Bibbia Ebraica
Bibbia Ebraica

Musar su Levitico 25:35

וְכִֽי־יָמ֣וּךְ אָחִ֔יךָ וּמָ֥טָה יָד֖וֹ עִמָּ֑ךְ וְהֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתָּ בּ֔וֹ גֵּ֧ר וְתוֹשָׁ֛ב וָחַ֖י עִמָּֽךְ׃

E se tuo fratello sarà povero di cera, e i suoi mezzi falliranno con te; allora lo sosterrai: come straniero e colono vivrà con te.

Shemirat HaLashon

We find many references along these lines in Tanna d'bei Eliyahu, some in Chapter 19:1, which awaken much merit for Israel, viz.: "L-rd of the world, behold our affliction, fight out battles and let our shame rise before You, what is done to us at every moment. And remember how many householders there are in Israel who have no livelihood, but toil in Torah every day, always. And remember how many paupers there are in Israel whose flesh the idolators draw from them (with taxes), but who toil in Torah every day, always. Remember how many youth there are in Israel, who do not know [the difference between] their right and their left hands, but who toil in Torah all the day, always. Remember how many old men and women there are in Israel, who go early and late to houses of prayer and houses of study, and who long and lust and look for Your salvation every day, always. Remember Your covenant which You made with our fathers, with the three tzaddikim, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And You also wrote for us in Your Torah (Vayikra 25:35): 'And if your brother grows poor and his hand falls with you, then you shall uphold him.' (You, too, uphold us.) My Father in heaven, remember how many cripples and how many blind ones we have in Israel, who have no food, and, even so, give wages to teachers to teach their children Torah. My Father in heaven, remember Israel, Your eternal acquisitions, as it is written (Devarim 32:6): 'Is He not your Father, your Acquirer?' And (Mishlei 8:22): 'The L-rd acquired me [in] the beginning of His way,' My Father in heaven, remember how many widows and orphans there are in Israel, who toil in Torah and in mitzvoth every day, always, etc."
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Shemirat HaLashon

And know, my brother, that the mitzvah of gemiluth chasadim is the highest level of the eight levels of the mitzvah of tzedakah, as Rambam wrote in Hilchoth Matnoth Aniyim 10:7, viz.: "There are eight levels of charity, one above the other. The very highest is supporting a Jew who has fallen [into poverty] and giving him a gift or a loan or entering into partnership with him or providing work for him in order to uphold him so that he need not appeal to people. Concerning this it is written (Vayikra 25:35): 'And you shall uphold him, [even if he be] proselyte or sojourner, and he shall live with you.' That is, so that he does not fall and become dependent upon others." (see Yoreh Deah 249) And how fitting and right it is to conduct oneself as I have seen done in some holy towns in Israel where there have recently been established a holy society for this purpose, which is called "the support of the fallers," which supports and upholds the fallers so that they not collapse entirely, G-d forbid. And this is what they do: They lend out for a specified amount of time a sum of money as indicated in their regulations and allow the repayment to be made in easy weekly installments. They appoint a man (either gratis or for a wage) from the society who goes each week to collect the monies from the borrowers in such a way that there is almost never any money missing from the fund. Now see how many advantages there are in this arrangement. Aside from fulfilling at the time of the loan the positive commandment of "And you shall uphold him," which is the highest level of the mitzvah of tzedakah, as mentioned above, he further does chesed with the borrower in the manner of repayment. And the formulation of Chazal (Succah 49b) is well known: "R. Elazar said: 'Tzedakah is rewarded only according to the lovingkindness within it."
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