Question
What does the torah say about our responsibiity toward the care and protection of our fellow Jews?
Answer
Plenty! If someone is beginning to falter, we are obligated to help him so he doesn’t become impoverished – all the more so someone already impoverished. If our enemy is struggling to load his donkey, we must help him – all the more so our friend.
A person of limited means has an order of priorities:
1. Immediate family
2. Local community
3. Jews elsewhere – especially in the Land of Israel
We have a mitzvah of giving 10% of our after-tax income to Jewish charitable causes. If every Jew did so, I daresay we would have no poor or hungry, or under-educated Jews in the world.
Rabbi Seinfeld
rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com