Should I give charity to someone who may not deserve it?
By Rabbi Shalom Landau.
Rabbi Landau teaches that whether the poor man deserves your money is the wrong question to ask. Honestly, he says, maybe he doesn't: “He may have made bad choices and you know it.”
But you are about to walk into this week and ask God for things you didn't earn either: a deal to close, “a body that stays healthy, children that turn out okay,” protection you didn't earn, “blessings you didn't build.” You want grace, “the hand that opens, not because you were perfect, but because He's generous.”
So, he explains, “the moment you stand over someone, calculating whether he deserves your help, you have just set a standard by which you yourself will be judged.” That is why on Purim the rule is simple: whoever stretches out his hand, you give. “No questions, no investigations, no checking if he made good choices, because we are not running a merit system.”
We are “creating a world where people receive beyond what they earn,” and we need to live in that world, “because we are in it too.” His conclusion: “You're right, he probably doesn't deserve it. Neither do you. Give anyway.”
Related concepts: Generosity that cannot be taken back
In A Soul at Peace: Give to Every Outstretched Hand
Also answered in this teaching
Why does a poor person cross my path?
In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that the poor person who crosses your path is not there by chance. Hashem sent him to open a moment of opportunity for you, a channel of blessing you can draw into your life and your home.
Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level
Surface claim
Give to whoever stretches out his hand, without investigating whether he made good choices.
Fear, vulnerability, or tension
Rabbi Landau grants the hesitation: the man may well have made bad choices. In A Soul at Peace he adds that you worked hard for every penny, which is why the calculation feels fair.
Underlying need or longing
What are we really asking for from Heaven?
Every person wants grace: health, children who turn out okay, protection and blessing that go beyond what he earned.
What may be behind it
The calculation is not really about the poor man. In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that you think you are dealing with him, but you are dealing with yourself, because judging him by strict justice asks to be judged the same way.
Deepest human truth
We all live in a world where people receive beyond what they earn. Giving anyway is how we build the world we ourselves depend on.
More questions from this teaching
More answers: Wealth, Work, and Divine Sustenance · All questions · Questions about Rabbi Landau and Rivnitz