Monday 14 June 2010

The End of an Era: The End of Government Sponsored Kollels

No more government funded kollels in Israel!

From Haaretz

Yes, it still early and the Knesset might shoot it down but this makes me very happy.

Now for some pessimism:

If this really happens and the kollel system in Israel collapses then there might be huge changes in the Chareidi community in Israel. My only worry is that this might end the important divide between Chareidim and normal Datiim (religious). I kind of like the way things stand where Charedim are on a different planet than the rest of Israel's Jewry. If this change happens the Chareidim will probably after a while start to look like the rather more moderate American Chareidim and the line between insanity and sanity will begin to blur a bit. The problem with American Chareidim is that they have enough legitimacy to become the leaders of otherwise normal people. Only in America will normal television owning, internet using, literature reading people allow themselves to be led by black hat Rabbis who are at war with modernity. If Israeli Chareidim incorporate into normal society to a certain extent, then this might happen in Israel also. Also if Israeli Chareidim become part of the workforce they might have a larger influence on the government. (They have way too much already!!!) We'll just have to sit back and hope for the best. It's about time that this disgusting mooching off of the government ended and even if there may be some bad consequences this had to be done.

More from:

Failed Messiah


Some thoughts about this exciting new development from:

Emes V'emuna

(Oh btw does anyone like my new Blog format)

6 comments:

E-Man said...

Honestly, it makes me dizzy. But if you like it keep it.

Shilton HaSechel said...

lol as long as it doesn't deter people from sticking around

Miles Rind said...

A lesson from Visual Design 101: Light print on a dark background is good for attracting attention but bad for holding it. It is therefore a terrible choice for paragraph text.

Shilton HaSechel said...

You're right I really should change it.

Its a shame though I just looooove the dark background

E-Man said...

Yeah, I changed mine also, now it is gray black and orange. It is easier on my eyes for some reason.

Tommy said...

Yes, it still early and the Knesset might shoot it down but this makes me very happy.

if "בג"ץ האברכים: פרינציפ גדול, כסף קטן" is anything to go by, even if the Knesset doesn't shoot it down, the canceling of "assured income"(הבטחת הכנסה) for Kollel students may only make a small dent in their incomes.

To quote from the article:
"רשמית, מדובר בכ-1,000 שקלים לחודש לתלמיד. בפועל, כיוון שמספר התלמידים גדול מהמספר הרשמי, חלק מהתלמידים מקבלים קצבה קטנה יותר של כמה מאות שקלים בחודש בלבד
...
אם ניקח משפחה טיפוסית של תלמיד כולל וננסה לחשב ממה, בערך, היא מתקיימת, אנחנו יכולים להניח שהאישה מרוויחה כ-3,000 שקל לחודש, קצבת הילדים מגיעה לכ-1,500 שקלים בחודש, והבעל מקבל מהכולל קיצבה של כ-1,500 שקלים נוספים, כך שבסך הכל, המשפחה חיה מ-6,000 שקלים בחודש, שרק כעשירית מהם מגיעים מקיצבת הבטחת הכנסה
...
מי שיודע לתכנן את משק הבית שלו כך שיצליח לפרנס 8 ילדים מ-6,000 שקלים לחודש, ידע לפרנס אותה גם מ-5,500",
and, in my translation:
"Officially, were talking about 1,000 NIS a month, per[ Kollel] student. In practice, as the number of students is larger than officially reported, some of the students receive a small share of only a few hundred shekels
...
If we take a typical Kollel student's family and try to figure out on what, more or less, it lives, we can assume the wife makes around 3,000 NIS a month, child allowance comes to 1,500 NIS more, the husband receives from the Kollel another 1,500 NIS[ including, but not only, the few hundred of 'assured income'], all in all, a family lives on 6,000 NIS a month, of which only a tenth come from 'assured income'
...
A person who knows how to plan his domestic economy to successfully support 8 children on 6,000 NIS a month, will know how to do so on 5,500 NIS".

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