How come more people don’t join areivim?

People should purchase Life Insurance then there would be no need for charities like this.

A term life insuurance for $250,000 costs about $150 a year and there is no way $250,000 could easily be collected

What if someone wants more than $100,000 per kid?

A valid point is made, they cannot gurnatee that they will raise the $100,000 per kid. As stated if you have 8 Kids, they would need to pay out $800,000. Thats alot of money.

They way you would run something like this , is that you have to collect the money for a rainy day, when you have to pay out and invest the money. That is what traditional insurance does

“Also I question whether this is an acceptable use of maaser money”‘

Every has to ask their own sheilah, but from the times when I’ve asked sheilahs about maaser, there is a lot of leeway regarding what it can be used for. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s muttar although I don’t know.

It also may depend how rich/poor you are. If you are poor enough, you are not obligated in maaser at all, although there is still an inyan to separate it out (even if you put it back in your own pocket). In that case, I would guess that this may be a better way to distribute the maaser rather than put it back in your own pocket. But again, everyone should ask his own sheilah and not make assumptions either way.

Why do you doubt its acceptability for maaser?

Are life insurance companies non-profits, with their clients the primary intended beneficiaries of their company?

Are payments to Areivim being made to goyim?

Are purchases at a Jewish owned clothing store considered ma’aser?

Clothing stores are not non-profits, with their clients the primary intended beneficiaries of the income.

Hatzalah help non-jews . If a non-jew calls and when they paramedics arrive and see a big cross, they will still help (Many non-jews calls them in NYC)

In Amish communities, they dont have health insurance, when an Amish gets sick the community raises the money to pay the medical bills

There is also christian Health Insurance, Meaning some christian organizations run a Health Insurance type plan. Meaning you pay money to help others and they will pay when you need it, However they wont pay for certain procedures they deem offensive (Like Abortions). They do accept jews if they want to participate as long as they follow their rules (Like no Abortions)

I suppose Jewish organizations could run something similar, but I dont think the community is big enough to support such a thing. Medical bills could run in to the millions and you are on the hook for them if someone gets really sick

“Are life insurance companies non-profits, with their clients the primary intended beneficiaries of their company?”

They are if they are “MUTUAL” insurance companies which are owned by the policy holders.
In Connecticut we also have Mutual Savings Banks, owned by the depositors.

If it is a for profit entity we can generally eliminate it being tzedaka eligible. If it is non profit there’s a much stronger likelihood of it being tzedaka eligible.

Areivim is not like giving a dollar for an apple, because you are not necessarily getting the apple. first, you only get the apple if you die with unmarried kids under a certain age (and technically you are not getting the apple, your kids are), and second, there have to be enough apples left to give out.
A better mashal might be a Chinese Auction- you give money to the organization, that money will go to help others. There is some chance that you may gain something too, perhaps more than you gave. I think that it is muttar to give maaser to buy auction tickets (maybe because the chance of winning is low?)