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If a number of poor people ask for help, but we do not have the means to help them all, three principles should guide us in deciding whom to help. These principles are derived from a verse: “If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsfolk in any of your settlements in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsfolk” (Deuteronomy 15:7).
The first principle is based on the word “needy.” The destitute who are hungry, take precedence over those who simply need clothing or furniture, as their need is more acute.
The second principle is based on “one of your kinsfolk.” One’s family members take precedence, with closer relatives being given higher priority. Parents take precedence over grown children. Children take precedence over siblings. Siblings take precedence over uncles and aunts, and uncles and aunts take precedence over cousins and close friends.
The third principle is based on “any of your settlements.” The impoverished of one’s own city take precedence over the poor of another city. More precisely, one’s immediate neighbors take precedence over the poor of the neighborhood; the needy of the neighborhood take precedence over the poor of the city; and the deprived of the city take precedence over the poor of another city.
When these three principles conflict, the first takes precedence over the second, and the second over the third.
Those who are in charge of community charity funds for a neighborhood or a city must deal with all the poor in their charge using the first principle, and giving precedence to those who are most needy.
When Jews live alongside non-Jews who are good neighbors, there is a mitzva to help the non-Jewish poor together with the Jewish poor.
