I realize that there are schools cropping up to help Charedim get better jobs. There is the Charedi College of Adina Bar Shalom, and various other schools and training facilities that are beginning to educate Charedim for the workplace once they’ve left Kollel. But I don’t believe that the vast majority of Charedim are doing that. Which leaves a lot of them impoverished.
There is another aspect of this that is even more troubling to me. It is the fact that many of these Meshulachim treat taking chariry as a living – the way most people see a job. And they actually make a decent living doing this. One may think that they do not make much asking for charity. But I recall an interview with a paraplegic beggar who made a career panhandling on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile – a very posh and upscale shopping area. He was asked how much money he made annually doing this. His answer: in excess of $100,000 a year!
I don’t know how much Meshulachim that come to Chicago make. It is probably a lot more than people think. But look at the price they have to pay. They have lost all their dignity by making a living asking for charity. This is not the way a Jew should support himself.
Now as I said, many of these Meshulchim are not like that. They are ‘one timers’ in desperate need of help and it should be given with a full heart. And many are legitimately collecting for institutions and not for themselves (other than a percentage of what they collect as a fee). But there are many who do what Elimelech Ehrlich does. From the New York Times:
Once a year, Elimelech Ehrlich travels from Jerusalem to Lakewood, N.J., with a cash box and a wireless credit-card machine… Ehrlich is a full-time beggar.
So yes, in the end Matzav and Arutz Sheva are right. The New York Times painted an unflattering picture of a Meshulach. But it is an accurate picture. Elimelech Ehrlich is a man who makes a living by asking for charity. And he is not the only one.
But it also painted an accurate picture of Lakewood’s generosity. I didn’t like the title either. But other than that why not focus on the positive side of the article instead of the negative side. Because the positive side is a real Kiddush Hashem.