The Working Poor 79

The Mishnah is remarkably liberal in calculating whether or not the worker has 200 zuz. It specifically exempts from the accounting those assets that are tied up as collateral for a creditor or for his wife’s ketubah. The Mishnah also exempts the value of the worker’s house and his tools from the calculation of his assets. Those with less than 200 zuz may collect from a harvest’s gleanings, forgotten sheaves, the corners of a field(peak), and he may receive the tithe set aside for the poor in the third and sixth years of the seven year tithing cycle.

The Mishnah ’s definition of who is poor was adopted in the halakhic codes of Moses Maimonides (c. 1135, Spain-1204, Egypt ), Jacob ben Asher (Toledo, ¢.1270-1340), and Joseph Karo (Safed , 1488-1575). In essence, halakhah designates that a poor person is one who does not have enough in liquid assets to support him or herself in the coming year.'* This person may own a house, have funds tied up as collateral and own equipment, but if his/her income is insufficient to support the family, he/she is considered poor. In halakhah the principle is established that one does not have to be destitute to be considered poor. It clearly identifies the phenomenon of the working poor and establishes criteria by which one is eligible for communal assistance."

An instructive example of halakhic concern for the working poor as distinct from the destitute poor can be found in the developed exegesis of Deuteronomy 23:25-26:

When you enter another person’s vineyard, you may

eat as many grapes as you want, until you are full, but

you must not put any in your vessel. When you enter

another person’s field of standing grain, you may

pluck the ears with your hand but you may not put a

sickle to your neighbor’s grain.