When your brother becomes impoverished and loses the ability to support himself in the community you must come to his aid.

(Vayikra 25:35)

Here the Torah teaches us to fulfill the mitzvah of tzedakah.… We know that Chazal teach that in the merit of tzedakah a person is granted wealth and Hashem blesses the work of his hands. David HaMelech added: “Fortunate is he who is wise to the poor; on the day of evil Hashem will rescue him” (Tehillim 41:2). If a bad day comes to someone — he is ill and in danger of dying — in the merit of the tzedakah he has always given Hashem will overturn his illness and he will live. (Rav Shimshon Pincus Tiferes Shimshon)

The young girl sitting across from me didn’t cry but she was trembling. I was simply too shocked to cry. The story of her life was too difficult to hear.

“No one noticed something was wrong a little girl suffering who urgently needed help?”

“No” she answered quietly. “No one helped. No one even tried to help.”

“You have a family and there’s a staff at your school. You have neighbors friends mothers of friends and mothers of neighbors. Where were they all? How did no one notice something was wrong with the adorable little girl they all saw?”

“I don’t know” she replied pensively. “I didn’t know how to explain what was wrong. I was afraid to talk and share things; I lacked confidence. I never asked anyone for help.”

“So?”

“So why should they help me?” she said trying to explain the simple facts of life to me.

It isn’t enough to have compassion for a pauper; rather a person must be “wise” to the poor. The Dubno Maggid explained it thus: There are two types of generous people who take pity on the poor.

One is kind to a pauper after the poor man comes to his door and pours out his heart. This type of person responds to the pauper’s pleas with compassion with a generous donation.

But there’s another type of person who of his own good will goes to ask the pauper if he has everything he needs if there’s any way he can help … when there is a poor man who cannot reach the rich man or one who’s embarrassed to ask for help — and the wealthy man waits for the pauper to come to him — the poor man may die without benefiting from his kindness. But if the wealthy man is “wise” toward the pauper then he will inquire about him he will go to his home and will see what he is lacking.

Sometimes people ask a very simple question: “Where were you?”

Where were we when we heard daily cries of distress from behind our neighbors’ doors? When someone hinted that a family member was having trouble? When we saw our friends sliding into financial distress? When a little girl our daughter’s friend began behaving in a way that raised troubling questions?

We were home. The telephone was connected the cell phone was available we answered the knocks on our door. But sometimes the person who needs help isn’t capable of coming to us. Sometimes he doesn’t know how to approach us or make a phone call. Sometimes he’s weak sick ashamed flustered young or doesn’t know he needs help.

If we wait for him to come we might sometimes be too late.

I look again at the girl. If only we had noticed any of the thousands of signs someone looking for them will see.

Her life might have remained intact — even if we weren’t able to make it perfect.

Hashem treats us measure for measure: “Let him call out to Me and I will answer him” (Tehillim 91:15) and “And it will be before they call out I shall answer”(Yeshayahu 65:24).

If we were wise about the needs of the poor we would pick up the phone and call the school advisor or the rav of the community. We would tread carefully quietly finding out how we could help. We would lift our brother up before he comes to ask for help. And then we would also be answered from Heaven before we call out before we even need to ask.

Sometimes the person who needs help isn’t capable of coming to us. Sometimes he’s weak sick ashamed flustered young or doesn’t know he needs help