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8 ‎[1] A [pledge to] *tzedakah* is a form of a vow, and therefore one who says, "I pledge to give a *selah* for *tzedakah*," or "This *selah* is for *tzedakah*" is obligated to give it to the poor immediately, and if he delays, then he has transgressed the commandment not to delay [fulfilling a vow] (Deut. 23:22). Thus, if poor people can be found there [when he makes the vow], he should give it [to them] immediately. If there are no poor people there, he should set it aside and leave it until he happens upon some poor people. But if he stipulates that he will not give [the coin] until he encounters a poor person, then he need not set it aside. So also if he makes the condition at the time he took the vow for *tzedakah* or to donate something that the collectors are permitted to exchange it or to change it with a goldsmith, then they are permitted to do so. ‎[2] One who connects pledges of *tzedakah* is as obligated with one vow as with another. How so? [This applies] if he said, "This *selah* is like that *selah*, then that one is for *tzedakah*." If he sets aside a *selah* and said, "This is for *tzedakah*," and then he took out a second *selah* and said, "And this second one is for *tzedakah*" even though he did not set it aside from the start. ‎[3] One who took a vow for *tzedakah* without knowing how much he vowed should give until he says, "This is not what I intended." ‎[4] If one says, "This *selah* is for *tzedakah*," or one who says, "I owe a *selah* for *tzedakah*," and sets one aside, if he wants to, he may exchange it [that particular coin] for another, but if it has reached the hand of the collector, it is forbidden to exchange it. If the collectors want to combine the small coins for *dinarin* [which are of larger value], they are only permitted to do so if there are no poor people around to whom they need to distribute it. They may combine the coins [for coins of larger value] for the sake of others, but not for themselves. ‎[5] If the poor would benefit from keeping the coins in the possession of the collector so that they would thereby make others give [because they would see money in the box and feel compelled to give as others have done], then that collector is permitted to borrow the coins of the poor and make payments [with them], for *tzedakah* is not like sanctified property from which it is forbidden to derive any benefit. ‎[6] If someone who donates a menorah or a lamp to a synagogue, it is forbidden to exchange it, but if it is for the sake of a *mitzvah*, it is permitted to exchange it even though the name of the donor has not become lost and people can say, "That menorah" or "That light is from so-and-so." And if the name of the donor became lost [with all the other goods and donations], then it is even possible to exchange it for a secular matter [as opposed to a *mitzvah*]. ‎[7] To what does this refer? To a situation when a Jew makes the donation, but if a Gentile makes a donation, it is forbidden to exchange it, even for the sake of a *mitzvah,* until the donor's identity has become lost, lest the Gentile say, "I consecrated something to the synagogue of the Jews, and they sold it for themselves." ‎[8] If a Gentile donated something to the Temple fund [for the Temple in Jerusalem], they may not accept [it] before the fact, but if they already took it from him, they may not return it to him. If it is something affixed, such as a beam or a stone, they do return it to him so that something permanent will not be in the Holy Temple, as it is said, (Ezra 4:3) *It is not for you and us [to build a House to our God, but we alone will build it]*. But in the case of a synagogue, they may accept it right from the start, so long as he says, "I dedicated something with the [same] intention of a Jew," and if he did not say so, it may be preserved in storage in that his intention may be for the sake of heaven. They may not accept anything [from Gentiles] for the walls of Jerusalem or for the water channel there, as it is said, (Nehemiah 2:20) *But you have no share or claim or stake in Jerusalem!* ‎[9] It is forbidden for a Jew to take *tzedakah* from a Gentile in public, but if he is not able to live on the *tzedakah* of Israel and cannot take *tzedakah* from the Gentiles in private, then he may do so in public. If a king or a noble of the Gentiles sends money to a Jewish community for *tzedakah*, they may not send it back for the sake of the peace of the kingdom, but rather they take it and give it to the poor of the Gentiles in secret so that the king will not hear. ‎[10] The redemption of captives held for ransom takes precedence over sustaining the poor and clothing them. You do not find a *mitzvah* greater than the redemption of captives, for captivity is in the same category as famine, drought, or exposure, and one stands in danger to one's life. One who averts his eyes from redeeming [the captive] transgresses [the commandment], (Deut. 