How Much Money Does the Israeli Government Give to Kollel Families?

When I was in Eretz Yisrael, my neighbor in Geula explained that it was enough to live day to day but not enough to marry off kids. So when that was necessary, he would come to America to raise money.

You also have to make a distinction between various grants that are available to anyone (Jews, Arabs, Kollel, Employed, etc.), which are sometimes focused on helping large families (again, regardless of job status or ethnicity) – and anything specifically for being in kollel, which might include money paid to the kollel itself which the kollel uses to pay the individuals. The reason this distinction is important is that if the army ties government benefits to willingness to serve in the IDF, the first type will probably continue, and the second type will disappear (at least as far as hareidim who don’t serve in the army). However these are separate types of programs.

The wife works?

It’s a little complicated but here is the best that I know.

Anyone learning in a registered yeshiva or kollel during both the morning an afternoon is entitled to “datot” money. This means that the yeshiva receives a stipend on his behalf. If the man is not married the yeshiva may keep the stipend of around 500-600 Shekel. If he is married it is passed on to him through the yeshiva/kollel and it is around 800-900 Shekel monthly. If the man is not a Israeli citizen the above amounts are somewhat less. This is not connected at all to financial status.

If one has at least 3 children, no car, and his wife does not work. He is entitled to an additional payment (I can’t remember what it’s called right now) of between 1000-2000 Shekel monthly. This is also conditional on the fact that he only learns all day (not a rebbe, tutor, etc.) and has less than a certain monthly income.

The above 2 payments come in towards the beginning of the month and are for the previous month. The one exception is that December’s stipend (which is supposed to arrive at the beginning of January) is always delayed and often shrunk pending the passing of the new budget for the year. Somehow I have a feeling the soldiers do not have that problem.

There are additional subsidies that are available to any citizen with a low income.

Between 40%-90% discount on property tax (a municiple tax levied on the resident).

Little or no income tax – and in rare instances a monthly tax benefit (between 0-470 shekel).

One who works must pay a 10% health tax while one who doesn’t pays 112 shekel monthly.

Any resident receives around 150 shekel monthly per child – regardless of financial status.

Although soldiers and policemen get free public transportation, and students receive a 50% discount, members of yeshivas and kollelim receive no discount at all.

If I think of anything else I’ll try to add it.

Mixing with the Lapid thread here. We get 750 NIS a month from the Mir. We have ba”h 7 kids. I don’t know what it is based on or if it gets higher depending on how long you’ve been there. I also don’t know if that is just the Mir, or if other kollels get the same.

Of course, there are “better paying” kollels, but that is not money from the government, that is private donors giving money to support a kollel.

For the record, for today’s dollar, that amounts to: approximately $200, as Yael pointed out.

It is not enough for anyone, no matter how simply they live, to live on.

There was some controversy about an ad that said that kollel members make something like 3,500 NIS a month. Noone knows where they got that # from, but it has certainly made the chilonim angry…

TLKY- forever, i think

The Litvishe Kiryas Yoelite

currently the age is 28

I think Ya’alon wants to lower it to 26

Hi, As I and Yael and Israeli-Chareidi said, the correct number is around $200.

Litvishe, kollel students are not exempt from military service; less still are they allowed to “exempt themselves.” Instead, they are deferred on the specific grounds of their studies. Leaving kollel for any purpose (not only to go to work) revokes the deferral. The same applies to small numbers of university students who are allowed to earn degrees in specialized fields provided they sign on for extra years of army service afterward.

You speak of “secular university students” but the university system doesn’t distinguish between secular and other. Students don’t get cash in hand from the government, although universities do give stipends to a small number of selected postgraduates. What does exist for universities is massive government funding, without which tuition might be twice as high as it is. Those who can’t gain admission to universities go to colleges, which get no subsidies of that kind and charge whatever their prestige and track record allow them to.

Comparisons of kollel with university are mostly apples vs. oranges, and since in Israel both systems vie for a piece of the same pie, it’s almost structurally inevitable that each would accuse the other of leeching…

gaw: Will Arab-Israeli citizens also lose “First Type” benefits if they opt out of Army service, or will they discriminate only against Torah Jews?

