Reply To: Are Kollel Folks Better Jews Than The Rest Of us?

the gemara itself (berachos 8) gives a rule to go by: gadol haneheneh miyegia kapav yoser miyirei shamayim. there is intrinsic value to working. While I think this gemara is a guzmah, you could interpret it literally to mean that a worker is a better Jew than a yirei shamayim who does not work.