daf bit: Ketuvot 68

[cellio]

After discussing the importance of giving charity even when one questions the need, our rabbis taught: if a man pretends to have a blind eye, a swollen belly, or a humped back, he will not pass from the world without being so afflicted. If a man accepts charity but does not need it, he will not leave the world without coming to need it. (68a)

Presumably this concerns willful, deceitful acts, not misjudgements. If everyone believes in both the obligation to give charity and the obligation to not accept it if you don't really need it, you could end up with some pretty bad cases of "no, I insist" / "no, I can't". So I read this as a call for honest self-examination, not one to accept charity only as a matter of life or death.

Comments

[gingicat]

Hmmm.

This is actually interesting to me right now because the EI folks handed me a form from the local high school's fund drive for holiday gifts for EI clients and families, and I'm torn on whether to accept.

[cellio]

I think osewalrus has a good interpretation of this in the comment above. I don't think this was meant to cover the case of "am I needy enough", but rather the case of "hey, I don't need it at all, but I can take it". I don't think you're in the latter category.