I would think that the same rules would apply (Lapid complains about the Arabs as well, and Bennett would see it as an opportunity). Some sort of “national service”, army, or lose your benefits (including, if they really wanted to chap the idea (but they wont), the right to vote).

And to zahavasdad:

To call the chareidi community a “non-working segment of the population” is to buy into the lie that the secular Leftist media is trying – successfully – to market.

Most chareidi women work. They work as teachers, speech therapists, graphic designers, interior designers, accountants, computer programmers, marketing writers and more. Suddenly, when it comes to chareidim, working women don’t count anymore.

And I’ll tell you a secret: Most chareidi men work, too. Are many of them cheder rebbeim and maggidei shiurim? Yes. So what? If male teachers and professors in Israeli public schools and universities are considered working, then so are their chareidi equivalents. And if cheder rebbeim and maggidei shiurim are not considered working, then neither can male teachers and professors be considered as such. It works both ways.

EY Mom

I happen to have fairly close relative in Kollel both here in US and in Isarael.

I speak to them directly and indirectly , I do not get my kollel information from the news, I get it from family members and family news.

I apologize for the run on sentence. The words “which was promoted by Gimmel, as the main beneficiaries were Charaidim” are parenthetical.

There are two issues that are be co-mingled and are really separate.

One is the specific money given to kollel students for being in kollel. In the future this might be replaced with grants tied to having served in the army. Non-zionist hareidim don’t accept this money as a matter of principle. While these grants are only for the yeshivos, other subsidy programs assist secular institutions (e.g. universities) who have academic programs covering Jewish studies – and these subsidies tend to be more liberal.

The second is Israel’s liberal social benefits programs which benefit all (hiloni Jews, Russian goyim, Palestinians, etc.) but are especially important for hareidim since one of the benefits is a liberal child allowance, and we have lots of kids. Most western countries with welfare states give such allowances (in the USA its a $1000 per child tax credit). One can argue that Israeli can’t afford the liberal welfare state, but try arguing that in a country where Obama’s economic and social policies would cause him to be regarded as a right-wing fanatic (and note that most hareidi Jews are clearly on the far left of the spectrum on economic matters, which in some way reflects our tradition of meeting human needs first and then worry where the money is coming from).

This is mixing with the otehr post about Yair Lapid. I guess Yael E, EY Mom and I are all working kollel wives in E”Y who seem to be in agreement that the facts on the ground are that most Israeli chareidi women work and pay income taxes, property taxes and the rest and are entitled to the social benefits that everyone gets. zahavasdad seems to think that we are wrong at that the chilonim are paying more than 50% of their money for all of us who don’t work.

BTW, kitzvat yeladim was cut back significantly several years ago. It used to be more. I don’t remember the precise change, but something having to do with the number not increasing the same amount exponentially once you have more than 4 kids.

The family members of mine who are in Kollel in Israel have jet-setted back and forth between Israel and the US more times that I have , They do it at least a year, if not more

Because they are “playing house”, just like anyone else being supported by Mommy & Daddy. There is no comparison to a real Benei Braker.

Next thing you will tell me is that they live in Arzei, Ramat Eshkol, Maalot Dafna or one of the other “play house” communities. Maybe Mommy and Daddy bought them a house in Beitar or Ramat Bais Shemesh (which is a good investment, and still under Mommy’s name).

Jerusalem. Dont ask me which community there I have no idea

We’re all playing house on the L-rd’s dime.

Amen!!!!! Praise the L-rd and pass the ammunition!

FYI, Rav Moshe has a Teshuva (can’t remember where) that specificly says the term L-rd is the Shem Hashem in English.

zahavasdad: If that’s the case, then what was the point about your post about the jetsetters? What does that have to do with chilonim supporting chareidim?

All Americans are Fake Charaidim, with Fake beards, and faux fur Straimels. Every real Yerushalmi knows this. ,/em>

They dont wear streimels, they are not Chassidic

This is true. Your relatives are fauxreidim.

Maybe they are Chardal?