The Poverty Program of Judaism

Abstract

Defining poverty has often presented economists with as much diffi? culty as solving the poverty problem. Some planners have sought to classify the poor as that group of families whose income level falls below some arbitrary dollar figure which should provide the basic amenities of life. They point with pride to U.S. Department of Com? merce statistics which show that while in 1950, 26% of our U.S.A. families earned less than $3,000 annually, by 1968 only 10% of our fam? ilies had such low incomes (in 1968 dollars). Yet this apparent success is belied by the growing unrest and dissatisfaction by members of these same poverty groups who resent their incomes growing at a slower pace than the more affluent. This would imply that a successful poverty pro? gram should not only raise income to chosen objective levels, but must also account for the subjective awareness by the poor of their relative poverty. Ancient Judaism had developed a rather comprehensive program for the treatment of both objective and subjective poverty. These views, unfortunately, have been expressed in a rather disorganized fashion in the Talmud and Jewish religious codes, most of which are still inac? cessible to one unable to read legalistic Hebrew. This writer has attempted to organize and interpret these scattered pronouncements and make some comparisons to present day problems.