Reply To: Chassidishe Out of town Kollelim?

Baltimore Maven: You sound very excited about the Baltimore Kollel!
But you are totally right about the general idea.

With half a dozen such Kollelim spread out in various cities (and more of them opening every few years.) there must be close to 100 families doing this.
These kollelim are around for more than a decade, and this is growing phenomenon.

I think the main draw is that when people reach a point (or see themselves in the near future reaching it.) where they will not be able to continue full time learning, these Kollelim provide a solid option of extending their Kollel years by say a good five years+.
Now that is a tremendous gain even without looking at it as a long term plan.
Not sure what Meir G. is talking about kicking cans down the road.

With so many people doing this, it obviously WORKS even without the 50 conveniences of in town.
Or maybe people enjoy the very fact that there AREN’T the 50 thousand noise, distractions, being one in million where you make no difference. Instead enjoying the calmer quieter relaxed accepting out of town lifestyle.

The bottom line is that if one can get a good five+ years of serious full time learning while getting hefty financial support, now that is a great deal, and can be a kinyan for life.