146 Selected Reform Responsa

Arukh Yoreh Deah 253.1 ff). The party may retain his home, essential household goods and clothing. However, if the household goods are made of gold or silver, they are to be sold and replaced with ordinary ones. The assets must be accessible so a person with property in another place(as for example frozen bank accounts in another land) may qualify for assistance as he/she has no assets in his current domicile(See Bet Yosef to above quoting Isaac of Vienna).

This approach of the Talmud and codes is appropriate when sufficient public assistance is available; it demands the depletion of assets and guarantees a safety net. We should note that the tradition indicated that we are not obliged to provide luxuriously for the poor (M. Ket.. 6:8; 67b; Yad Hil. Matnat Aniyim 7.3); yet if the individual was once wealthy, we should provide some luxuries as this will make poverty more bearable(Yad Hil. Matnat Aniyim 7:3; Shulhan Arukh and Tur Yoreh Deah 25).1). We must remember this legislation deal

with poverty in general and not with our specific problem of the aged who have not been poor, but bu who may have been thrust into poverty because of the inadequacy of the pension/welfare system due to the high cost of providing elderly nursing care.

We must also be concerned about the psychological implications. The expectation of exhausting ones resources entirely provide a devastating psychological blow to the aged individual. The aged individual, independent and middle class to this point will now become destitute and helpless. This person sees himself/herself as a ward of the state and completely dependent upon children even for the most minor luxuries. This may lead to depression and even early death. Furthermore the children see the institution which will care for their parents robbing them of the hard earned savings of their parents in a short period of time. They feel that a disproportionate burden has been placed on their shoulders in he semi-socialist society in which we live.