I understood with greater clarity why the Torah cautions us to treat the pauper with dignity
I do not often travel on the excellent Jerusalem light-rail system, which is why, when I had to use it recently, I did not quite know how to work the automatic ticket machine.
A high school girl was standing near the machine, so I asked her if she could help me with the ticket. She smiled graciously, reached into her purse, and began to hand me some coins.
“No,” I said, “I have the money. I just don’t know how to use the dispenser.”
Clearly, she had assumed I was asking for a handout, that I was a beggar asking her to give me money for a ticket. She smiled again, took my coins and easily obtained the ticket for me. End of story?
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