In talking about helping out the poor, the pasuk instructs די מחסורו אשר יחסר לו, you should open your hand to him...whatever is lacking to him. R' Meir Margolis, who was a student of the Baal Shem Tov, notes that the end letters of די מחסורו אשר יחסר לו, has a total gematria of 422, the same as the word כתב. This is because it is a mitzva to give the poor person a written letter advocating for him (called ksav hamlatza). And in fact, R' Meir Margolis testifies that he follows this practice.
The Be’er Moshe tells us that writing a letter advocating for a poor person is included in gemilus chassadim b’gufo, kindness done with your body. However, those who give a ksav hamlatza to anyone who approaches them, without knowing if they are really in need, are not acting properly because this can negatively impact those who truly are in need.
The sefer Pninei Rabbeinu Yechezkel reports that when someone would come to R' Yechezkel Abramski requesting that he write a ksav semicha or ksav hamlatza, he would say, “I’ll write it on the finest paper with a great pen with high-quality ink.” This was because a mitzva must be fulfilled in the best way like it says זה א-לי ואנוהו, this is my God and I will beautify Him.
