Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

The Poor Capitalist

July 18, 2024

Q I have $200,000 in the bank. I would like to use it to purchase an income-producing investment property and then receive tzedakah to cover my living expenses beyond the income the investment generates. Am I eligible for tzedakah?

A The Mishnah (Peiah 8:8) teaches that one who has two hundred zuz may not take leket, shich’chah, and peiah (different types of matnos aniyim—gifts to the poor—that farmers must give). Two hundred zuz was the annual cost of living for one person. Someone with enough money to support his family for a year is not considered an ani (pauper) and is ineligible to receive tzedakah.

The Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 253:1) codifies this halacha but adds that circumstances have changed. When the economy was largely agrarian, aniyim could expect a stream of matnos aniyim from local farms. This can no longer be assumed, so an ani may accept tzedakah if he doesn’t possess the capital to produce enough income to support his family (ibid. 2). The Sheivet Halevi (2:120) therefore says that a person in your situation is eligible for tzedakah.

This halacha pertains to a person with no source of income in addition to his capital. Someone who has sufficient income from a job, even if he has no savings, may not receive tzedakah (Sheivet Halevi ibid.).