It gets very tiresome to continue hearing the protests of those who want to justify every single word of a Godol. At the risk of being called an ‘apikores” ( I can already hear toi…), the gemoro in berachos makes it very clear that to rely only upon learning Torah DOES NOT WORK! Add to that the words of the mishneh in kiddushin and you have an ironclad instruction by our chachomim that one must work in one’s life. Only people like R’ Shimon ben Yochai (berachos 35B)and R’Nehoroi(kiddushin) can do it but normal people – all us basically- should not rely on other people’s Tseddakah. All the achromin mentioned by Harotzeh…., the Bais Josef and others , allowed us to make our living as klai kodesh but a living one must make.
Today- if one must have secular education for working (and virtually all work today requires that) one cannot just say-don’t study it – because in such a way you condemn people to a life of poverty and living off tsedakkah.