“That Which He Lacks”: The Torah’s Law of Dignity in Charity

In Parshat Bechukotai the Torah commands: “And your brother shall live with you” (Vayikra 25:36) — the mitzvah to help others live with dignity and provide them with what they lack.

“What He Lacks” — Restoring Dignity, Not Just Survival

The Talmud tells the story of a man who had once been wealthy.
He was accustomed to riding a horse with a servant running before him to clear the way. When he lost his fortune, people gave him charity as they would to any other pauper.

However the Sages ruled differently: “Such a man must be provided with a horse to ride and a servant to run before him,” if the community fund could afford it — for the Torah says, “sufficient for his needs, that which he lacks.” What he “lacks” is relative to his former standard of living. True charity is not just about sustenance, but about preserving human dignity.

When “Luxury” Isn’t a Need

Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, in his Aruch HaShulchan, draws an important distinction. This rule, he writes, applies only to someone who was truly wealthy. If a person was never rich to begin with and simply pampered himself with unnecessary luxuries, he cannot demand that the community sustain that lifestyle.

As Rabbi Epstein explains: “Those who take loans for luxuries, who lease luxury cars, buy showy products in 48 installments, and rent expensive apartments — when the bubble bursts and they go bankrupt, they are not entitled to public charity to maintain those luxuries.”

You may not borrow money to indulge in vanity, and you cannot call your former extravagance a “need.”

A Postwar Question: Comforting a Former Rebbe

A remarkable halachic discussion arose after the Holocaust. A Torah scholar who had survived the war arrived alone in Tel Aviv. Before the war he had been a Rebbe in a small European town, hosting Shabbat gatherings for dozens of followers each week.

Now, living alone in a one-room apartment, the sadness was etched on his face. He had survived, but his entire world — his family, his community, and his position, was gone.

A compassionate rabbi, deeply moved by his suffering, turned to his colleagues and said: “The Talmud teaches: even a horse and a servant must be given to one who was used to them. This Rebbe once sat surrounded by disciples at his Shabbat table — surely that is what he lacks! We should fund gatherings for him from the communal charity fund.”

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv’s Response

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv disagreed. He ruled that such funding could not come from the tzedakah fund. “The Torah’s obligation of ‘that which he lacks’ applies to a person who is poor,” he explained.
“This man’s pain and loss are profound, but they stem from the loss of his position, not from poverty. While anyone who wishes to gladden his heart performs a great mitzvah, the public charity fund is not the place for it.”

A Deeper Lesson

The Torah’s compassion is vast — it commands us to restore both body and spirit, but always within truth and proportion.

To one who truly fell from wealth, we restore dignity. To one who only lost illusion, we offer kindness, but not charity. And to one who suffers spiritual loss, we offer something greater than money: empathy, presence, and love.