Of course huge theft occurs in every community, frum or not. But few communities effectively push people to the brink of starvation, where they feel a real need to toe the line of what’s legal, and then act surprised when this happens. “Don’t steal!” shkoyach!! But what, then, should an average family with “only” 7 kids making $53,000 a year do?! How should they pay their bills?! How can they afford school, and food, and yuntif, …. Did they really expect that they could encourage tens of thousands of bochrim to sit and learn forever (or for ten years), and then that miraculously people would be able to support themselves afterwards?! Even if the US government sent out checks of $10,000 to each family, and gvirim and ba’alei tzedakah send them another $10,000 a year, still they wouldn’t have a way to stay afloat….
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