The vast majority are still encouraged to stay in Kollel for as long as possible without any distractions from their Torah study. The idea of a dual educational track of Limudei Kodesh and Limudei Chol that for decades was the hallmark of Charedi Yeshiva high schools in America is anathema to Israeli leaders – even now when poverty is greater than it has ever been since the founding of the State.
With no prospects change the problems will only grow exponentially with each generation. Large families can barely make ends meet now – barely able to purchase basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter without the help of free loan societies.
Putting food on the table requires a lot more money than they make – even with working wives. And let’s not even talk about buying apartments for all of their many children as they get married. Added to this burden is the fact that Charedi parents of today cannot do for their children what their parents did for them. Their parents worked and had the abilty to help their children financially. Today’s parents are all in Kollel and borrowing money just to put food on the table.
So even though government insistence on a core curriculum seems to have been successfully resisted, this in my view is not something to celebrate. Because if things stay as they are, I cannot see the Charedi world surviving in its present form. And who knows what form it will take in the future.