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When Yaakov Avinu left Lavan, he left some “Pachim Ketanim” on the other side of the river, and went back to get them (where he then met the Sar Shel Eisav). We learn from this (as the gemorah Chulin points out) how Tzadikim realize the importance of the money that Hashem gives them.
This being so, I do not understand how yeshivos, simchas and the general “Yeshivish Olam” does not recycle their cans & bottles, thereby getting the 5 cent deposit. Even if it is only a dollar or two per month (and way more for an institution), it is easy money that Hashem gave you, which you could use towards Tzedaka, Chovos or stam another soda bottle. Why do people just not care?
GAW, my shul is going green! They are starting to recycle glass and plastic (although, we don’t get deposit in NJ).
It’s a few dollars a month, but it requires sending someone out there to the recycling center. Time plus expense make it usually not worth it. i do know some yeshivas that recycle. I guess they figured out how to make it worth it. This won’t make or break a budget. there are usually much bigger budgetary drains that can easily be corrected than this.
It usually isn’t worth an administrator’s time. There’s serious opportunity cost there. Maybe a bochur.
In your case, there is an easy solution. Send out a Bochur who d/n pay full tuition during “Bein Hasdorim” (one who would not learn during that time) as “part of payment”. Or have the administrator do it (who is under salary anyway). “
I feel the need to comment about this statement, as a parent whose kids were always on tuition assistance, and substantially so, at that. To suggest that a bochur go to the recycling center, as an implied payback for getting a scholarship, might superficially sound as a fair idea, but in truth it is not. Kids whose parents are in need of scholarship are often already put-upon by their family circumstances. It happens that my husband and I felt very strongly that we wanted to show our hakoras hatov to our Yeshivas, and we did so by going to the local bakery once a week for over a decade, to pick up three huge garbage bags filled with the leftover loaves of bread, rolls, and danishes, that the bakery was donating to the Yeshivah for the bochurim’s breakfast and lunch. We were one of a VERY few couples who agreed to this commitment, though there were MANY who were on scholarship and they never helped out. We also volunteered the efforts of all of our children and ourselves to sell merchandise during Bazaar time each year, and I personally stuffed thousands of envelopes over the years, for the Yeshivah Dinner mailing and made hundreds of calls for the dinner journal ads and reservations. we did that because we felt it was the right thing to do. BUT, had we been basically blackmailed into doing so, “because you’re on scholarship and you OWE us,” I would have felt humiliated.
All parents should feel the achrayus to help their Yeshivas, whether or not they receive financial aid. If the school wants a scholarship student or parent to help out with something, it should never be put to them as that being the reason. They have no idea what stresses and time constraints are on those parents. Maybe the father is working three jobs (as in my case) and the mother works at night when the father comes home, as I did. Maybe the bochur has to watch his younger siblings and is not available to go “bein hasedorim” to a recycling center, and maybe he has no car to do so, anyway.
It is one thing to ask all parents in a school to give of their time. It is quite another to make some of them feel like they have to do it because they are the “poor relation.”
And I also do not necessarily feel the administrators should do this – it is not b’kovodik to them. We could not believe that the menahel opf our sons’ Yeshivah did the pick up one fo the days each week because they could not get other parents to do it besides us. There are surely other employees, custodial staff, for example, who could do this as part of their duties. If there is money involved that would come back to the school, then the administrator could go over the number of bottles or cans involved, with the custodian, so they both know how much money is due back. In any case,
no one should be made to feel embarrassed. If a school ever wants to implement such a program, it needs to be discussed upfront as l’chatchilah part of the conditions for receiving a scholarship, but not be sprung on them later on, “because after all, you are on scholarship.” It might sounds like exactly the same thing (the end result is the same, after all), but it isn’t. There is a psychological difference between both scenarios.
There are many yeshivas that have a work-study program. Basically, the boys (this is usually done for beis medrash guys) who can’t pay full tuition, are assigned a job in the yeshiva, such as turning off the lights at night, serving food at meals, organizing the seforim etc. This saves the yeshivos a lot of $ because otherwise, they would need to be paying people to do these things.
Instead of the yeshivos having a recycling program which only will give them a few dollars, by having systems in place such as making sure the lights are off at night and the air conditioning/heat is not on in rooms that aren’t being used etc, the yeshivos will save A LOT more $ then recycling a few bottles.
Its sad but There are yeshivos that have MANY parents who are paying very little in tuition and who just don’t help out at yeshiva events etc.
If you would like to help out a yeshiva, offer the yeshiva your services. If they have a mailing that needs to be done, offer to help out. If your expertise is in recycling cans, offer to take the yeshiva’s cans/bottles and recycle them and give that $ to the yeshiva. If you know someone who can get the yeshiva a good deal on paper towels, tell your local yeshiva. These things can help the yeshiva in so many ways. It seems like buying paper towels is a small thing but think about the hug picture. The yeshiva goes thru thousands of cases of paper towels a year. If you can get them a good deal (or in anything, doesn’t have to be paper towels!) Theu will save A LOT of money and YOU will get SO MUCH s’char. These are the real ‘pachim ktanim’ that make a difference.
Jothar – “It’s a few dollars a month, but it requires sending someone out there to the recycling center.”
Paleeze, if you can go to the store to buy the sodas, then you can take the bottles back on your return shopping trip.
gavra_at_work – I agree with you but it’s a different mind set today. Forget Pachim K’tanim; if Yaakov Avinu were here today, the pachim would be long in the garbage before he got back.
Cherrybim- most yeshivos that are of considerable size, don’t have the administrator’s going out to the store and buying soda. Thay have it delivered etc.
qaws: Maris Ayin is “afeelu b’chadre chadarim”; even if no one sees it or knows about it except for yourself, you still have to be concerned about appearances and behave as if someone is observing you.
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