Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., September 04, 2008 Elul 4, 5768 | | Israel Time: 17:37 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 08:19 02/09/2008
A quota for yeshiva studies
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: Israel, ultra-Orthodox 

A record number of kollel students will begin their studies this year: 63,000. This is nearly a two-thirds increase in a decade, Education Ministry data shows: There were 38,000 students at yeshivas for married men in 1998. In total, the Education Ministry will be funding 95,000 yeshiva students over age 18 this school year. This is more than twice the number of draftees in an Israel Defense Forces induction cycle.

The increased number of yeshiva students stems directly from the thwarting of the Tal Law, which was supposed to integrate ultra-Orthodox men into the military and economy. Those responsible for the Tal Law's failure are the IDF, which did not create suitable service frameworks for the ultra-Orthodox; the Finance Ministry, which did not budget for civilian service; and the ultra-Orthodox themselves, who supported the law in the Knesset but did not try to implement it. As a result, in the six years the Tal Law has been in place, only 3,400 yeshiva students took the permitted year off to decide on their future, and the number of non-working yeshiva students continues to grow rapidly.

These men's absence from the labor force is damaging the GNP by an estimated NIS 5 billion to NIS 10 billion annually. The Finance Ministry and the Knesset Research and Information Center initially calculated a NIS 5 billion loss, but since then, the number of students has grown by one-third, and the damage has presumably grown accordingly. Economist Eli Berman of the University of California, San Diego, a leading researcher on the economics of religion, believes that even NIS 10 billion is an underestimate: It does not take into account the stipends and budgets the ultra-Orthodox receive so that yeshiva students have a guaranteed income.
Advertisement
One definitely could accept the argument that the State of Israel, as a Jewish state, should fund the living expenses of thousands of religious scholars, even if most of the country's citizens reject the lifestyle whereby Torah is one's craft. However, it is impossible to understand why Israel is continuing to fund an unlimited number of yeshiva students, as if Israel had a compulsory education law with no age limit. The state itself is thus helping to push tens of thousands of men away from the labor force, seriously harming the economy and forcing the taxpaying public to dig into its own pockets to fund the lifestyle of a growing community that has chosen to study instead of work.

