29 – as I stated in my original post (which you may have missed – it was a while back), I was referring to people who are working at something. As I wrote previously, most people I know who receive government services (and btw, I wasn’t talking about welfare but rather about health insurance, WIC, and/or food stamps) are working at something and contributing greatly to society and should not be criticized and spoken motzi shem ra about.
Amongst other things, the government offices know what they are working at and how much time they spend at it and are willing to provide these services. They do not give you these services if they don’t think that you are doing something that is contributing to society. You have to prove that you are working or studying a certain amount of hours a week (at least for some of these services if not all)
I would just add that of course if someone has a choice between taking two paths, one of which involves accepting government services and one of which doesn’t, they should ask their own sheilah regarding what they should do and act accordingly.
But if you see someone else doing so, you should realize that:
1. They are not stealing from the government as stated above.
2. You should be dan l’kaf zchus that they have Rabbanim whom they follow who say that this is the correct path.
That was my point.