An incident occurred in the shul of Rav Meir Michel Rabinowitz in Vilna, where a wealthy man who was accustomed to being honored every Shabbos with the sixth aliyah (for which he gave a generous contribution to the shul), suffered a financial setback and was no longer able to do so. Because the shul needed large sums of money to cover its expenses, some suggested that the honor be given to other affluent members. Rav Rabinowitz ruled that they must continue to honor the formerly rich man due to the requirement to provide him with the level of honor to which he was accustomed. As proof, he cited the Gemara (Kesuvos 67b) which records that on behalf of a pauper who had grown up wealthy, Hillel procured a horse on which he could ride and a servant to walk in front of him. On one occasion when he was unable to find a servant, Hillel himself walked in front of the man for almost two miles. While the horse was necessary because the man was unaccustomed to traveling by foot, Hillel’s inclusion of the servant demonstrates that we must give the poor person not only the physical possessions to which he was accustomed, but the level of respect as well.
However, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv maintains that this principle only applies to someone who has actually become poor, in which case we must provide him not only the basics, but also the level of comfort to which he was accustomed, but in a case where he is merely not as well off as before and is only lacking luxuries, there is no such obligation. (Lulei Soras’cha, Derech Sicha)
