Halakha Amsal 12:10: Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor & Kol Bo

Anyone who averts his eyes from [the need of] tzedakah is called Belial ["Wickedness"], just as the idolaters worship Belial, and of the idolaters Scripture says, (Deut. 13:14) That some scoundrels [children of Belial] from among you have gone [and subverted the inhabitants of their town] by averting their eyes from [the need of] tzedakah. It says, (Deut. 15:9) Beware lest you harbor a base [belial] thought.¹⁸⁰See Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 68a. And such a person is called, "wicked," as it is said, (Prov. 12:10) The compassion of the wicked is cruelty. Such a person is called, "a sinner," as it is said, (Deut. 15:9) He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will incur a sin.¹⁸¹See Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 10a. The translation reads, "guilt," but the connection here is through "sin." The Holy One, Blessed Be He, is close to the cries of the poor, as it is said, (Job 34:28) He listens to the cry of the needy.¹⁸²Maimonides does not quote this exactly. Therefore, one needs to be especially sensitive to their cries, for they [the poor] have a covenant established [between them and God], as it is said, (Exodus 22:26) Therefore, if he cries out to Me, I will pay heed, for I am compassionate.

One who appeases a poor person with words is greater than one who gives charity. And anyone who turns his eyes away from [giving] charity is called a ruffian, cruel and a sinner — as it is stated: Be careful, lest a ruffian thought arise in your heart (Deuteronomy 15:9); the mercies of the wicked are cruel (Proverbs 12:10). And he denies his ancestry. As he is not from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were merciful, but rather from the seed of the nations, about which it is written: they are cruel, they show no mercy (Jeremiah 50:42). Anyone who has mercy will be shown mercy, as it is stated: and He will grant you mercy, and He will be merciful to you (Deuteronomy 15:9).