Joseph, if kollel is a necessity, why were there so few kollel guys in Europe? Why did most bachurim go out and get a rabbanus or get a job along with being a moreh tzeddek as soon as they got married? After all, our mesorah is from Europe. Learning Torah is the necessity. Kollel was for the yechidei segula who were willing to live a life of extreme poverty, or who were chashuv enough to earn the support of a gevir. Today’s system, where everyone is expected to learn in kollel, is a chiddush for America. It was a very welcome development to help a Torah community shattered by the Holocaust recover. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that it’s an historical outlier, supported by a lot of excess wealth that has simply vanished over the last 16 months. And let’s not lose sight of the fact that the gemara paskens that for most people, Talmud Torah im derech eretz is better than Toraso umnaso, simply because most people couldn’t survive on Toraso umnaso. I’m not saying to skip kollel. I’m just saying that it’s ludicrous to expect other people to support you comfortably in that lifestyle, especially when money now is extremely tight, unless you’re ready to live a life of very little gashmius, the way kollel was meant to be lived. When I first started married life in kollel, I had tevios on my father-in-law for not helping me out. Then I realized he was right. I had a right to learn in kollel, but I didn’t have a right to demand that he pay for it. I gained a lot from my years in kollel. I recommend it to anyone willing to do it. But be aware that you won’t be living la vida loca anymore. The excess cash is gone.
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