Pe'ah, Chapter 8, Mishnah 8. The previous Mishnah dealt with the question of who is not entitled to take from the communal fund (kupah) and who is not entitled to take from the food distribution (tamchui) because of the assets he owns. Our Mishnah continues along the same line and takes up this question with regard to the other gifts to the poor.
The measure of two hundred zuz:
"Mi she'yesh lo masayim zuz - lo yitol leket shichechah u'fe'ah u'ma'aser ani" - someone who owns two hundred zuz may not take any of the gifts to the poor, and that includes ma'aser ani (the tithe for the poor).
"Hayu lo masayim chaser dinar - afilu elef nosnim lo k'achas, harei zeh yitol" - someone who has one hundred ninety nine dinar, one dinar short of the measure, is permitted to take. And even if a thousand people give him their gifts all at once, so that in the end he will be wealthy, he may take.
And it is obvious that if a single person were to give him a thousand zuz, he would be permitted to accept it, even though he would thereby rise far above the measure. What determines the matter is his situation at the moment of taking: as long as he is short of two hundred zuz at that moment, he is permitted to take.
Assets pledged to others:
"Hayu memushkanin l'va'al chov o l'chesuvas ishto - harei zeh yitol" - if he has two hundred zuz or more in hand, but they are pledged to his creditor or set aside as security for his wife's marriage contract, he has no access to that money. Even though by a calculation of his net worth he is wealthier than two hundred zuz, since the money is pledged and not available to him, he is permitted to take gifts to the poor.
Is he required to sell his utensils:
And what about utensils in his possession that have value: is he obligated to sell them? On this the Mishnah says: "Ein mechayvin oso limkor es beiso v'es klei tashmisho":
His house - even if it is a fine house, he is not obligated to sell it in order to be able to take gifts to the poor.
His household utensils - and even fine utensils in his possession, including those he sets aside for every Shabbos and Yom Tov, he is not obligated to sell.
The Rambam, however, draws a distinction: all this applies when he comes to take leket, shichechah and pe'ah, whose taking is not so public. But one who comes to take from a charity fund should not take from there. If he wants his taking from the fund to be permitted, he must sell some of his fine utensils and buy cheaper ones in their place.
In summary: in this Mishnah we learned that the measure of two hundred zuz bars a person from taking leket, shichechah, pe'ah and ma'aser ani; that one who is a single dinar short of the measure may take even a thousand zuz at once, since what determines the matter is his situation at the moment of taking; that money pledged to a creditor or to his wife's marriage contract is not considered to be in his possession; and that he is not obligated to sell his house or his household utensils, and according to the Rambam this applies only to leket, shichechah and pe'ah, but not to one who takes from a charity fund.