Two out of Three!

Image from the Jerusalem Post

Shocking! That is the only word that can describe statistics reported by Vered Vindman, director-general of the National Council for the Child (as reported in the Jerusalem Post).

It appears that the percentage of children in Israel that live under the poverty line is 33%. And as if that weren’t shocking enough, the percentage of Charedi children in that category is nearly 66%! That is even greater than Arab children living below the poverty line there at 62%. None of those statistics are good. But the Charedi statistic is beyond terrible.

(It should be noted that the large percentages of Charedi and Arab children living under the poverty line contributes to the 33% of the whole. It would be interesting to see what the percentage would be if those 2 demographics were factored out. Why Arab children have such a high poverty rate is beyond the scope of this post. But it does raise the overall percentage to 33%. Factoring out both the Charedi and Arab demographics would lower the overall percentage.)

The reasons for the high Charedi statistic are complicated. But one of them is clearly the fact that most men in that community do not work. They are supported by a variety of sources: working wives, Kollel stipends, government welfare programs, charitable organizations (both in Israel and abroad), free loan societies, help from their parents and maxing out credit cards. With all of these sources one would think that they should be able to live at least minimally above the poverty line. And yet almost 66% of their children do not.  

I have been saying for years that poverty in Israel of the Charedi world makes their lifestyles unsustainable. It is true that the idealism that many Kollel families in Israel have motivates them choose rely on incomes that place them below the poverty line. However, that is not an option given to their children who are forced by circumstance to be in that category. Which surely contributes to the OTD phenomenon.I don’t know how much longer Charedi world in Israel can maintain that level of poverty and survive.

One may ask, what about the increase in the Charedi workforce there? It’s true there are more Charedim entering the workforce in Israel now than ever before. There has even been an increase in the number of ways that Charedim can catch up with their secular counterparts. Schools and programs designed specifically for Charedim that have been in Kollel have arisen that help arm them with educations post Kollel - giving them the skills to compete for higher quality jobs. 

But apparently this has not been enough for 2 out of every 3 of their children. Perhaps in part because not every Charedi that has been in Kollel is able to handle these programs when they need to - not having been given the tools to do so earlier in their education.

Which brings me back to something I have been saying for as far back as I can remember. Not everyone belongs in a Kollel.  And yet virtually every Charedi male in Israel is guided to do exactly that - without the slightest consideration that Kollel may not be for them. Which of course means that they get no preparation for doing anything other than Torah study. 

Obviously this isn't the only reason there is such a high level of poverty. But is is a least part of the reason. I can’t say that I have all the answers.  But I can say with relative confidence that I do have one answer that will help. 

A while back I had noted what a Charedi Mechanech at the Agudah convention had said. I believe that if the Charedi leadership in Israel would pay attention to him, it would help them immensely. What he said is that not everyone belongs in a Yeshiva. This means that post high school many of these young people ought to be doing something else. Like finding work - or perhaps more importantly preparing for better jobs. Thereby better providing for their families. 

To the extent that this is the goal it should be imperative that some of the basic tools needed to qualify for advanced educations (that preparation entails) be provided to them. This means offering that kind of education at basic levels in both elementary school and high school. It needs to be offered to all students at that stage since it is not easy to determine who should be in Yeshiva post high school and who should not.

I don’t know how much this will impact the 66% poverty rate. But it surely won’t make things any worse. Unfortunately the Charedi leadership will never agree to this. Am I wasting my time? No. Speaking the truth is never a waste of time. As long as there are people willing to hear it.