Sunday, August 31, 2008

Not serious about poverty

I've been noticing lately that Jonathan Rosenblum seems to be a rational voice on Cross-Currents, and has started getting very direct about some of the problems in the Charedi world.

So I was really interested in reading today's article, "Can we talk seriously about poverty?"

He gives an extensive discussion of why poverty is horrible, especially for Torah life: shalom bayis problems, bad shidduchim based on money, children associating poverty with Torah, more likelihood of falling for con men or even falling into criminal business dealings oneself....really fantastic points. He even says that it's very bad to get used to taking charity from others, and that it is unrealistic to continue expecting wealthy Jews in America to support Charedim in Israel.

Then I get to the end, to the part where it is supposed to say that it's time for everyone to get jobs, right? I mean, that's the whole point of saying that we need to get out of poverty and stop relying on others.

Shockingly, he doesn't even say one sentence about getting jobs! His conclusion is "What the solutions might be I do not know. But it is clear that we cannot afford to hide our heads in the sand and not address the issue."

Um...How does not getting jobs address the issue????

4 comments:

Orthonomics said...

I think that Mr. Rosenblum knows, as well as you and I and any rational person, what a solution entails. Perhaps one is not allowed to utter any part of the solution out loud?

Esther said...

I had the same response. Since I have reason to believe that he's not stupid, the only other explanation is that he is afraid to say anything direct.

Orthonomics said...

You can check out my post. I gave you a hat tip.

Anonymous said...

The job solution is not so simple because of the army complications... Although, Nachal Chareidi is picking up some popularity....

-BPS