Page 80 - Tzurba M'Rabanan Volume1

78 · Hilchot Avoda Zara Ii Tzurba M’Rabanan

Further Iyun

Accepting Charity from Gentiles

Rav Doron Podlashuk (Director, the Manhigut Toranit Program)

There are two main discussions in the ensued among the Amoraim.
Talmud dealing with the topic of receiv- Ifera Hurmiz, the mother of King
ing charity from Gentiles. Some Acha- Shapur, king of Persia, sent four hun-
ronim point out that these two discus- dred dinars to Rabbi Ami, but he did
sions seem to contradict each other. not accept them. She then sent them
One discussion is found in Masechet to Rava, and he accepted them for
Sanhedrin 26a in the context of which the sake of peace with the kingdom.
people are valid or invalid to testify as witnesses. Rabbi Ami heard and was angry. He said:
Rav Nachman said: Those who “eat the Does Rava not accept the lesson of the verse:
other thing” (Rashi – those who accept char- “When the boughs are withered, they shall
ity from gentiles) are invalid to be witnesses. be broken off; the women shall come and
This is only if it is done in public, but in pri- set them on fire” (Yeshayahu 27:11)? And
vate he is not disqualified. And even in pub- why did Rava accept the money? For the sake
lic, it was only said that he is disqualified of peace with the kingdom.
when it is possible for him to be sustained in Here the Gemara implies that there is an abso-
private, and nevertheless he disgraces him- lute prohibition of accepting charity from Gen-
self in public. But where it isn’t possible – tiles, without any of the caveats of the previous
this is his livelihood. sugya (only prohibited when done in public, and
Rashi explains that when one accepts charity when not needed for livelihood, etc.)
from a gentile he violates the prohibition of des- Rav Yehoshua Falk (1555-1614) in his com-
2
ecrating G-d’s name. It seems that Rashi under- mentary Derisha points out this seeming con-
stood that since he violated this sin, he is con- tradiction. The Gemara in Bava Batra prohibits
sidered a rasha (wicked person) and becomes receiving charity from gentiles in an absolute
disqualified to testify. However, this prohibition manner (unless it will cause enmity and an-
is limited to where the charity was given in pub- ti-Semitism), whereas the Gemara in Sanhedrin
lic, and even then, only if the poor person could limited the prohibition to receiving charity in
have avoided it. 1 public.
Another Gemara in Bava Batra 10b dis- Before we discuss some answers suggested by
cusses an actual historical event where a gen- the Acharonim to distinguish between the two
tile gave charity to Jews and the debate that cases, it is worthwhile highlighting a few other

1. Cf. Rambam, Hilchot Edut 11:5 for a different understanding. We will explore the Rambam’s opinion further on in this essay.
2. Derisha, Y.D. 254

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