There are literally tears in my eyes from reading about parents willing to sacrifice their children for money. I usually have a logical response to a viewpoint which I don’t agree with, but I am at a loss here.
How someone could even think of comparing an early childhood experience among warm, Yiddishe moros and rebbeim to secular teachers (as nice as they may be) is beyond me – I guess my sense of Yiddishe values is just very different than theirs.
There’s a community (in the NY area) of immigrants who came from a country with little Jewish education. The rabbonim in that community are tearing their hair out because many otherwise shomrei mitzvos don’t understand the value of sending their children to yeshiva and Bais Yaakov. The public schools are free, (and in that neighborhood are high quality) so they spend their money on fancy houses, cars and vacations instead of investing it in their children.
The older children are already intermarrying, and the younger ones are sadly on the way.
Yes, Tov li Toras picha mei’alfei zahav vakesef… not just a song – a way of life.