When a person gives charity to the poor people of his own city, one should try and distinguish between different poor people and work out which one is a respectable person who is humble and acts in the correct way. When a poor person behaves in the right way etc., one should open one’s hand to him more, as in direct proportion to the level of the recipient is the value of the charity given. Nevertheless, he should not hold back from giving at least something to each person who asks and to every poor person, just like Hashem Himself who gives food to every creature and whose mercy is to all of His creations. In the way that he treats others so too is the way that he will be treated by heaven and they will not be precise with him. When a poor person asks for charity, it is forbidden to turn him away empty-handed, as it says “A poor person should not return humiliated!”. The value of the charity given also depends on the level of need, pressure and pain of the recipient. For example, on the eve of a festival, or before a wedding of one of his children when expenses are high and there is great pressure (especially when marrying off a daughter) then the charity is like redemption of captives, and he who has mercy will receive mercy from heaven.
