# matanot levyonim (מַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים)

pronounced: ma-ta-NOT la-ev-yo-NIM


**“Gifts to the poor” — the Purim duty to put something directly into the hands of the needy (Esther 9:22)**

## In Scripture

> as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a good day; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.
> — Esther 9:22 (This is the direct biblical wording behind matanot la-evyonim at Purim.)

> If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks.
> — Deuteronomy 15:7-8 (Purim giving stands within Torah’s wider command to open the hand to the poor.)


## How to read this entry

The definition comes from the IsraelForYou lexicon. Scripture quotations and their translation are named below; later tradition or modern usage is identified when it appears.


https://israelforyou.com/hebrew/matanot-levyonim/