Tzedaka- Who gets what?

When it comes to the mitzvah of tzedaka, the usual topic of discussion is the amount that a person is obligated to give. The question is important, but sometimes redundant thanks to ingrained Jewish generosity. Often, the more relevant question is who to give to, and how to divide available funds.

Replenishment of the deficit

The truth is that the two questions are interrelated. When discussing the amount one is supposed to give, it is common to skip out a crucial stage. The primary factor for determining the amount one is supposed to give is the needs of the poor person (or persons) involved. We are commanded to replenish what he is missing.

This point is clear from the way that the Torah commands us to give tzedaka. We are told:

כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּא֨רְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר־יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת־יָדְךָ מֵאָחִיךָ הָאֶבְיוֹן. כִּי־פָתֹחַ תִּפְתַּח אֶת־יָדְךָ לוֹ וְהַעֲבֵט תַּעֲבִיטֶנּוּ דֵּי מַחְסֹרוֹ אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ.

דברים טו, ז-ח

"When you have a destitute person among you, one of your brothers in one of your territories in your land that Hashem your G-d gives you, do not harden your heart and do not close your fist from your destitute brother. Rather, open your hand to him, or lend him, enough to replace what he is lacking."

Devarim 15:7-8

Accordingly, the Rambam opens his codification of the laws of tzedaka by stating that there is a positive mitzvah to give according to what is fitting for the poor person. One sees such a person requesting funds and averts his eyes from him or otherwise avoids giving him, transgresses the negative command above.

The Rambam adds a caveat that the above is true if the prospective giver can afford to give such an amount, and proceeds to delineate how much one is supposed to give if he cannot afford it.[1] This secondary discussion is the one that usually gets most concentration, probably based on the assumption that we will never be able to replenish the needs of all the poor. However, as we shall see, there are many practical ramifications of the primary discussion- what is 'enough to replace what he is lacking'?

The gemara (quoting a B'raisa) tells us that we are only obligated to sustain a poor person, not to make him rich. On the other hand, the personal language used by the Torah indicates that what he is lacking is subjective. If a person had become accustomed to the use of a horse to ride on and a servant to run in front of him (in our terms, a car and a housekeeper) and subsequently fell destitute, we must provide these things for him (if funds allow).[2]

One who refuses to sustain himself

The tana'im dispute what we are supposed to do when someone has money, but goes on hunger strike insisting that others provide for his needs. One view is that despite this unacceptable behaviour, we don't let him die. We give him food, and after his death we reclaim the expenditure from his property (if we collected from his property beforehand, he would no longer agree to accept the charity). However, the halacha follows the opposing view, that it is not our responsibility to care for such a person.[3]

Such extreme cases are rare. A more pertinent question is what to do when someone genuinely doesn't have enough money to support himself, but has the capability to work and earn enough money. It seems that we have no right to ignore the needs of such a person, otherwise the gemara would have extended the exemption of the previous case. However, it does not seem reasonable that we should implicitly condone such behaviour.

I believe that the resolution of this lies in the fact that there are many different ways to give tzedaka. The Rambam famously lists eight levels of giving tzedaka, the highest being enabling the poor person to be self-sufficient. He offers several ways of doing this, depending on the needs of the person involved. He might need a donation or loan (in order to start a business), or he might just need a business partner or job.[4]

When someone collects tzedaka, the easy option is to say "He should be working and not be dependent on others." Often it may even be true that the person should be doing more to help himself. However, this does not exempt us from our obligations towards him. If we think he should be working, the best thing to do is to help him find a job or start a business (which ever he prefers). If we make a genuine offer to provide such help but he is not interested, we are not obligated to help perpetuate his dependence on others.[5]

Communal funds and taxes

The Torah (shebichsav) only addresses the mitzvah of tzedaka to the individual, presumably in order to stress the personal responsibility that we all have. However, for practical reasons, communal bodies have been entrusted with the collection and distribution of tzedaka at least since the times of the Mishna.[6] Most individuals are not capable of determining whether each collector is genuine or not, and what exactly his needs are. Furthermore, in times where Jewish communities had autonomy, the official collectors had the power to decide what each person should give, and to enforce this.[7]

Nowadays, the government (and local authorities) fulfils this role to an extent. Welfare payments and discounts on services are given to the needy from our taxes.[8] However, at least in Israel, this is not enough to replenish all the needs of the poor. Thus every community should set up a tzedaka fund, collecting (albeit on a voluntary basis) for the local poor. Those entrusted with this task need to decide how to divide the funds available, assuming that there is not enough to 'replenish the defecit' of each person.

