Israeli Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias will finance rent for families in which the father is studying Torah. The financing will come from the Ministry of Housing and Construction’s budget for families defined as “poor.” 137,000 Israeli families fall under this definition.
Atias has decided to add to the category of eligible people heads of families who study Torah and who have at least three children under the age of 18. The support will also be available for university students, provided that they have at least three children.
The financing will range from NIS 392 to NIS 1,550 per month, depending on the recipient’s income, family size, and place of residence. The head of the family cannot have an income of more than NIS 1,200 a month and may not own a car.
The Ministry of Housing estimates the cost of Atias’ decision at NIS 16 million.
{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
I am going back to Yeshiva and selling my car???!!!
Just musing but I find it fascinating that in other ethnicities ‘poor’ often means lazy or single mothers or uneducated, with the associated attitudes toward their situation and other people. They often feel that society owes them support for some reason, that their situation is not of their own making but that someone else bears responsibility for their lack of wealth.
In our society, however, ‘poor’ is only a minor attribute of the person and by no means a defining one. From our ‘poor’ come the wisest, kindest people who spend their time learning and doing mitzvos.
R. Shmuel Birnbaum ZT”L would often say how much he respects American boys who are extremely bright and could very well excell in college or business. “I am a ‘greener'” he would say, “so I have no choice but to learn, what else could I do? But you could turn over the world in any field and yet you choose to learn Torah!”
My Rebbi R. Shmuel Brudny ZT”L would point out the difference between the same activity performed by us and a non-Jew. The worst sections in the European town were where the slaughterhouses were. The person who killed animals wouldn’t differentiate between animal and human. However our Shochet who really does the same thing, is the pillar of society. Always a Talmid Chochom, usually spending his spare time learning and his job is merely a method of bringing the animal or bird to its tachlis and helping to feed other Jews.
Mee K’Amcha Yisroel!
“The head of the family cannot have an income of more than NIS 1,200 a month and may not own a car.”\
=$315 nobody can live on that let alone pay rent.