Tuesday, May 18, 2021

The Charedi view of how people make money

Mishpacha magazine has an interview with a famous Sefardi Rosh yeshiva. One of the questions he discussed is money. He was asked about people working and answered the following:

"If you’re meant to become rich, you’ll become rich anyway. It doesn’t depend on many hours and killing yourself working. The biggest batlanim can become billionaires. How do they become rich? Me’ashpos yarim evyon. Hashem gives them the mazel and they become rich."

This is so ridiculous it's silly. He is just showing his complete ignorance of how the world really works. Batlanim become billionaires? No one gets rich being a batlan. Self made millionaires or billionaires worked day and night to be successful. Starting a business and making it successful requires 100% dedication.He is just deluding himself.

Then he says:
"And who works for them? All the professionals, with their diplomas from the most famous universities — and they are barely earning a wage. It doesn’t depend on crazy hishtadlus. In other words, you can learn most of the day, serious learning, like a talmid chacham learns, and grow, and you can work a little bit."

Barely earning a wage? Many of the people who went to university are the ones who are the ones who are supporting his yeshiva. They are also the ones who pay full tuition in America to yeshivas subsidizing all of the people who didn't go to university. Again he is living in a dream world. There are very few jobs that pays a decent wage that will let you learn most of the day and only work a few hour. They just don't exist.

I would ask him a few simple questions. 

1. Look around at the people who are going schnorring because they can't support their family, marry off their children, etc. How many of them went to university? 

2. Every survey of income shows that people who went to university make ore money then people who didn't? Why is that?

This quote really blew me away:

"Because when you use your brains, you lose money. When Hashem is running your business for you, you make money, you don’t lose. And they say, you know, Rabbi, you’re right."

This is the charedi hashkafa today, everything is from Hashem, there is no cause and effect, and hishtadlus is just a tax.

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