In the days when the Israelites brought their first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem, a remarkable custom prevailed. The wealthy arrived with their offerings displayed in baskets of silver and gold. The poor brought theirs in simple wicker baskets woven from willow branches. Both walked the same road, both climbed the same Temple mount, both stood before the same altar.
But here is where the story turns. The Talmud in Bikkurim (III, section 3) records that the priests would return the silver and gold baskets to the wealthy donors. The wicker baskets of the poor, however, were kept by the Temple. The rich walked away with their fine vessels. The poor walked away empty-handed.
The sages noticed the injustice immediately. "Is this not backwards?" they protested. "The one who has little gives more, for he loses even his basket. The one who has much gives less, for his vessel is returned to him." The Midrash HaGadol on Exodus, in the portion of Yitro, expands on this critique.
The episode became a teaching about the dangers of showing undue respect to the wealthy. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel warned that a court which honored the rich man over the poor man in judgment was guilty of perverting justice. The Torah commands: "You shall not favor the rich or show deference to the great" (Leviticus 19:15).
Wealth was not an achievement in the eyes of God. The poor man's wicker basket, woven by his own hands and offered with a full heart, was worth more than all the silver in the treasury. True respect, the sages taught, belongs to those who give from what they cannot afford to lose.