"We don't have from where to pay the kollel stipends"
Financial terror attack on the Torah world
There is panic in the administrative ranks of the torah institutions because of the economic crisis in the US, the fall of the dollar, the deep problems in the real estate sector in the US, and the rise in prices of basic products (e.g. flour, bread, etc.). For the first time, the administers of the Torah institutions who control huge budgets are talking in terms of a financial crisis that we haven't seen in many years in the Torah world. A number of the large Kollel chains did not pay stipends this past month and don't know how they are going to pay the Pesach stipends. Donors in the US who are affected by the crisis have shut off the flow of money to the Torah world. The heads of Tzedaka funds: The poor will have to make do with less this year.
This is not a surprise to me, the Torah world in Israel has for many years been on a non-sustainable economic path. The sub-prime crisis in the US has just speeded up the timetable a bit. Given what is going on in the US, this is not going to end soon and the damage will be great.
