Dealing with Poverty

Deuteronomy 24:10-15
About loan repayment: creditors and debtors and the ability to repay loans is a complex subject. The objective is to be able to help those in need and yet to maintain their dignity. The Torah sets limits on what can be taken in settlement for a loan and how it can be taken.

In Deuteronomy 15 it said that "there should be no needy among you" and then just a few chapters later there are these detailed rules about how to handle financial assistance. The overall topic of how to deal with the poor and poverty is central to this part of the book.

The situation of the poor:
1. Unable to pay debts.
2. Unable to get a loan.
3. In permanent servitude.

Solutions presented in Torah:
1. Periodic return to the equilibrium with the 7-year sabbatical rules.
2. Those able to loan should offer a loan even to those who cannot repay and they will be blessed.
3. Every 7 years those who are in servitude are released and given a new start.

It is an overall program for how to deal with poverty. However, later as the economic world became more complex the interpretations needed to be updated and this system didn't completely work as intended.

Nevertheless, Torah does prescribe a system for creditors and debtors that works to maintain the dignity and privacy of the poor by setting specific rules. The intention of this is to focus on helping those in need and working toward that goal of "no needy among us."