Why Poor People?

In this weeks parsha we learn of the mitzva of tzedaka.

"The evil Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva: If G-d loves the poor people, why doesn't He provide for them? And Rabbi Akiva replied, I will give you an allegory. To what can this be compared? To a human king who became angry with his son and sent him to prison, and who then commanded that the son not be given anything to eat or drink. But one person went and fed him and gave him to drink. Would the king not send the man a reward?" [Bava Batra 10a].

Says the Alshich Hakadosh:

"He, the Blessed One, loves the paupers. Why then does He make them poor? It is because He wants to give merits to the rich people, and He gives the rich the portion of the poor people in addition to their own. Thus, in the end, the rich man is really giving charity from the poor man's own portion."

"This can be compared to a physician who treats two different patients. He might prescribe for one to eat large portions and for the other one to be starved, even though he loves them both and is being paid for his work by both of them. But he understands that the way to cure one of them is to feed him while the way to cure the other one is to keep him hungry. In the same way, G-d knows that it is good for one person to be poor, so that he will be cured from his spiritual illness, and that another person will be cured by being wealthy."