Should you give money to a panhandler on the street (or a subways car)
if you have no idea if the person really needs it or not
(e.g., he may take the money to buy drugs)?
The mitzvah of giving charity has two goals. One is to provide assistance to the recipient. The other is for the donor to develop a charitable personality. Ideally, both goals are accomplished when one generously gives to a genuinely needy person.
When one is asked for funds from an unknown individual, a charitable person will tend to donate without asking questions about how the recipient will use the charity.
When one is asked for funds from someone of dubious character, even a charitable person might choose not to donate. Why give one’s hard-earned money to someone who may be a con artist, a drunk, or a drug addict?
The dilemma is exacerbated when there are so many requests from beggars on the streets and subways. It is natural to become mistrustful and to avoid giving alms to such individuals.
We should give charity when we feel it will genuinely help the recipients and when we feel that our donation will help us in our own moral development. When in doubt, it’s best to err on the side of being too charitable.
— Rabbi Marc D. Angel, director of the
Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals
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There is no obligation to give money to a panhandler since many panhandlers use the money to buy drugs. Nonetheless, a recognizably religious Jew should give a small amount of money as an act of kiddush Hashem.
When a group performs on a train, although a person has no obligation to pay for a performance he didn’t ask to see, he should give a donation even if it isn’t obvious that he’s a religious Jew. There’s no reason to assume the performers will use the money to buy drugs, and it’s a nice gesture to show support.
— Rabbi Yosef Blau, mashgiach ruchani at YU’s
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
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If your appearance is one of an obviously religious Jew, you should give a small amount just to make a kiddush Hashem or at least avoid having someone hate a Jew for not being benevolent.
If the person is really in need, there is a mitzvah to give tzedakah to non-Jews to engender peace and harmony in the world.
Since you don’t know if this money is in fact going for a good cause or furthering a drug habit etc., one should give only a small amount to fulfill the above-mentioned purposes.
There is a story about the Nodah B’Yehudah encountering a young lad who was selling bread for his father, a baker. One day, his bread was stolen and he was afraid to go home and face his father’s wrath. Upon learning these details from the crying boy, the Nodah B’Yehudah gave him the money he would have earned from selling the entire batch of bread, enabling him to go home.
Years later, on the last day of Pesach, this lad – now a nobleman – came to the Nodah B’Yehudah and informed him that his father and other local bakers knew that Jews buy their bread after Pesach from non-Jewish bakeries and planned on poisoning the bread in order exterminate the local Jewish population.
The Nodah B’Yehudah decided to announce to the Jewish community that a mistake had been made in the calendar and that the next day was actually the last day of Pesach and no one should eat any chametz for another two days. This gave the Nodah B’Yehudah time to expose the plot and alert the authorities.
We learn from this story how helping even a non-Jew can have far reaching consequences.
(I often wonder what would happen today if a rabbi made such an announcement. How many people would opt to follow the calendar and assume the rabbi was mistaken…?)
— Rabbi Zev Leff, rav of Moshav Matisyahu,
popular lecturer and educator
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Fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah doesn’t require intent. Thus, if one drops a $5 bill in the street and a poor man picks it up, one has fulfilled the mitzvah of tzedakah.
To that end, it may be argued that not knowing what a panhandler will do with money that I give him isn’t my concern. Furthermore, inasmuch as an addict will often commit immoral acts to feed his addiction, giving him money might help prevent him from engaging in such behavior.
The Shulchan Aruch rules that a would-be donor is obligated to check the veracity of a claim before giving charitable funds to someone. The exception is when the person says he’s hungry or expresses another specific need. In that case, the would-be donor must help immediately without verifying that the need is real.
The obvious solution to the problem raised in this question is to give the person food, clothes, or other necessities. Indeed, the Gemara cites the assertion of the wife of Mar Ukva that a woman’s tzedakah is greater than her husband’s. While a man might typically give money, his wife will provide a ready-made meal that can be enjoyed immediately.
— Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, popular Lubavitch
lecturer, rabbi of London’s Mill Hill Synagogue
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Jews have a unique fellowship and are obligated to help and love one another. Thus, I have an obligation to give tzedakah to a Jew.
At the same time, it certainly is appropriate and proper to feel badly for someone in dire straits no matter who he is. “Tov Hashem lakol – Hashem is good to all – v’rachamav al kol maasav – and His mercy is on everyone.”
In terms of the actual halacha: One is only allowed to give tzedakah to a Jew – with certain exceptions, one of which is eivah (animosity). If not giving tzedakah to a non-Jew would lead to eivah, one is permitted to give him tzedakah.
So in this case, I think the wisest approach is to give a small amount. To look the other way and harden your heart while passing a needy person on the street would be harmful to your own character, so since you’re permitted to give because of eivah, give a little bit. And give an amount – say a quarter or two quarters – that is insufficient to make a significant difference if he has a drug habit.
— Rabbi Ben Zion Shafier, founder of The Shmuz