Support for the poor is a prominent element of Jewish thought. While we begin to see discussions of poverty relief in the Hebrew Bible and Hellenistic Jewish literature, it is in early classical rabbinic literature (second-third century CE) that it begins to take fuller form, as charity becomes a preeminent expression of righteousness. In this paper, I will explore how the early rabbis conceptualized socioeconomic inequalities and how they developed organized, institutionalized means to ameliorate these differences. Of particular note is the rabbinic conceptualization of the "charity fund," which aims to restore impoverished individuals to their former social and economic standing. The early rabbis were influenced by a confluence of factors, including ideas from the Hebrew Bible and Greco-Roman civic culture, and their teachings would prove to be foundational for subsequent Jewish ethics and law.