“it is easier to live on MOFES (Medicaid, welfare, food stamps & Section 8/HUD) and not pay tuition, get breaks on food, etc. since you are in Klei Kodesh than having to pay tuition, and have to work for your food (the curse of Adam).”
It may be easier in terms of what one is physically doing, going out to work vs. sitting and learning, but it is particularly difficult to “live” on the meager handouts the government gives, especially for large families (as is often the case with those who choose to learn in kollel.) Those subsisting on food stamps receive only $21 per week, or a dollar per meal. Can you imagine purchasing a week’s worth of groceries for $21? (And frum families don’t have the option of taking advantage of McDonalds’ Dollar Menu!)
In the past year, countless lawmakers as well as ordinary Americans have taken the Food Stamp Challenge, which is to step into the shoes of those living in the poorest sectors of American society and live on $21 for one week. If you Google “food stamp challenge” you can find dozens of blogs about how difficult (and eye-opening!) the experience was. I read one blog by a frum woman who said that she couldn’t afford to have Shabbos guests for that week because the budget was so tight. Here’s an article about the challenge from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/21/AR2007052101349.html
For thousands of Americans, this is daily reality because they cannot find jobs or cannot work for whatever reason. I don’t understand why anyone who is capable of working would choose instead to take this route.