7 Responses

1. They seem to miss the point. If you take someone else’s money, then you are bound by their dictates. They should stop being “junkies” and taking the addictive money. Without state aid, the Haradi community will develop the best and the brightest. And, the not yet frum, will have much more respect for the Yeshiva community.

2. With respect to everyone, this is a scare tactic that doesn’t hunt. To say :”not having funds to purchase basic food items” is just not true. Even in Israel, there are welfare laws that give assistance to every resident of Israel. The Court only directed to stop payments that the recipients receive more than other needy people. And to say that ‘yeshiivos may be closed”, why? yeshivos- by definition, are for unmarried bochurim that are not affected by the Court’s decision.

3. The yeshivos lived for the past 20-30 years as if there would be an endless supply of money. Forgive me for asking, but didn’t the gedolim who are supposed to know everything see that one can’t build bigger and bigger institutions without finding a way to pay for them. If the only way to pay for them was to take $$ from the State, then what made them think they could thumb their noses at the State indefinitely?

4. One can argue that by definition “Hareidi” means not
   accepting zionist money, and that the frum yeshivos that are now
   trembling before the cutoff of zionist money are really “off the
   derekh” from a true hareidi perspective, and will quickly get used
   to living on non-zionist money, the way the true Hareidim have
   always done.

5. Yes, this is what their concerned with… meanwhile, our
   people and our holy places are under direct attack from the arab
   enemy. Kever Rachel has been attacked almost every day this week by
   the terrorists but the chareidi parties and the rabbonim are too
   busy to recognize the real issues… our security! I was in Kever
   Rachel on Monday when we were attacked – I posted a video of it
   here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZiDlleQCPA The Israeli army
   was forced to stand there and do absolutely nothing! All they were
   able to do is call the PA “police” and tell them to deal with the
   terrorists. WHY???? I’ll tell you why – because our government
   isn’t compelled to act for the sake of our security. WHY????
   Because we have huge sections of the people living here who don’t
   care about our security. The chareidi parties are too busy
   clamoring about money for their yeshivot and money for their
   avreichim and money for cheaper housing, etc, etc, etc. We need to
   take action (do our hishtadlus) in protecting ourselves. Then our
   learning and davening can make our actions successful. We can’t
   just sit around and wait to be murdered… and we will be murdered
   if we just sit and learn without doing the hishtadlus that Hashem
   demands of us!

6. rabbiofberlin – how are you so sure? do you have proof to
   base it on? I live in Israel and know of tax breaks, real estate
   tax breaks for “welfare criteria” citizens, but not of a stipend…
   Unlike the country we grew up in, there really are many people in
   E”Y who can not afford bread, and definitely not other staples –
   basic groceries cost more and they make less (i.e. eggs are
   practically a shekel and egg, sliced bread is typically $1.50 a
   loaf or more and most families go through at least a loaf a day
   just on school sandwiches etc) That being said, if you have a
   “real” income it is even better as you do not pay health insurance
   and tuition is a joke ($80/mo. for boys, 80 shekels a month for
   girls!) But for those making no income it is a very real
   concern…

7. y me – learning is the hishtadlus we need to live, and if
   we don’t learn the world would go back to “sohu vavohu”, that is
   why Agudah is making the draft issue the biggest issue here (not
   looking to get into a debate here of opinions on the draft, you can
   see the coffee room debate on it for everyone’s opinions and my
   post on that but just responding to your point here…)