15:7) *Do not harden your heart and shut your hand*, and (Lev. 19:16) *Do not stand upon the blood of your neighbor*, and (Lev. 25:53) *He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight*, and nullifies the commandment (Deut. 15:8) *You must open your hand*, and the commandment, (Lev. 25:36) *Let him live by your side as your kinsman*, and (Lev. 19:18) *Love your fellow as yourself*, and (Proverbs 24:11) *If you refrained from rescuing those taken off to death, [those condemned to slaughter--if you say, "We knew nothing of it," surely He who fathoms hearts will discern]*, and many such sayings. You cannot find a greater *mitzvah* than the redemption of captives. ‎[11] If people of a city have collected money for the building of a synagogue, and a matter of a *mitzvah* comes before them, they should use the money [for the *mitzvah*]. But if they already purchased stones and beams, they should only sell them in the case of redeeming captives. Even if they have brought the stones and made walls of them, beams and laid them out, they sell it all for the sake of redeeming captives and that alone, but if they have built and completed [the synagogue], they do not sell the synagogue. Rather, they collect for their [the captives'] redemption from the public. ‎[12] They may not redeem the captives for more than their worth for the sake of civilization, so that the enemies will not pursue after them to enslave them [once they find out they are will to pay anything]. And they do not try to make the captives escape for the sake of civilization, so that the enemies will not increase the weight of their yoke and add more guards. ‎[13] He who sells himself and his children to Gentiles or who takes a loan from them and becomes enslaved to them or is imprisoned because of the loan, the first and second time it is a *mitzvah* to redeem them. The third time they do not redeem him, but they redeem the children after the death of their father. But if they want to kill him, then they redeem him from their power, even if this is several times [that this has happened]. ‎[14] In the case of a slave who was taken captive, if he immersed himself for the sake of servitude and he accepted upon himself the duty of the *mitzvot*, they redeem him as if he were a Jew who had been taken captive. But if the prisoner rebels and joins the idolaters, even if it is by [transgressing] one *mitzvah*, such as the prohibition against eating carrion, in order to infuriate [the Jewish community], etc., it is forbidden to redeem him. ‎[15] A woman takes precedence over a man for feeding, clothing, and bringing out of prison, because it is more usual for men to go door to door [to beg] and not for a woman who feels great shame in this. But if both of them [a man and a woman] were in captivity and were in danger of being violated sexually, the man takes precedence for redemption, because this is not the way of things. ‎[16] In the case of a male orphan and a female orphan who come [to the authorities of the community] to get married [but not to each other], the female [orphan] takes precedence over the man, because she feels great shame in this. And they may not give her less than the worth of six and a quarter *dinar* of pure silver, and if they have more in the bank of *tzedakah*, they give to her according to her honor. ‎[17] If we have before us many poor people or many captives, and there is not enough in the fund to sustain them, or to clothe them, or to redeem them all, a priest takes precedence over a Levite, a Levite over a [regular] Jew, a Jew over a *chalel* [an illegitimate child of a priest], a *chalel* over a *shetuki* [an illegitimate child with an unknown father], a *shetuki* over a *asufi* [a foundling]*,* an *asufi* over a *mamzer* [a child who was conceived in a union forbidden by the Torah], a *mamzer* over a *natin* [a descendent of the Gibeonites], and a *natin* over a stranger, so long as the *natin* was praised with us in holiness, and a convert takes precedence over a freed slave, for he [the slave] was once one of the cursed. ‎[18] To what does this refer? When both who are imprisoned are equal in wisdom. But if there was a High Priest who was an ignoramus and a *mamzer* who was a wise disciple, the wise disciple takes precedence. Anyone who is great in wisdom takes precedence over another. But if one of them [the captives] was one's rabbi or father, even if there is someone who is greater in wisdom, one's rabbi or father [takes precedence]. Even if there is someone there [among the captives] who is greater in wisdom than his rabbi or his father, so long as he [his father or rabbi] is a wise disciple, he [the father or the rabbi] takes precedence over the one who is greater than them in wisdom.
Version: Gifts for the Poor, Trans. by Joseph B. Meszler, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2003
Source: http://rabbimeszler.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Gifts_for_the_Poor.27083736.pdf
License: CC-BY