“kollel in EY is definitely not the easy way out!!
Going with the herd is certainly the easy way out. Especially in EY where the government supports the learners, and the monetary expectations are much lower, it is easier to be in Kollel than to fight the tide, leave Kollel (with all of the issues with the Army that come along with that choice) and then find a job in a society that doesn’t want to employ Charaidim. I agree with Joseph on this one, that it is much easier to be a Yeraim Jew outside of the state of Israel.”
Sorry, but I have to correct you on this one. There are many misperceptions about what goes on in EY, and about what’s involved in deciding between Kollel and army. I have lived in EY for many years and am very familiar with the issues and the challenges involved in these decisions. I know from personal family experience how DIFFICULT it is to decide to defer the army to go to Yeshiva. I have a family member who was was not able to live up to the challenge and gave in to the pressure from his mother who was not able to deal with the financial challenges involved in deferring army service.
It is very DIFFICULT to live in EY and not go to the army. If you don’t go to the army, you lose out on many rights and much financial aid from the government. You do not make any money while you are learning, and you can’t go to work. You are basically doomed to a life-long poverty.
If you do go the army, the army supports you while you are doing your army service. In some cases, they even give you more than enough spending money so that you can save it to pay for college afterwards (as one of my family members did). In many cases, they train you in a profession for free, and as soon as you finish your army training, you can get a top job in your field (as another family member did). I believe that there are also many other benefits that one who goes to the army gets.
Deferring army to go to Yeshiva is not going against the tide! It is very hard to live in a country like Israel which is constantly at war and where going to the army is the norm and so much is dependent on going to the army, and not go to the army! Anyone who thinks that it is easy knows nothing about the realities of living in EY today!
I had a brother who could have been a Rosh Yeshiva. He was very Frum and very into learning. He wanted to learn, but my mother pressured him to go to the army because she was worried about money, and his Dati Leumi Rosh Yeshiva told him to go (after promising me that he would tell him not to go). He thought he had to listen to his Rav, so he went to the army, and he is now completely chiloni. He was supported by the government while he was in the army being taught computer programming for free. He got a great job as soon as he finished the army before he even started college. He makes a lot of money today.
I have a sister who did sheirut leumi. She was supported by the government and given enough money to help her pay for college. She went to college and got a great job and now makes a lot of money, but is not so Frum (depending on how you define Frum -see previous threads – basically, she does not completely keep halacha).
I have friends whose husbands are big masmidim and Talmidei chachamim and they live on almost nothing but bitachon and are extremely “mistapek b’muat.” Even with being “mistapek b’muat” to an extreme that you can’t imagine, they have to have a lot of bitachon every month that they will make it through the month somehow.
Meanwhile, I see that people like my siblings are rolling in money.
So don’t try to tell me that Kollel is the easy way out!!!
I do agree though that someone who learns has more Olam Hazeh, but I do not agree that it is the easy way out!!