This matter requires a reform no less bold than Likud's child-allowance cut. The State of Israel must declare that it will support all yeshiva students only until age 23. Past that age, it must fund only a limited quota of students, who could receive even double or triple today's monthly NIS 720 stipend. Anyone who wants to continue to learn but does not make the quota will need to pay for it himself, or be supported by donors. The kollels will thus return to nurturing rabbis and religious scholars, and not serve as a refuge from military service and work.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Sarkozy in Syria
Visit will put the onus on Damascus to cooperate further on Lebanon.
Shalit talks frozen
Hamas' senior leader in Gaza blames Israel for breakdown of negotiations.
  1.   Responsible stand is indeed needed 08:39  |  Ilan 02/09/08
  2.   Blatant inequality in the State of Israel... 09:14  |  Esther 02/09/08
  3.   Balance needed 09:15  |  Nathaniel 02/09/08
  4.   How about quotas on filmmakers, musicians, and dancers 09:55  |  Zev Davis 02/09/08
  5.   What is happening ??? I agree with Ha`aretz !!! 10:47  |  Yisrael 02/09/08
  6.   Look who`s talking 11:09  |  Nach 02/09/08
  7.   For Zev #4 11:18  |  Esther 02/09/08
  8.   Esther, shame on you . . . breeding?! 11:26  |  Zev Davis 02/09/08
  9.   Zev#8...I concede your point, inappropriate word... 12:03  |  Esther 02/09/08
  10.   Zev/Nachs 12:18  |  Miche Norman 02/09/08
  11.   Esther, equality is not the issue 12:18  |  z 02/09/08
  12.   Esther, equality is not the issue 12:40  |  Zev Davis 02/09/08
  13.   Zev you are missing the point 12:58  |  Miche Norman 02/09/08
  14.   Revealing, Zev 13:16  |  Murray 02/09/08
  15.   well said 14:13  |  RobertK 02/09/08
  16.   The only thing worse... 14:14  |  Ben Azai 02/09/08
  17.   Zev,Leftie Esther is all for funding pal breeding machines 14:14  |  Absolute Sweden 02/09/08
  18.   Murray, we were discussing Jewish chlldren 14:34  |  Zev Davis 02/09/08
  19.   brilliant deductions from previous erroneous report 14:34  |  sz 02/09/08
  20.   Miche, Die Sturmer could not have done better! 14:47  |  Zev Davis 02/09/08
  21.   today`s editorial`s raison d`Etat 14:49  |  christoph 02/09/08
  22.   Judaism is nothing without Torah!!! 15:22  |  Dr eric 02/09/08
  23.   The secularists want power not jobs, investments for the masses 16:18  |  Nat 02/09/08
  24.   Zev- - Cliche- Cliche cliche 16:45  |  Miche Norman 02/09/08
  25.   SZ - pittance 16:52  |  Miche Norman 02/09/08
  26.   #18, Zev... 17:27  |  Silvienne 02/09/08
  27.   Re Ben Azai #26... excellent post... 17:47  |  Esther 02/09/08
  28.   Pay for your studies ! 18:28  |  Charles 02/09/08
  29.   720,,, that`s chicken-feed... 18:41  |  Esther 02/09/08
  30.   I was a married college student in Israel 20:02  |  Deb 02/09/08
  31.   There are better places to save money 21:52  |  Scharker Yid 02/09/08
  32.   Oy vey, Miche, there is something you don`t know 01:30  |  Zev Davis 03/09/08
  33.   But America does allw thousans to opt out 01:36  |  Ian 03/09/08
  34.   Ben Azai, perhaps in London . . . 01:53  |  Zev Davis 03/09/08
  35.   Pirkei Avos 01:55  |  Ben Azai 03/09/08
  36.   Supporting yeshiva students 04:15  |  Chopper 03/09/08
  37.   # 14 to murray in milan- YES! that IS what everyone should feel 07:35  |  eric 03/09/08
  38.   The fact remains... 07:50  |  Esther 03/09/08
  39.   # 18 to zev davis re: children and haaretz 08:01  |  eric 03/09/08
  40.   ZD - Zaideh? 09:22  |  Miche Norman 03/09/08
  41.   #22 -- Then pay for it yourself! 09:24  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  42.   Frummers Not Fighters For Israel 09:30  |  Clickfool 03/09/08
  43.   #32: Is it wrong to be intolerant of... 09:36  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  44.   #31 -- Yes, as in not supporting Arab traitors 09:44  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  45.   Judaism is nothing without Torah!! 09:48  |  Dr Eric 03/09/08
  46.   There should be a quota for # of Secular jews!! 09:49  |  Dr Eric 03/09/08
  47.   #38 -- No, to your OPINION! 09:49  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  48.   #19 -- Yes, Torah/Gemara learning are valuable, BUT 09:55  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  49.   #43 -- You said that already. So PAY for it yourself! 10:01  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  50.   #48--OOPS! I meant #44 10:12  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  51.   agree with editorial 10:20  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/08
  52.   Miche, you reap what you sow 10:32  |  Zev Davis 03/09/08
  53.   Yaakov, its a valid issue, but . . . 10:44  |  Zev Davis 03/09/08
  54.   Eric, lets forget the State funding for moment 10:59  |  Zev Davis 03/09/08
  55.   Dr. Eric we do not agree 11:14  |  Miche Norman 03/09/08
  56.   #48 -- OOPS! I meant #45 11:52  |  Yaakov K. 03/09/08
  57.   WITHOUT THEM WE ARE NOTHING! PLEASE READ 12:02  |  Harvey 03/09/08
  58.   Haaretz preaches such bigotry, regretably its readers fall for it 12:17  |  Harvey 03/09/08
  59.   #57, Harvey... 17:32  |  Silvienne 03/09/08
  60.   Silvienne, how nice of you, lvivng in CT 01:07  |  Zev Davis 04/09/08
 Read & React
ANALYSIS / France elbows U.S. aside in Syria negotiations
Responses: 23
Obama makes peace with Fox News while McCain shuns CNN
Responses: 27
Giuliani: Obama backtracked on undivided Jerusalem
Responses: 30
Biden: AIPAC doesn't speak for Israel, no matter what it insists
Responses: 66


More Headlines
17:16 Assad: Syria has handed peace proposal to Israel, awaiting response
13:52 ANALYSIS / France elbows U.S. aside in Syria negotiations
16:52 Court allows rightists to march through Israeli Arab town
12:17 Shin Bet to Palestinian: Collaborate or go to jail
16:10 Israel tries to lure 'Big Brother' type U.S. reality TV series
13:53 Giuliani to GOP: Obama backtracked on undivided Jerusalem
04:55 New 'chameleon' uniforms meant to boost IDF performance in different environments
13:54 Sarkozy gives Assad letter from Noam Shalit to his son Gilad
15:52 Jerusalem residents claim victory over controversial real estate plan
14:24 Amnesty International: Migrants Israel deported at risk of being tortured
10:11 Police likely to recommend indictments against Olmert
16:37 Hamas detains senior leader of pro Al-Qaida group in Gaza
12:27 Ultra-Orthodox school nixes girls from Sephardi kindergarten
14:57 Rose's mother: I'm sorry I didn't care for her, I want my baby back
11:46 McCain feuds with CNN as Obama seeks to build bridges with Fox News
Previous Editions