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PovertyText
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These are the things for which there is no measure: the corner of the field [which is left for the poor], the first-fruits offering, the pilgrimage, acts of lovingkindness, and Torah learning. These are the things for which a person reaps the fruits in this world and his reward is in the world to come: honoring father and mother, acts of lovingkindness, bringing peace between people and the study of Torah is equal to them all. אלו דברים שאין להם שיעור הפאה והבכורים והראיון וגמילות חסדים ותלמוד תורה אלו דברים שאדם אוכל פירותיהן בעולם הזה והקרן קיימת לו לעולם הבא כיבוד אב ואם וגמילות חסדים והבאת שלום בין אדם לחבירו ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם:
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The two key terms are Tzedakah (tzedek- justice) and mishpat (judgement). The word mishpat means the judgment given by the shofet (judge); hence the word can mean justice, norm, ordinance, legal right, law. The word tzedakah may be rendered by "righteousness." While legality and righteousness are not identical, they must always coincide, the second being reflected in the first.
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"Above all, the prophets reminded us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible."
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By the Middle Ages, community responsibility encompassed every aspect of life. The Jewish community regulated market prices so that the poor could purchase food and other basic commodities at cost. Wayfarers were issued tickets, good for meals and lodging at homes of members of the community, who took turns in offering hospitality. Both these practices anticipated "meal tickets" and modern food stamp plans. Some Jewish communities even established "rent control," directing that the poor be given housing at rates they could afford.
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The “needy” who receive tsedakah have also come to be defined as the educationally, emotionally, and spiritually hungry as well as those who literally cry out for bread.
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Once Rabbi Samson of Shepetivka, went to see Rabbi Ezekiel Landau, the great sage and chief rabbi of Prague, to discuss matters of scholarship. The two rabbis had never met before. Rabbi Samson approached Rabbi Ezekiel in disguise, dressed as a beggar, asking for alms. Rabbi Ezekiel, who was a very busy man, treated Rabbi Samson very rudely, whereupon Rabbi Samson said, “How can you, a sage and a religious leader, treat a poor person in this fashion? You should rise at my presence, and you should respond to my needs, for God’s Presence stands at my side.
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A beggar once came to the city of Kovna and collected a large sum of money from the residents. The people of the town soon found out that he was an impostor; he really was a wealthy man. The city council wanted to make an ordinance prohibiting beggars from coming to Kovna to collect money. When R. Yitzchok Elchonon Specter, the Rabbi of Kovna, heard about the proposed ordinance, he came before the council and requested permission to speak. He told them that although he sympathized with them, he had an objection to raise. "Who deceived you, a needy person or a wealthy person?
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If the community of Israel had not forgotten these stragglers, but rather, had brought them close under the wings of God's presence in order to return them underneath the clouds of glory so that they would be together with the whole house of Israel, then Amalek would not have overcome them. But because these stragglers were left behind, Amalek was successful. This is a sign for generations: When the entire community is supported and together, then Amalek cannot gain control. [AJWS translation] עמלק לא היה יכול לנצח אלא את זה שהיה בפני עצמו, פרוש מן הכלל, שהענן היה פולטו, והוא נפל ביד עמלק. אבל הללו שהיו ביחד, מחוברים לכלל ישראל, היה הענן מגן עליהם ולא נפלו ביד עמלק. סימן הוא לדורות: כל זמן שישראל באחדות אין עמלק שולט בהם.
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The ger. . . is a resident alien; he has uprooted himself (or has been uprooted) from his homeland and has taken permanent residence in the land of Israel...Having severed his ties with his original home, he has no family to turn to for support. Thus deprived of both land and family, he was generally poor, listed together with the Levite, the fatherless, and the widow among the wards of society (Deut. 26:12), and exposed to exploitation and oppression. (Ezek.22:7)...
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A person should always keep in mind the depth of his desire when he pleads before the Holy One Blessed be He. With the same intensity that he wishes that the Holy One Blessed be He will heed his cry, he should heed the call of the poor. שהוא מבקש כל שעה פרנסתו מהקדוש ברוך הוא, וכמו שהוא מבקש שהקדוש ברוך הוא ישמע שועתו ותפלתו, כך ישמע הוא שועת העניים. 
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