Joseph: Hi, so you said, “Yet, somehow, you don’t find homeless Yidden living on the streets of Lakewood and starving.”
Question, if such is the case, is it possible that frum Yidden who were on the verge or actually homeless and hungry gave up Lakewood, or chas v’shalom some of their observances to survive?
Okay so I’m no expert, and haven’t even been to Lakewood. At the same time, over the past year I’ve been reading a lot of niche forum posts and not everyone can make it – or has made it, and while you can surely say that’s no excuse to lax one’s observances, some people may have given up some mitzvot for the sake of having food on their plates and a safe place to sleep.
Just look at the recent occurrences in Lakewood with the desperate acts of families to provide and stay frum, and ironically compromise in some areas. Is is not possible that while some families went that route, others went closer to off the derech?
Being homeless and hungry doesn’t always mean one’s on the street corner. It could be couch-surfing or being a live-in nanny without the means to save and work towards independence.
—Thanks.