Hacham Yosef Haim


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A few quotes from the Rabbi on 'Tzedakah and Healing'
in which he instructs benefactors to appoint people who have suffered poverty to handle their charity
"May your home be open wide, may the poor be members of your household". A person, generous of heart, seeks to have the hungry enter his home and satiated … yet the person may not always remain at home, and spends the day in town. And even while they are at home, they may be sitting in the attic and be unaware of those who come begging, having left all such matters to those members of the household who are in charge of the property and kitchen. The latter, despite the fact that what they give is not theirs, may be miserly in giving each petitioner sufficiently to fill their need... and even lock the door to keep them away.
You are therefore commanded that "the poor be members of your household": This refers to those members of the household who are in charge of your property and your kitchen, who dwell in your home as tenants. Choose people who were once poor, who are familiar with the hardships of poverty, whether with hunger or with deprivation, that affect the body's health - How harsh and bitter these lacks can be for the needy person, and leave them helpless! - so that they may be filled with pity for the needy who are forced to knock at your door, respond to their plea, and give them what they require from the food and drink with which the house has been blessed, and not send them away empty-handed.
Hasdei Avot, Chapter 1, Mishna 5, p. 17, Jerusalem
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