{"id":13994,"date":"2026-01-06T17:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T17:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kabbalah.info\/?post_type=book&p=13994"},"modified":"2026-01-06T17:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T17:04:28","slug":"charity-for-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/charity-for-the-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"731. Charity for the Poor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Portion BaHar<\/em>, May 1958, Sunderland, UK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portion, BaHar<\/em> [In the Mount (Leviticus 25:1-Leviticus 26:2)]: \u201cIf a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him.\u201d RASHI interprets, do not let him decline and fall, and it will be difficult to raise him. Rather, strengthen him from the time when his hand weakens. What is this like? Like a load on the donkey. While it is on the donkey, one grabs it and helps it stand. If it falls to the ground, five will not raise it to its feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is written in Midrash Rabbah<\/em>, \u201cHappy is he who makes the poor wise; in the day of affliction, the Lord will save him.\u201d There are five interpretations here: 1) Aba Bar Yirmiah said in the name of Rabbi Meir: \u201cIt is the one who crowns the good inclination over the evil inclination.\u201d 2) Isi said, \u201cIt is one who gives a penny to a poor.\u201d 3) Rabbi Yochanan said, \u201cOne who buries a \u2018dead Mitzva<\/em> [commandment].\u2019\u201d 4) Our great sages say: \u201cIt is one who runs away from the kingship.\u201d 5) Rav Huna said, \u201cIt is one who visits the sick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should understand the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Why is everyone straying from the literal? It is written \u201cpoor,\u201d and they interpret the words as \u201ccrowning the good inclination over the evil inclination\u201d and \u201cburying the \u2018dead Mitzva<\/em>,\u2019\u201d and \u201crunning away from kingship,\u201d and \u201cvisiting the sick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) What is the connection to \u201cIf a countryman of yours becomes poor\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we must know whom the verse calls \u201cpoor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a verse in Ecclesiastes (9): \u201cThere was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it \u2026 and found in it a poor and wise man. But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.\u201d RASHI, in the name of Midrash Agadah<\/em>: \u201cA small city is the body. \u2018Few men\u2019 are man\u2019s organs. \u2018A great king\u2019 is the evil inclination, whose organs all feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It follows that the meager and the poor and indigent is called \u201cthe good inclination.\u201d Since his words are not heeded, the verse, \u201cHappy is he who makes the poor wise; in the day of affliction, the Lord will save him,\u201d is said in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also said there in the Midrash<\/em>, \u201cMore than the landlord does for the poor, the poor does for the landlord, for so said Rut to Naomi, \u2018The name of the man with whom I did today is Boaz.\u2019 It is not written \u2018he did,\u2019 but rather \u2018I did.\u2019 She said to her, \u2018I did many good deeds with him today for the penny he had given me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we can understand the above Midrash<\/em> [treatise]: Since a poor man is called \u201cthe good inclination,\u201d for this reason, Aba Bar Yirmiah said in the name of Rabbi Meir, \u201cIt is the one who crowns the good inclination over the evil inclination,\u201d and Isi comes to interpret how and with what we can crown the good inclination over the evil inclination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, \u201cIt is by giving a penny to a poor,\u201d through the power of charity, as our sages said, \u201cCharity saves from death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabbi Yochanan came and interpreted that through it, he will be rewarded with burying a \u201cdead Mitzva<\/em>\u201d [someone who died but no one sees to his proper burial], meaning the evil inclination, for \u201cThe wicked in their lives are called \u2018dead,\u2019\u201d and we are commanded to bury the evil inclination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our great sages interpret this further: By this he saves himself from the kingship, meaning from the great king called \u201cevil inclination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rav Huna interprets further, that by this he can come to visit the sick, since the soul is regarded as sick, as it is written, \u201cfor I am lovesick\u201d (Song of Songs 2). In other words, the good inclination has love for the Creator to the point of sickness, except the evil inclination does not let one feel it. Yet, everyone is rewarded by giving a penny to the poor, since the merit of charity is so great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Portion BaHar, May 1958, Sunderland, UK Portion, BaHar [In the Mount (Leviticus 25:1-Leviticus 26:2)]: \u201cIf a countryman of yours becomes poor and his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6246,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[26],"class_list":["post-13994","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-rabash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKabbalah | 731. 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