Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Straw that breaks the camels back? Charedi students caught on video trying to work off the books

Channel 10 in Israel did an undercover investigation into Charedim working off the books to avoid the army and to not pay taxes.

They put up posters in Bnei Brak looking for sales people for a fictional company called Ohel Avraham. They rented an office, put in hidden cameras and started interviewing applicants for the jobs. The conversations went like this:

Interviewer: Do you have a problem getting paid on the books?
Applicant: Yes,
Interviewer: Why?
Applicant: The problem is the army
Interviewer: Have you worked in the past?
Applicant: Yes off the books
Interviewer: What hours can you work?
Applicant: I can work from 6AM until midnight, I am simply registered at a Yeshiva

Others said they could work from 10-5 or from 1-9.

9 out of 10 applicants that were taped on video ensured the interviewer that they had ways to ensure that they would get paid and not lose their significant benefits as Yeshiva students.

Here are the government benefits that they don't want to lose:
  • 800 shekel as an Avrech
  • Guaranteed minimum income payment - 1040 shekel
  • 500-2000 shekel from the Yeshiva/Kollel
  • Significant (90%) discounts in property taxes and pre-schools
Remember this is all recorded on video and will be shown on Channel 10 tonight. This may be the straw that breaks the camels back. At least until now the battle has been an ideological one, the power of torah learning, vs service in the army. Now all of Israel will see on video that for some in the Charedi world it has nothing to do with Torah and everything to do with just avoiding the army and making money.

Source: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4260466,00.html

2 comments:

Avraham said...

in terms of questions like this I have several ways I approach this. now even though the famous law of Hume is that we cant derive an ought from an is but still I think is this is not inviolate. we can after all derive the fact tat Hitler was evil by the fact of murdering about 11 million people and causing a war that cost the lives of about 55 million people. So I base some moral judgments on material facts.. my major basis for moral judgments is the ten commandments which I see as the principle commandments of the Torah and after that the rest of the 613.
Sorry about the long Intro.
Now to my point.
Based on simple Torah theory I would not know what to think about kollels in Israel and the IDF. But based on material facts of most yeshivot being simply ways of scamming the government I have to admit I side with the religious Zionist position.

Mighty Garnel Ironheart said...

No, it's not the straw because as long as their parties control the balance of power in the Knesset nothing will change.