Q&A: Giving charity to a person who is “to blame” for his situation
Giving charity to a person who is "to blame" for his situation
Question
In honor of Rabbi Michael, I saw that the Rabbi has dealt extensively with topics of charity and thought, so this may combine both.
Is there an obligation to give charity to a person who is seemingly to blame for his financial situation? A person has 10 children; he has married off 6 of them, and now he has come to marry off the seventh, but he is still burdened with many debts that he took upon himself from the previous weddings.
Should one give him a substantial amount of charity, or just a small gift, or perhaps not even that—since he brought himself to this situation, which one could see was going to happen? Or does that not matter at all? And perhaps what fault is it of his seventh son, who wants to get married in a respectable way, for his father’s actions?
Answer
If there is now a real need, and the person will use the money properly, then his past actions are not grounds to withhold charity from him. Especially when this is for his son. It is possible that in the order of priority, one should prefer someone who is not to blame for his situation over him.