Lending to the Poor
Rambam's famous "ladder of tzedakah" places the highest value on lending money to a poor person to help that person become self-sufficient.
| Translation | Original |
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| There are eight degrees of tzedakah, each higher than the next. The highest degree, exceeded by none, is that of the person who assists a poor person by providing him with a gift or a loan or by accepting him into a business partnership or by helping him find employment – in a word, by putting him where he can dispense with other people’s aid. With reference to such aid, it is said, “You shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you” (Vayikra [Leviticus] 25:35), which means strengthen him in such a manner that his falling into want is prevented. |
שמנה מעלות יש בצדקה זו למעלה מזו, מעלה גדולה שאין למעלה ממנה זה המחזיק ביד ישראל שמך ונותן לו מתנה או הלואה או עושה עמו שותפות או ממציא לו מלאכה כדי לחזק את ידו עד שלא יצטרך לבריות לשאול, ועל זה נאמר והחזקת בו גר ותושב וחי עמך כלומר החזק בו עד שלא יפול ויצטרך.
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-In fact, Rambam draws a specific distinction between tzedakah and lending money to a poor person, placing lending in an entirely separate category because it prevents a poor person from descending to the level of needing a handout, and thereby preserves their dignity.
עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפַּט יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה וְאֹהֵב גֵּר לָתֶת לוֹ לֶחֶם וְשִׂמְלָה: וַאֲהַבְתֶּם אֶת הַגֵּר כִּי גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
1. In what ways does this text suggest that we mimic God?
2. What is God's responsibility to us and what is our responsibility to others? What are the different sources of these responsibilities?
3. This text reminds the reader of Israelite slavery. In what ways is a history of slavery connected to doing justice and loving the stranger?
| Translation | Original |
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| It is a positive mitzvah to lend to the poor, as it is said, “You should lend money to my poor, the poor of your people.” One might have thought this was a discretionary act. But the Torah teaches, “You must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs” (Deuteronomy 15:8). And this mitzvah is greater than [giving] tzedakah to the poor who ask for it, for he is already at the stage where he must ask, while this one has not yet reached that stage. And the Torah specifically rebukes one who refrains from loaning [to the poor in this manner], as it is said, “[If] you are mean to your kinsman and give him nothing, he will cry out to God against you, and you will incur guilt.” (Deuteronomy 15:9). [AJWS translation] |
מצות עשה להלוות לעניי ישראל שנאמר אם כסף תלוה את עמי את העני עמך, יכול רשות תלמוד לומר העבט תעביטנו וגו' ומצוה זו גדולה מן הצדקה אל העני השואל שזה כבר נצרך לשאול וזה עדיין לא הגיע למדה זו, והתורה הקפידה על מי שימנע מלהלוות לעני שנאמר ורעה עינך באחיך האביון וגו'.
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-If debts must be forgiven every seven years, lenders will be wary of making loans as the shemitah year approaches and the poor will be unable to access credit. Despite the Torah's warning, this is exactly what happened.