Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Yoreh Deah/251

We give to everyone who asks, even a non-Jew, for “we sustain the poor non-Jews together with poor Jews because of ‘paths of peace’”. R. Eliezar wrote, “A poor Jew who violates one mitzvah is not considered among “that your brother may live with you,” and we do not have to give him tzedakah until we know he has repented. And also if he commits apostasy, even for material gain. One who gives to his sons and his grown daughters, whom he is not obligated to feed, in order to teach the boys torah and the girls the proper path, and one who gives gifts to his needy parents, this counts as tzedakah. And not only this, but he must give to them before others. And even if it is not his child or parent, but a relative, he should give to them before others. The poor of his house come before the poor of his city, and those of his city before those of another city. A question was asked: Reuven had many poor relatives in his city, and Shimon his neighbor did not. Reuven wanted to give the majority of the town’s zedakah to the poor people who were from their village, and a smaller portion to those who came from outside, because it is said “the poor of your city come first,” and Shimon didn’t want to. R. Isaac b. Baruch wrote that we do not listen to Reuven, for what we said “your city’s poor come first” means not to send to another city, but the beggars who come to the city, we do not say “your own come first;” rather, give the poor of the town less, and give the beggar who came according to what you can… R. Saadya wrote that a person must sustain himself before anybody else, and does not have to give until he can sustain himself, as it says, “that your brother may live with you”—your life takes priority over your brother’s…