Yerushalmi Peah 8:5 ירושלמי פאה ח׳:ה׳

MISHNAH: These measures⁶⁵The amounts specified in the previous Mishnah apply to all poor persons equally, as well as the Levites and priests who come to get the First Tithe. apply to priests, Levites, and Israel. If he wanted to save⁶⁶If he wanted to save from his tithe of the poor to give to his own poor relatives, he must publicly distribute half of it to the general poor who come to collect, in a nondiscriminatory manner; the other half he gives to his poor relatives in private., he gives half and takes half. If it was little⁶⁷If the tithe of the poor (or half of it) was not sufficient to give the minimal amount to every poor person who appeared, he does not distribute but lets the poor divide it among themselves., he puts it before them and they divide it up among themselves.

HALAKHAH: Rebbi Jonah refers the Mishnah to the case when he has more than the measure: If he wanted to save, he takes away half and gives half, but if he has only the measure⁶⁸After taking off half for his own family, he can no longer give to every poor what is due to him by Mishnah 5. Maimonides (Mattenot Aniïm 6:11) accepts the position of R. Jonah., he puts it before them and they divide it up among themselves. Rebbi Ḥizqiah refers the Mishnah to the case when he has the exact measure: If he wants to save, he takes away one half and gives one half; since if he takes away one half and gives one half it becomes less, he puts it before them and they divide it up among themselves⁶⁹R. Ḥizqiah permits the farmer to reduce by his own deliberate action the amount available for the general poor below the required minimum. [In the Tosephta (Peah 4:2) it is reported in the name of R. Eliezer that the farmer may reserve two thirds for his family.].

It was stated⁷¹Tosephta Peah 4:8, formulated in singular as in Babli Baba Batra 9a, where the same conclusion is reached here that if he does not collect a minimum, one may give him from public money up to the minimum but not more than that.: “One does not bother at all⁷²This refers both to public assistance, detailed in the next Mishnah, and the public distribution of the tithe of the poor. The “doors” here are doors of residences, not of barns. Since a tax is collected (both in money and in foodstuffs) for public charity, private persons do not have an obligation over and above that which is stated in the Mishnah. with those who beg at doors.” Rebbi Jonah said, only if he would not get less than his collection⁷³The poor should not have less than the minimum needed to keep him alive. [Explanation of R. Moses Margalit. Sperber (loc. cit.) gives economical reasons for the apparent relaxation of the Tannaitic rule in R. Jonah’s time (ca. 350 C. E.)] The singular might be addressed to the householder who in R. Jonah’s time was supposed not to let the beggar at his door go away totally emptyhanded..

Here⁷⁴Mishnah 5; the minimum gift is one half qab, and the same Mishnah states later that the general principle is “food for two meals.” you say, one may not give to the poor less than this from the threshing floor. And there⁷⁵Mishnah 7; one may not give to the poor person who is travelling from one place to another less than a loaf of bread in the value of a pondion, i. e., a dupondius (half an obolus, one twelfth of a silver denar) if four seah cost a sela‘ (tetradrachma). 4 seah are 24 qab and a tetradrachma is 24 oboli. you say, one may not give to the poor who is travelling from one place to another less than⁷⁶The price of the loaf of bread is exactly the price of the grain that the poor gets at the barn. Some weight is lost in milling, and some expense is incurred in baking, and the baker has to make a living. So it seems that the stranger is treated better than the local poor, which is against all rules. [Not all the water used for the dough evaporates in baking, which increases the weight somewhat.] that. Rav Huna said, deduct one third for expenses⁷⁷The loaf which the stranger gets is not made from half a qab of wheat flour but only from a third of a qab so that miller and baker can make a living. In Babli Erubin 82a, it is Rav Ḥisda, a student of Rav Huna, who explains that processing costs 1/3 from above, or 1/2 from below.. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun gave to the bakers according to the statement of Rav Huna, but only for these measures⁷⁸For greater amounts, the price to be paid to miller and baker may be less and is negotiable without being unfair to the baker..

Rebbi Abba bar Abba bar Mamal⁷⁹A son of the more renowned Rebbi Abba bar Mamal. asked before Rebbi Ilaī: What if they saw him⁸⁰The travelling poor, who comes back to take twice at the same place. leave the town and enter it again? He said to him, he who gives shall give and he who takes should be afraid for himself⁸¹For committing the sin of stealing from other needy people, as explained in Mishnah 9. In handing out charity, the giver should err on the side of generosity..