envision the exact opposite scenario: “There shall be no poor among you.”
An intriguing solution to this contradiction was suggested many years ago by a Muslim imam of my acquaintance who allowed me—I was still at an early stage of my career—to benefit from his community’s charity [zakat] fund earmarked for the Muslim poor. When I protested that I did not really qualify as “poor,” he argued that the definition of poverty might have to be revised in the context of Canadian affluence. Indeed, perhaps poverty should be defined in relation to the general economic level of the society.
The sixteenth-century preacher Rabbi Ephraim Solomon Luntschitz did actually understand that poverty can be eliminated (allowing for some rare exceptions) in the land of Israel if the society governs itself in accordance with the divine plan. However, in diaspora communities (whose disobedience is demonstrated by the very fact of their failure to return to their homeland), poverty will indeed persist. It was in this context (explained Rabbi Ephraim), that the Torah was admonishing the residents of the holy land to give priority to the needs of their own community and not be overly considerate in distributing charity to poor Jews from abroad. This is quite a remarkable opinion, coming from somebody who often criticized the stinginess of the wealthy in his own diaspora community.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch in nineteenth-century Germany took a similar approach, asserting that economic imbalances are the natural byproduct of human diversity, but that the divine laws that govern Jewish society in our homeland can eliminate or minimize them.
A midrash cited by Rashi said that the Torah is placing two options before us: if Israel carries out God’s will by implementing the social measures set out in the Torah (especially the amnesty on debts in the sabbatical and jubilee years), then there will be no poor among us, and hence no need to observe the laws of charity. If however, the nation does not live up to those ideals, then poverty will remain a fixture of communal life that will have to be dealt with through philanthropy or by regulating the treatment of debtors. As pointed out by Ibn Ezra and Bahya, in a society that is completely equitable and affluent, nobody will need to borrow, and hence the laws regulating the treatment of debtors would become irrelevant.
According to the twelfth-century French commentator Rabbi Joseph Bekhor-Shor, the Torah’s assertion that “there shall be no poor among you” was not a categorical prediction, but only a general observation; (and our ancient sages recognized that such generalizations often have exceptions). What the Torah meant is that you should not automatically assume that particular poor persons are being penalized for their moral or religious failings. Quite the contrary—perhaps this homeless beggar is really a righteous saint who is being allowed to serve out the penalty for his few sins in his lifetime, so that he may enter the next world with a completely clean slate. Don’t try to second-guess the Creator’s plans, but just fulfill your obligation to treat the poor compassionately.
An extraordinary story appears in the Christian Gospels: A woman carrying a precious alabaster vial of expensive perfume burst into a dinner in which Jesus was participating, shattered the container and poured its contents onto his head. The observers were indignant at her wastefulness, protesting that the price of the perfume could have been used for the support of the poor. But Jesus retorted that they should leave her alone, “for you will always have the poor with you, and you can help them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.”
Jesus then insisted that “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” And yet this episode (which seems central to their claim that Jesus was “the anointed one [Mashiaḥ]”) is almost never quoted by Christian writers. That might have something to do with how it conflicts with the widespread (but questionable) image of Jesus as a champion of the poor.
In one of his novels, S. Y. Agnon wrote about a city in which all the Jews were affluent, so there were no poor persons upon whom to bestow charity. When Rabbi Anshel, a needy vagrant, passed through there, they rejoiced because he provided them with an occasion to perform a cherished mitzvah; and upon his departure, they felt deprived of the opportunity. Therefore they established a “Rabbi Anshel fund.” They all hung charity boxes in their homes for Rabbi Anshel, who would return every year to collect his donations.
If we ever do achieve an ideal society in which everybody can live in comfortable affluence, I might consent to forgo the privilege of performing that particular precept.
In any case, I expect that there will always be a few impecunious scholars and newspaper columnists around, who would benefit from the community’s generosity.
First Publication:
- Alberta Jewish News, October 25, 2023, p. 22.
For further reading:
- Ben-Sasson, H. H. “Wealth and Poverty in the Teaching of the Preacher Reb Ephraim of Lenczyca.” Zion 19, no. 3/4 (1954): 142–66. [Hebrew]
- Chertok, Ted. “Person, Family and Community: The Individual and the Collective in Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Biblical Commentary.” Jewish Studies Quarterly 18, no. 4 (2011): 402–20.
- Hornsby, Teresa J. “21. Anointing Traditions.” In The Historical Jesus in Context, 339–42. Princeton Readings in Religions. Princeton University Press, 2009.
- Nachshoni, Yehudah. Studies in the Weekly Parashah: The Classical Interpretations of Major Topics and Themes in the Torah. Translated by Schmuel Himelstein. 1st ed. Vol. 3. 5 vols. ArtScroll Judaica Classics. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1988.
- Sagiv, Yonatan. Indebted: Capitalism and Religion in the Writings of S. Y. Agnon. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press/University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016.
- Segal, Eliezer. “Rabbi Eleazar’s Perutah.” Journal of Religion 85, no. 1 (January 2005): 25–42.
- Urbach, E. E. “Political and Social Tendencies in Talmudic Concepts of Charity.” Zion 16, no. 3–4 (1951): 1–27. [Hebrew]
My email address is: [email protected]
