Rambam (Matanot Aniyim 10:18): One should avoid taking from people if at all possible, even if he must suffer. He should not impose on the Tzibur to support him. Chachamim commanded to make Shabbos Chol rather than take Tzedakah. Even if a respected Chacham became poor, he should not take from people. One should not say ‘I am a Chacham, or a Kohen – support me!’ Great Chachamim chopped wood, carried beams, drew water, or were smiths rather than request from the Tzibur. They did not accept offers of money.
Rashbam (Bava Batra 110a DH v’Tol): One might have thought that it disgraces Torah if a Chacham does menial work, just like if he has a stain on his garment. Rav taught Rav Kahana that it is not a disgrace.
2. Rambam (ibid. 19): If one cannot survive without taking, e.g. he is old, sick or afflicted, but he is too haughty to take, he is responsible for his own death. The pain he inflicted on himself is a sin. If one needs to take but rather lives a life of hardship to avoid imposing himself on the Tzibur, before he dies he will support others from his money. About such people it says “Baruch ha’Gever Asher Yivtach ba’Shem”.
(Source: Yerushalmi Sof Pe’ah, brought in R. Shimshon Sof Pe’ah.)
Rambam (Perush ha’Mishnayot Avot 1:13): One who intentionally is financed by and benefits from Torah will die. A Chacham may be served only by his Talmidim.
Rambam (ibid. 4:5 and Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:10): If one plans to learn Torah, not work and receive Tzedakah, this is Chilul Hashem and a disgrace to Torah. He harms himself and removes his life from the world to come, for it is forbidden to benefit from Torah in this world. Chachamim taught that one should love work and despise positions of authority. Any Torah not accompanied by work will not endure; in the end he will rob people. It is a mistake to think that people or communities are obligated to support people who learn Torah all day.
In every generation there have been very poor and very rich people. Surely, the rich were willing to give to the poor! Rather, the poor preferred to subsist on their meager incomes. Chachamim like Hillel and R. Chanina ben Dosa were very poor. They saw that it would be Chilul Hashem to take money from people, lest Torah be cheapened in people’s eyes, i.e. Torah would look like a profession from which people finance themselves. Karna drew water, and was a judge. He would ask the litigants to get someone to draw in place of him or pay him what he will lose in the time he judges them.
R’ Yonatan ben Amram was insistent not to be supported due to his Torah.
The Torah allows a Chacham to give money to people and they will give to him profit earned through it. Also, we may declare that no one may sell until the Chacham sells his merchandise, for merchants themselves often grant this to someone they want to honor even if he is not a Chacham. Chachamim are exempt from taxes and certain obligations such as building the wall around the city. The Gemara says that one who wants to benefit from others like Elisha may do so. This means to occasionally accept lodging or a meal, but not regular stipends! (Here, there is an expectation that a talmid hakham will support himself through comemrcial activity).
Shulchan Aruch (OC 156:1): After learning one should go to his occupation, for any Torah not accompanied by work will not endure. In the end it will cause sin; poverty will make him transgress Hashem’s will.
Bet Yosef (DV v’Achar): One might have thought that it is better to learn Torah constantly. The Mishnah (Avot 2:2) teaches unlike this, for when his money runs out he will need to pursue income and will not even be able to fix times for Torah.
(YD 255:1): One should avoid taking Tzedakah if at all possible, even if he must suffer. Chachamim commanded to make Shabbos Chol rather than take Tzedakah
Bi’ur Halakha (DH Sofah): Most people should work. However, there are always a minority of individuals who can adopt R. Shimon bar Yochai’s approach (Berachot 35b), to devote themselves totally to Torah and Hash-m will help them find income. In particular, if there are people willing to supply his needs so he can learn he need not work, just like Yisachar, who was supported by Zevulun.
This has been grossly distorted. We’d all say that there ought to be professional rabbis. Talmidei hakhamim that are our rebbeim, teachers, kiruv rabbanim, posekim, maggidei shiur, havrutot, tutors, soferim, shochtim, mashgichim, mohalim, etc. But, the Hafetz Hayyim held like the Rambam. He insisted on not being a burden on others. He opened a general store, and supervised the absolute accuracy of the weights and measures, the quality of the merchandise, and the fairness of the prices, to make certain that no one was deceived or overcharged in any way. He not only supported himself honorbaly while becoming one of the greatest gaonim to walk our earth, but also did so ethically, honorably, and justly. What a lesson for those who insist that they cannot work, and for those who are crooked. Indeed, as we see Haredim living in poverty in Israel, the barrage of fraud, scandals, crookedness, and deceit that accompanies such a lifestyle inevitably follows, and we sadly see those results today, causing HaShem’s name to be desecrated and the Torah to become an object of mockery and scorn among the millions of secular Israelis who are divorced from traditional Judaism. How sad is that?