GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The annual ArtPrize competition returns to Grand Rapids on Wednesday. The display of some 1,500 works of art is sure to include some "crazy crap" that will attract many observers downtown.

Some of those visitors likely will get approached by panhandlers. A federal judge last month ruled that a state law criminalizing peaceful panhandling is unconstitutional, and that begs the question for this week's edition of Ethics and Religion Talk:

RELATED: Poor economy, Christian duty beg the question: How to handle panhandlers?

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Ethics and Religion Talk, by Rabbi David Krishef

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 speaks most directly to our question. It reads, “do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. Rather, you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs.”

Jewish ethics, Biblical and Rabbinic, stress our responsibility to care for the poor. Biblical laws fall into two categories: First, the major agricultural obligations to leave part of one field for the poor to gather themselves (and several other related obligations). Second, the obligation to freely extend loans to those in need. Moving from an agricultural to a business economy, Rabbinic law imposed the obligation of giving to a charity fund, and providing food and medical care to those in need. We are obligated to give in a way as to preserve the honor of the recipient, and the recipients are obligated to make good efforts to reduce or eliminate their dependance on public funds.

There is no simple answer to the question of poverty, but Jewish tradition suggests that communal efforts are more effective and dignified that begging on street corners. We should support institutional and governmental efforts to make sure people have food, shelter, clothing, access to medical care and jobs. For this reason, I am not comfortable giving money to most people on the street who ask, although occasionally I do and I certainly would not direct people never to give. On rare occasions, I have offered to buy somebody a meal. I certainly would not call the police unless the behavior becomes harassment and I feel threatened.

Here's what the Rev Doug Van Doren, pastor of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Grand Rapids, thinks about it:

Krishef's summary:

The week I wrote this column, I was meeting friend for a beer. Outside the bar, I was asked if I had a gas can. I replied - honestly - that I didn’t, but did not pause to see if there was any other way I could help. Inside the bar, I mentioned the odd encounter to my friends. After all, not every day is one asked for a gas can! One of my friends had a gas can in his truck and enthusiastically ran outside to offer to help. A couple of hours later, as he was ready to leave, he said “I guess I’m not going to see that gas can again.” He had given her the gas can with a couple gallons of gas in it, and she was supposed to fill up her tank and come back to the bar to return it.

Both of the two respondents acknowledged that Scriptural tradition directs us to support the poor, but both are uncomfortable giving money on the street. It is hard to argue strongly in favor of taking action based on these Scriptures, because we live in a world in which the encounter resulting in a stolen gas can is the expected outcome of doing someone a favor.

How many of you respond by giving money or buying a meal? How many of you take the time to look the panhandler in the eye and share a few words? How many of you try to avoid the encounter at all costs, and feel guilty about it afterward? Share your encounters below.

And, as always, feel free to email other ethical questions for the panel to consider. We welcome the questions that people encounter from day to day, the questions on your mind, large and small.

Ethics and Religion Talk is compiled and written by David Krishef, rabbi at Congregation Ahavas Israel in Grand Rapids. Krishef takes questions from readers and shares them with a panel of clergy, then provides the responses in collaboration with MLive.com reporter Matt Vande Bunte. Please submit questions from your own day-to-day encounters to EthicsAndReligionTalk@gmail.com.