Chazal give us various guidelines here, all based on this pasuk quoted earlier. From the word אביון (destitute) we learn that whoever has a greater need has priority, as we might expect.[9] From the phrase מאחד אחיך (from one of your brothers) we learn that family come first. From באחד שעריך (in one of your territories) we learn that the local community takes precedence.[10] From בארצך (in your land) we learn that the poor of Eretz Yisrael come before the poor of the Diaspora.[11]

Clearly, these guidelines are not enough to dictate exactly what to give to each person. A lot is left up to the judgement of those entrusted with distribution of tzedaka, and care must be taken to ensure that these people are both competent and scrupulous.

Individual Collectors

For the reasons set out above, a person should give the bulk of his tzedaka to the local fund (assuming that there is one and it is run competently). Inevitably though, all of us are approached by individuals collecting tzedaka for themselves. This is the situation described explicitly in the Torah, and refusing to give potentially involves transgressing of a negative commandment as well as neglecting to fulfil a positive one. How much are we obligated to give?

Often we may have doubts over the honesty of collectors we don't know. The gemara actually tells us that we should be grateful to the dishonest collectors, as if all collectors were honest and we didn't give them, we would be in transgression every day![12] The clear implication is that when we don't know if the person is genuine, we have no obligation to give him. However, in many cases we can be confident that the person involved really does need tzedaka.[13]

Even in such cases, the gemara says that we need not give a large amount.[14] There is some debate among the rishonim about exactly what case the gemara is talking about, but in practice there is little difference between the opinions. It is sufficient to give enough to buy something small to eat.[15]

May we merit seeing the fulfilment of the promise:

אֶפֶס כִּי לֹא יִהְיֶה בְּךָ אֶבְיוֹן כִּי בָרֵךְ יְבָרֶכְךָ יְקֹוָק בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ. רַק אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם. כִּי יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ בֵּרַכְךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָךְ וְהַעֲבַטְתָּ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאַתָּה לֹא תַעֲבֹט וּמָשַׁלְתָּ בְּגוֹיִם רַבִּים וּבְךָ לֹא יִמְשֹׁלוּ.

דברים טו, ד-ו

"However, there will be no destitute among you, as Hashem will bless you in the land that Hashem your G-d is given you as an inheritance. If you will only heed the voice of Hashem your G-d, performing this commandment that I am commanding you today in entirety. Hashem your G-d has blessed you as He spoke to you, you will lend to many nations and not borrow; you will rule over many nations and they will not rule over you."

Devarim 15:4-6

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[1] Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 7:1-4

[2] Kesuvos 67b

[3] Kesuvos 67b, Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 253:10

[4] Hilchos Matnos Aniyim 10:7

[5] This is similar to one who refuses to accept tzedaka despite needing it, except that the usual solution (offering him a loan)  is not viable.

[6] See for example Peah 8:7

[7] For details see Rambam, Matnos Aniyim perek 9.

[8] It may be possible for some people to take into account some of the taxes they pay when evaluating how much tzedaka they should be giving, as they are already giving some without noticing. However, calculating how much we are giving is tricky, and many are receiving (in benefits and subsidised services) more than they are putting in.

[9] For example, if one family need an extra 2,000 shekel per month in order to pay rent, basic bills and buy food, and another family have all of this but need just 100 shekel per month to pay for (basic) activities for the children, the full 2,000 for the first family comes before the 100 for the second. Thus it will seldom be practical to fulfil the technical obligation to replenish a horse and servant for a rich person who became impoverished.

[10] Small, local tzedaka funds should generally be preferred over large, nationwide organisations. One reason for this is that smaller organisations tend to be able to have smaller running costs. For the same reason, it would probably be better if the national government limited their welfare activity, freeing up funds to be used more efficiently by local authorities and small private organisations.

[11] All in the Sifrei, parshas Re'eh section 116.

[12] Kesuvos 68a

[13] As I already wrote, even if he could be doing more to support himself this does not exempt us entirely from the mitzvah.

[14] Bava Basra 9a

[15] The Rambam (Matnos Aniyim 7:7) gives the example of one fig. See Beis Yosef, Yoreh Deah 250 and Shach ibid. 4.