The Oral Talmud with Benay Lappe and Dan Libenson Episode 45

Rav Huna says: Tzedakah distributors examine one who asks for food, but they do not examine one who asks for clothing. If you wish, say that we know this from a verse; if you wish, say instead that we know this via svara [moral intuition or moral reasoning]. If you wish, say that we know this via svara: This one who stands before us in rags is exposed to contempt, whereas that one who is hungry is not exposed to contempt. If you wish, say instead that we know this from a verse, as it is written: “Is it not to share [paros] your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah 58:7). The word paros is written with a shin, alluding to the word parosh, meaning examine and investigate, and only then should you give him. And there in the same verse it is written with regard to clothing: “When you see the naked, that you cover him,” indicating that “when you see” him you should immediately cover him. And Rav Yehuda says just the opposite: Tzedakah distributors examine one who asks for clothing, but they do not examine one who asks for food. He too adduces supports for his opinion. If you wish, say that we know this via svara; if you wish, say instead that we know this from a verse. If you wish, say that we know this via svara: This one who is hungry suffers, whereas that one who is in tattered clothing does not suffer in the same way. And if you wish, say instead that we know this from a verse. Here, it is written: “Is it not to share [paros] your bread with the hungry?” meaning, share it immediately, just as the word is read. Since the word is read with a samekh, Rav Yehuda does not understand it as alluding to examining the recipient. And there, it is written: “When you see the naked, that you cover him,” meaning, when it will be clearly apparent to you, after you have investigated the matter and found that the supplicant is deserving, then you shall cover him. The Gemara comments: It is taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rav Yehuda: If a poor person said: Cover me with clothing, the tzedakah distributors examine him; but if he said: Sustain me with food, they do not examine him.

(1) Cry with full throat, without restraint; Raise your voice like a ram’s horn! Declare to My people their transgression, To the House of Jacob their sin. (2) To be sure, they seek Me daily, Eager to learn My ways. Like a nation that does what is right, That has not abandoned the laws of its God, They ask Me for the right way, They are eager for the nearness of God: (3) “Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?” Because on your fast day You see to your business And oppress all your laborers! (4) Because you fast in strife and contention, And you strike with a wicked fist! Your fasting today is not such As to make your voice heard on high. (5) Is such the fast I desire, A day for men to starve their bodies? Is it bowing the head like a bulrush And lying in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call that a fast, A day when the LORD is favorable?

(6) No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock fetters of wickedness, And untie the cords of the yoke To let the oppressed go free; To break off every yoke. (7) It is to share your bread with the hungry, And to take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him, And not to ignore your own kin.

(8) Then shall your light burst through like the dawn And your healing spring up quickly; Your Vindicator shall march before you, The Presence of the LORD shall be your rear guard. (9) Then, when you call, the LORD will answer; When you cry, He will say: Here I am. If you banish the yoke from your midst, The menacing hand, and evil speech, (10) And you offer your compassion to the hungry And satisfy the famished creature— Then shall your light shine in darkness, And your gloom shall be like noonday. (11) The LORD will guide you always; He will slake your thirst in parched places And give strength to your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, Like a spring whose waters do not fail. (12) Men from your midst shall rebuild ancient ruins, You shall restore foundations laid long ago. And you shall be called “Repairer of fallen walls, Restorer of lanes for habitation.” (13) If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, From pursuing your affairs on My holy day; If you call the sabbath “delight,” The LORD’s holy day “honored”; And if you honor it and go not your ways Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains— (14) Then you can seek the favor of the LORD. I will set you astride the heights of the earth, And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob— For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.