מצות עשה ליתן צדקה לעניי ישראל כפי מה שראוי לעני אם היתה יד הנותן משגת , שנאמר פתח תפתח את ידך לו , ונאמר והחזקת בו גר ותושב וחי עמך ונאמר וחי אחיך עמך , וכל הרואה עני מבקש והעלים עיניו ממנו ולא נתן לו צדקה עבר בלא תעשה שנאמר לא תאמץ את לבבך תקפוץ את ידך מאחיך האביון ; לפי מה שיחסר העני אתה מצווה ליתן לו , אם אין לו כסות מכסים אותו , אם אין לו כלי בית קונין לו , אם אין לו אשה משיאין אותו , ואם היתה אשה משיאין אותה לאיש , אפילו היה דרכו של זה העני לרכוב על הסוס ועבד רץ לפניו והעני ירד מנכסיו קונין לו סוס לרכוב עליו ועבד לרוץ לפניו שנאמר די מחסורו אשר יחסר לו , מצווה אתה להשלים חסרונו , ואין אתה מצווה להצשירו . יתום שבא להשיאו אשה , שוכרין לו בית ומציעים לו מטה וכל כלי תשמישו ואחר כך משיאין לו אשה , בא העני ושאל די מחסורו ואין יד הנותן משגת נותנין לו כפי השגת ידו וכמה עד חמישית נכסיו מצוה מן המובחר ואחד מעשרה בנכסיו בינוני , פחות מכ עין רעה ׃
“It is an affirmative precept to give alms to the poor of Israel, according as the poor have need, if in the power of the giver; for it is said, ‘Thou shalt open thine hand wide to him’ (Deut. xv. 8); and again, ‘Thou shalt relieve him, a proselyte[[34]] or a sojourner, that he may live with thee;’ and again, ‘That thy brother may live with thee.’ (Lev. xxv. 35, 36.) Whosoever sees a poor man begging, and shuts his eyes against him, and does not give him alms, transgresses a negative precept: for it is said, ‘Thou shalt not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.’ (Deut. xv. 7.) According as the poor hath need, thou art commanded to give. If he has no clothing, he is to be clothed; if he has no furniture, it is to be bought for him; if he has no wife, he is to be helped to marry one; if a woman, she is to be assisted in getting a husband: yea, if it had been the poor man’s custom to ride upon a horse, and to have a servant running before him—but he is now come down in the world,—it is a duty to buy him a horse to ride, and a servant to run before him, for it is said, ‘Sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth’ (Deut. xv. 8); and thou art commanded perfectly to relieve his want, but not to make him rich. If an orphan apply for assistance in order to marry, it is a duty to hire a house for him, and to provide all necessary furniture, and afterwards to help him to marry. If a poor man come and ask for relief, and the giver has not as much as he wants, he ought to give what his means afford. How much? He that gives a fifth of his property fulfils the commandment well. He that gives one part in ten fulfils it in a middling manner. He that gives less must be regarded as a person with an evil eye.” (Hilchoth Matt’noth Aniim, cvii. 1-5.) In this definition of the nature and extent of the duty of almsgiving, there is much that is good and worthy of our admiration, especially in this selfish and money-loving age, when poverty is regarded, if not punished, as a crime, and the poor are, by many, considered as unworthy of all domestic comfort. Without binding ourselves to the approval of all the details here specified, we must acknowledge, that the spirit of this passage is agreeable to the idea of true charity, and, if universally acted upon, would do more for the happiness of mankind than some theories now afloat. But though ready to admire and to acknowledge the general beauty and excellence of this passage, we must also remark that the main feature of charity is, by the rabbinical system, excluded. God commands that this help should extend beyond the narrow limits of selfishness and nationality, to “the stranger and the sojourner,” but the oral law neutralizes the mercifulness of God’s commandment by making the word stranger signify a proselyte to Judaism. The original Hebrew word גר (Ger) plainly means a stranger, as may be seen in the words of Moses—
ואהבתם את הגר כי גרים הייתם בארץ מצרים ׃
“Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deut. x. 19.) It is certain that the Israelites were not proselytes, but strangers; this word, Ger, therefore, signifies stranger, not proselyte; and yet the oral law says that no one can be a Ger without sacrifice, circumcision, and baptism, or now, that there is no temple, without the two last requisites:—
ובזמן הזה שאין שם קרבן צריך מילה וטבילה וכשיבנה בית המקדש יביא קרבן , גר שמל טבל או טבל ולא אינו גר עד שימול ויטבול ׃
“At the present time when there is no sacrifice, circumcision and baptism are necessary, and when the temple is rebuilt, he must bring a sacrifice. A Ger who is circumcised but not baptized, or baptized but not circumcised, is not a Ger, until he be both baptized and circumcised. (Hilchoth Issure Biah, c. xiii. 5, 6.)” This rabbinical definition of what is meant by Ger, restricts the exercise of charity within a much narrower limit than that prescribed by God, and does, in fact, destroy one of the most beautiful features of the Mosaic law, namely, the merciful provision which it makes for the relief of the stranger. The law of Moses has the spirit of its divine Author. He calls himself “a jealous God,” and it may well be called a jealous law, watching carefully over every departure from truth, and punishing it rigorously: and yet, like God himself, this just jealousy is tempered with mercy, and beams with love. The oral law, on the contrary, is an envious and vindictive code, and its zeal degenerates into narrow-hearted bigotry. It would not only punish the idolater, but exclude every stranger from the pale of charity, unless he be a proselyte; and an Israelite too, if he had in any wise dared to transgress the rabbinical commands. A remarkable instance of this hatred, to those whom it considers apostates, occurs in these laws respecting almsgiving. The oral law says, that the most meritorious exercise of charity is, the ransoming of captives:—
פדיון שבוים קרדם לפרנסת עניים ולכסותם , ואין לך מצוה גדולה כפדיון שבוים ׃
“The ransoming of captives goes before the feeding and clothing of the poor, and there is no commandment so great as this.” (Hilchoth Matt’noth Aniim, c. 8.) And yet if a brother Israelite should deviate from the rabbinical commands, the oral law makes it unlawful to ransom him, at the same time that it enjoins the ransom of a slave if he be a proselyte:
עבד שנשבה הואיל שטבל לשם עבדות וקבל עליו מצוות פודין אותו כישראל שנשבה , ושבוי שהמיר אפילו למצוה אחת כגון שהיה אוכל נבלה להכעיס וכיוצא בזה אסור לפדותו ׃
“A slave who is in captivity because he has received the baptism of slaves, and taken upon himself the commandments, is to be redeemed. But as to a captive who has altered even one commandment, if for instance he has eaten forbidden food in order to vex, it is forbidden to ransom such an one.” (Ibid.) Thus the oral law forbids all compassion even to an Israelite, if he is not of the rabbinic religion. The conduct which it prescribes towards poor Gentiles, “for the sake of the ways of peace,” מפני דרכי שלום, we have considered long since; but the prohibition to receive alms of the Gentiles, deserves notice here, as it furnishes another proof of the contracted views of the rabbies, and the falsehood of the oral law:—