Guard the Children of the Poor
Recalling how Constantinople raised its Torah, he held up the care of poor children as the way a community grows its scholars.
A teaching ofRav Shlomo Eliezer Alfandariהרב שלמה אליעזר בן יעקב אלפנדריProfile ›
Writing of the communal order in Constantinople, the Saba Kadisha recalls that the community's leaders worked to see that the children in the Torah schools learned Torah and fear of Heaven. They also supported promising young men, especially those from poor families, in keeping with the teaching of the Sages, "Be careful with the children of the poor, for Torah goes out from them." He describes what followed: children raised on Torah and mitzvos, daughters raised in modesty, and several yeshivos filled with talmidei chachamim. For him this was no nostalgia. It was a plain pattern to follow. A community that invests in its poorest children is building the scholars of its own future.
Source: She'eilos U'Teshuvos MaHaRSHa Alfandari (Saba Kadisha), vol. I, Yoreh Deah, siman 20 (p. 53); the Sages' saying is in Nedarim 81a
Think of one child within your reach who has fewer resources than yours, perhaps a neighbor's son, a student or a relative. This week, give something concrete: pay for a book or a camp place, learn with him for twenty minutes, or introduce him to a teacher who will notice him. Do it without ceremony and without expecting thanks. The Sages saw Torah rising from the homes that look least likely, and your small investment may be part of that.