According to Mishpacha, 2000 Avreichim may lose their places in Kollel and the 5 biggest Kollels have suffered a 50% drop in donations. The money has basically dried up due to the financial problems in the US and the devaluation of the dollar vs the shekel.
Is this the beginning of the end of the Kollel system for everyone?
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For the past 40 years I was hearing about the iminent demise of the Kollel system due to lack of funds.
Except that now it is really starting to happen. That kind of system is only sustainable for 1 or 2 generations when you have still people who worked. After 2 generations of kollel where is the money going to come from?
The problem with Western secular culture is that it's attention span is based on 30-60 minute TV programs. No problem, no matter how big or complex, gets resolved by the end of the show. As a result, we expect "the end of the Kollel system" to come overnight when it may still take a couple of decades. But there are three good reasons why that end will come:
1) The declining American dollar and economy, both of which previously were the main sources of support for the system.
2) The ever-expanding number of people who want to opt out of life and sit in kollel instead, increasing the financial burden on the system.
3) The diminishing number of ruch fathers-in-law to help prop these people up.
And I think the 3rd factor is the one that'll put that nail in the coffin. After all, Yankel may have worked hard, been blessed by God and made a fortune, but his three sons-in-law, Fishel, Pishy and Tushy, will each produce 10 children that need their tuitions, bar mitzvahs and weddings paid for and they're not going to earn the money to do it. So for the three of them life will be decent. But who will support their kids?
They will maneuver the government to give them more money.Since,each and every kollel person,learning or not is keeping this country alive.,they believe.
http://extremegh.blogspot.com/2008/08/real-problem-with-lakewood.html
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