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Mar 2, 2023Edited
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Mar 2, 2023
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Boruch Clinton's avatar

I'm afraid I'm not clear what the challenge was. The Rambam and Shulchan Aruch define exactly the parameters of tzedaka that a community is required to fulfill (as Hirsch described them). But *individual* Jews can sometimes be required to act in ways that, for a community, would be forbidden and, in fact, a sin. I would suggest that most applications of די מחסורו would be counted in that category.

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Mar 2, 2023
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Boruch Clinton's avatar

Or another way of putting it: the community's business is tzedaka, while individual Jews are expected to also engage in chesed.

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