S/o kollel are you taking support from someone who can’t….

amother

↑ Honeysuckle ↓

Today at 9:54 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

Amazing! I'm so happy that a frum family giving up for Torah is able to get by with governement assistance!

Why does it sound like others are upset that klei kodesh/kollel families have the audacity to receive gov money?

I like the idea of them receiving money a lot better than the rest of the people I see that get govt assistance. (I live near inner-city/hood area).

Way to flip what others are saying to avoid acknowledging one tiny thing: government assistance is financial support. Period. That's all. It's weird to say you weren't receiving support when you are, in fact, getting financial support.

Did anyone on this thread say that it's wrong to take government benefits?
Did anyone say anything derogatory about it?
I must have missed it. All I saw was my own post, and someone else's, pointing out that someone actually did have financial support.

Why does it matter? Because it's a bit frustrating to see a sanctimonious speech about not taking money and how they managed to make it for 8 years in kollel with no support, only to find out a few posts later that this lecturer actually got free health insurance and food. There doesn't have to be anything wrong with that, but please at least acknowledge the financial assistance you received that helped you achieve your goals, instead of lecturing others on what they should do and acting like you're an authoritative voice because you got no support.(proverbial you here, obviously.)

amother

↑ Honeysuckle

Today at 10:01 am

chestnut wrote:

She was talking about parental support as that's the topic here

Yep, but in the context of her post, she was actually lecturing on not taking, and then ended it saying that she was a sahm and her dh stayed in kollel for 8 years and they had no support. And you can see from the responses to that that no one assumed she could've been taking gov help, because she said she received no support. Regardless of the original topic, her message gave a different impression.

Like she was saying people shouldn't need parents to support because she did it without support. But she didn't do it without support. She had financial support, a type that might not be available for others in kollel.

↑ care4u ↓

Today at 10:17 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

Exactly. How much does a person have tp hate when a man learns Torah to be angry that the taxes that they pay, that can either go to Ukraine or go to their Jewish brothers and sisters, are going to their Jewish brothers and sisters.

amother

↑ Quince

Today at 10:21 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

I don't know anyone that says "I'm being supported" to mean they receive Medicaid or food stamps! It's just not done.

And in America anyone who is income eligible can apply for government benefits regardless of their occupation. They can be learning in kollel, working or lazing on their couch all day!!!

That's not called being supported!
You apply for government benefits and either are eligible because of low income or not!

↑ care4u

Today at 10:23 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

Govt assistance is not usually referred to as financial support especially when used in the frum world.

As a side note- When I was young and stupid, I remember mocking people who can only afford learning because of all the programs available in NJ, in front of my mother.

She looked at me and said, Hashem made sure that New Jersey, which is the same state where there is a town full of people sitting and learning, has so many programs available to people, so that these ppl can still sit and learn. It's not vice versa. This is His way of
directing funds to these people easily, without them having to feel like they need to collect, or be a burden on their community, without feeling like they are taking tzedaka.

Last edited by care4u on Mon, Dec 16 2024, 10:26 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

↑ Orchid

Today at 10:25 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

Wow. Not going to engage so much in this because I don't know why you're coming across so angry ... But, I wasn't lecturing about support, only commented (as per the topic of the thread) on support when the parents can't afford it. My comment about hilchos teshuva per the rambam applies ONLY in a case when the supporter can't afford it. My original two sentence comment was only about that, and I added that we were in kollel to show that I'm not anti kollel, just anti the mercenary system of people who can't afford it having to pay on threat that their kids can't marry a Ben Torah if not.

Also, dh was in a paying kollel, and I taught. I didn't teach for 20 months in those 8 years, and during that time he had paid positions from early in the morning (including pre shachris and leading a shachris minyan) and also paid tutoring and paid night seder. After that I did go back to work, and he kept those jobs, and yes at that point we qualified for EBT.

↑ doodlesmom

Today at 11:42 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

Just wondering if she’d be living in a socialist country and taking the free health insurance and child care money, or living somewhere where everyone gets free schooling if it would bother you as well?

Since it’s also paid with tax dollars.