Halakhah sa Mga Awit 51:19: Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor, Kitzur Shulchan Arukh & Sefer Chasidim

If a poor person asks of you [to give him something], and you do not have anything in your possession to give to him, comfort him with words.¹⁸⁴See Leviticus Rabbah 34:15 as well as Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 9b. It is forbidden to speak harshly to a poor person or to raise your voice in a shout, for his heart is broken and crushed. Thus it says in Scripture, (Psalms 51:19) God, You will not despise a contrite and crushed heart. And it says, (Isaiah 57:15) Reviving the spirits of the lowly, reviving the hearts of the contrite. And woe to anyone who shames a poor person! Woe to him! Rather, let him be like a father to him, in compassion and in words, as it is said, (Job 29:15) I was a father to the needy.

It is forbidden to turn away a poor person, empty handed, even if you give him only a dried fig [a mere pittance], as it is said: "Let not the oppressed turn back in disgrace."²²Psalms 74:21. And if you have nothing to give him, console him with words. It is forbidden to scold a poor person or to raise your voice to him in a shout, because he is brokenhearted and humbled, as it is said: "A heart that is broken and humbled God does not despise."²³Psalms 51:19. Woe is to him who embarrasses the poor. Rather act towards him like a father, both in [feelings of] compassion and with words, as it is said: "I was a father to the poor."²⁴Job 29:16.

It is written at the end of Hosea, “Return, O Israel, unto the Lord thy God” (Hos. 14:2). Repentance is great in that it reaches the Throne of Glory for it is said, “Unto the Lord.”¹Yoma 86a. And it is one of those matters that had preceded the creation of the world.²Pesahim 54a. It is equal in importance to all the sacrifices for it is said, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Ps. 51:19). It does not say “sacrifice” but “sacrifices of.”³Sanhedrin 43b. Let it not seem to the penitent that he is distant from the station of the righteous because of his past perversions, sins and rebellion, for the matter is not so. He is loved and desired by the Creator more than the righteous, for he has tasted sin and has subdued his evil inclination and our scholars have said, “In the place where the penitent stand the completely righteous are unable to stand.”⁴Berakoth 34b.