Reply To: The Diabetic Man's Plight

Yes, I already said it’s not a perfect mashal/nimshal but there’s still a very valid point here.

I find it interesting that when it came to the diabetic man’s story no one would think to say that the man should not take the medication just because there are some side effects. Every medication has side effects but that doesn’t mean you don’t take them. Yes, you can talk to your doctor about choices of medications (choose methods of secular education – like in a yeshiva vs public school setting; should you teach evolution based on a Jewish perspective vs avoid it altogether; etc)

Also, when it comes to the doctor recommending a particular treatment, it’d be inappropriate to rely entirely on your Rav’s medication simply because he’s not a doctor. A good Rav will understand that he’s not a doctor & doesn’t know medicine well enough to decide. You wanna ask a Rav for his opinion – OK, but that doesn’t detract from what the doctor told you. This is not a question of asking “bigger doctors” because the facts are the facts – Hashem has told us all of the mitzvot regarding work & bussiness for a reason – and that is, to work!

Two more facts – a good percentage of the chareidi population earns below the poverty line. That’s what makes them eligible for all kinds of government handouts (that they very often then complain about – see the story above). It’s also a fact that statistically you make more money when you have more of an education. Yes, I have read several anecdotes of families who make it work somehow by living simply. However, this is not common. More often than not, the families are stressed by the financial burdens and then they must get the extra funding from others – there are several sources of that “extra funding”: government handouts (my $$ from taxes), yeshiva scholarships (my $$ from increased tuition), reduced taxes such as arnona in Israel and/or minimal income taxes in US & Israel (again, my $$ in increased taxes), Tzedaka (more of my $$), etc.

Point is, I think it’s important to take the overall picture into consideration, not just the feeling that faith in Hashem will solve all of my problems – just like with the diabetic, Hashem wants us to do our hishtadlus & sometimes we need to see that Hashem sends us different messengers – sometimes a doctor & sometimes a Rav and sometimes both.