Reply To: Biggest supporter of Torah in the world

I agree with Coffee additct that your Israeli Yeshivaman has trouble with numbers. The issue of Dina Demalchusa is also irrelevant.

I think most chareidim will agree (and studies confirm) that from a financial standpoint the net income/expense from the Chareidi society is a net loss. That does not mean that they do not contribute anything and of course in a spiritual sense the Charedi contribution is a net gain. Even if we take into account all the volunteer work done by chareidim and and the investment into the economy from the global chareidi world (tourism etc.) the chareidim are taking more MONEY and tangible benefits/services than they contribute.

To use the logic of “But I pay 17% sales tax, so I don’t owe any chakras Hatov to the government” is a crummy argument.

Even the extreme factions who say that they will not pay taxes and not receive government benefits are disingenuous. I assume that they use public water and sewer systems and do not create their own. They do not create their own security systems to protect themselves from enemy forces, etc.