Musar su II Samuele 8:15

בצדק תשפוט את עמיתך . The moral lesson here is that you should employ the weapon of צדקה, charity, to ensure that your fellow (especially if he is poor), should not become guilty of theft and have to be judged, i.e. משפט. We have an example of David who is reputed to have paid the penalty of people he convicted when he found that they did not have the means to pay the judgment. This is another aspect of "judging with righteousness" (19,15).

Great is charity — it is this quality for which the Holy One, Blessed be He, will be praised when he brings salvation to Israel, as it is said, "I that speak in victory, mighty to save" (Is. 63:1). Great is charity — it brings honor and life to those who practice it, as it is said "He that followeth after righteousness and mercy, findeth life, prosperity and honour" (Prov. 21:21). Great is charity — with this quality, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will redeem Israel, as it is said, "Zion shall be redeemed with justice and they that return of her with righteousness" (Is. 1:27). Great is charity — with this quality Abraham, our father, was praised, as it is said, "And he trusted in God and He reckoned it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6), and it is said further, "For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice" (Gen. 18:19). Great is charity — with this quality, David, King of Israel, was praised, as it is said, "And David executed justice and righteousness unto all his people" (II Sam. 8:15). Great is charity — with this quality King Solomon was praised, as it is said. "Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made He thee king, to do justice and righteousness" (I Kings 10:9). Great is charity — it reaches up to the very Throne of Glory, as it is said, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne" (Ps. 89:15). Great is charity — through it Israel was praised, as it is said, "And it shall be righteousness unto us" (Deut. 6:25). Great is charity — with it, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will in future be praised on the Day of Judgment, as it is said, "But the Lord of hosts is exalted through justice, and God the Holy One, is sanctified through righteousness" (Is. 5:16). Great is charity — it accompanies those who practice it at the hour of their departure from the world, as it is said, "And thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward" (Is. 58:8). Great is kindness — with it the world was built, as it is said, "The world on mercy is built" (Ps. 89:3). Wherefore a man should cleave to the quality of generosity which brings about all these good things (Mekhilta on Ex. 15:13).

This camp had three distinct features. 1) גמילות חסדים, the practice of kind deeds. 2) צדקה, performance of charity. 3) מעשר, tithing. The practice of kind deeds extends to rich and poor alike, to the living as well as to the dead, to the individual as well as to a group of people. The finest way of practising this virtue is by providing the needs of the community faithfully, without exploiting one's position. By upholding the principles of justice, truth and peace, one assures that G–d in His Heaven will deal with us on the basis of חסד. All of this is alluded to in Genesis 49, 16, דן ידין עמו, "Dan will judge his people." There was no other public-spirited person such as the famous Samson who devoted his life to judging the people. The reason the verse quoted adds "like one of the tribes of Israel," is explained by Rashi as a comparison with King David. It is written of King David that he "practiced justice and charity to all his people" (Samuel II 8,15). In addition to these two virtues, the attribute of חסד is added as belonging to this camp, similar to Jeremiah 9,23: כי אני ה' עושה חסד, משפט וצדקה בארץ, "for I the Lord, perform kindness, justice and charity on earth."

The fourth of Yitro's requirements, that they be שונאי בצע, abhor unjust gain, refers to a quality such as demonstrated by David who is described as performing "justice and charity simultaneously." (Samuel II 8,15) It says there: ויהי דוד עושה משפט וצדקה, and the Talmud in Sanhedrin 6 on that verse explains that David first handed down a verdict based on justice. When he found the convicted party too poor to pay the judgment he would pay the judgment out of his own pocket. The reason he did so was that he was afraid that he might have erred and then the convicted litigant would certainly not be able to walk away happy from Court, as we had stated earlier that he should. Midrash Shemuel, commenting on Psalms 119,121, in which David is reported as having prayed: “עשיתי משפט וצדקה, אל תניחני לעושק," "I have performed justice and charity, do not hand me over to the oppressor," explains that David prayed that his charitable nature should not be taken advantage of by those wicked ones who knew him.