When God Demands a Reckoning for the Devoured Poor

Midrash Mishlei 13:3

(Proverbs 13:23): "Much food is in the tillage of the poor [nir rashim]" - Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said: In this world the rich man devours the poor man, but in the world to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, demands it from him, as it is said (Psalms 12:6): "Because of the plundering of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise," and so on. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: The time has come for Me to demand from you the plundering of the poor and the groaning of the needy - what you robbed and what you caused to suffer. Rabbi Yose the Galilean says: Not so, but rather, even though a person robs and plunders in this world, he does not depart from his world until others plunder him. From where do we learn this? From the end of the verse, as it is said "and there is one swept away without justice" - thus they do to him without justice.

Themes