Guest Post: The Smart Reader's Kids

In honor of Back to School I present an informative guest post for parents of budding readers from The Smart Reader Blog. Much thanks on your guidance and contribution to my blog! Check out The Smart Reader Blog please (see sidebar for the link also).

I often get requests for book recommendations for children; nowadays it's so difficult to find books for kids that have literary merit. Another issue is the fact that one doesn't want one's children picking up, say, bad language from the books he/she is reading. It's also hard to pinpoint which books reflect the values one is trying to inculcate in one's family.

Although this may sound like a pain in the neck, I pre-read nearly every book my children take out from the library. This isn't really as hard as it sounds, because I spent most of my childhood reading every book in existence; it only remains for me to read the newer ones. Also, I read faster than the average person (practice makes perfect! Read Malcolm Gladwell's if you don't believe me.

In this post, I offer a short list of recommended reading for emerging readers and onward. If you are looking for good books in a particular genre for your child, you can request those in the comments and I'll do another post later this month.

Emerging readers: These are the children who are just beginning to read on their own and are moving beyond read-aloud; there is usually a special section in the library for these readers. Unfortunately, each publisher has its own leveling system, so it takes some time to figure out what is what, but you can't go wrong with:

• Dr. Seuss; Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham are perfect for young independent readers.
• Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad
• David Adler's Young Cam Jansen, and when they are ready they can move on to the regular Cam Jansen series.
• I was very fond of Amelia Bedelia when I was very young; I've noticed, however, that today's children often don't grasp the double meanings of the words the way we used to. A lot of those words are not in common use today, and it just doesn't seem as funny. Take them out anyway; it's worth a little bit of explanation.

Intermediate readers: These are children who read well on their own, and can deal with real chapter books that have lots of words. The subject matter is usually straightforward and the plot is generally uncomplicated. Vocabulary is on or slightly above level.

• I don't really like series books, but this one is actually not bad (although it's a tad commercial for my taste). The American Girl books, with each series focusing on a child growing up during a particular era in American history, are nicely done, well-written, and comfortingly predictable. The values are quite nice, and each book features an appendix that tells the reader more about the period in history. If you can restrain yourself from purchasing any of the merchandise, you should be fine. The authors vary. These are usually most suitable for ages 7-10.
• A good author for children ages 8-11 is Eleanor Estes; her Moffat family series is charming and funny. Other good authors for these ages are Elizabeth Enright, whose '50's era books are all now being reprinted, and Edward Eager. Eager is an E.Nesbit wannabe, and for those of you who have never heard of Nesbit, she was an English children's author who was very well known and is still widely read. I would recommend her books to older children, though, because the language is quite British, if you get my meaning.
• Laura Ingalls Wilder's books are a good place to start for a girl who is ready for a book that is a bit longer. The series officially begins with Little House in the Big Woods, and moves onward. The last two might not be appropriate to children younger than 11 or 12; the last book is actually a bit tragic.
• Andrew Clements skyrocketed to fame with his bestseller, Frindle, and seems to have been consistently churning out entertaining novels since then. I particularly enjoyed A Week in the Woods, as well as Room One. Parents should be aware, however, that Clements also published several Young Adult books that are not targeted to this age level.
• One thing (out of many) that is appealing about her books is how they are so suited both to boys and girls. Ramona is a character girls love and boys find hilarious. Ralph S. Mouse has universal appeal.
• Noel Streatfeild was a great favorite of mine growing up. Her "Shoe" books (Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes) are endearing and beautifully written.

Older and advanced readers: Children aged 11 and over are often looking for books with more complex plots, abstract themes, that don't unfold predictably. However, this age and level is difficult because much of the fiction marketed to this group depicts values and behaviors parents don't want their children immersed in. Here I offer a short list of some suitable reading material, but it is very important here to know what your child can handle, and what you do/do not want him/her exposed to.

• Zilpha Keatley Snyder: One of my favorite books, even now, is Snyder's Velvet Room. One of her several books set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, Snyder's story carries a lesson but does it so gently that the reader delights in learning it. I didn't love all her books, but she's definitely an author to acquaint yourself with.
• L.M. Montgomery was the creator of Anne of Green Gables and published oodles of similar books. There's no real middle ground with Montgomery -- either you love her or she sickens you.
• Newbery Medal books: Click on this link to get a full listing of all the Newbery winners I have read and reviewed.

If you post your requests in the comments section for this post, I will take up this thread in my next post as well. For example, if you have a child who likes fantasy, or mysteries, I would be happy to publish a separate post for that genre.

Be sure to check out my quasi-kid post on this page.

Guest Poster at KOAB

I'm a featured guest poster on KOAB. Check out my post Summer Meal Prep o the Fly and share your own quick and frugal meal tips that keep pizza at bay.

Guest Post: Retirement Stages

I forgot to ask my reader if I could identify, so until the reader self-identifies, I will not put an identity onto this Guest Post/Comment sent to me offline.

Thank you ProfK for your insightful comments and guest post. ProfK blogs at Conversations in Klal.

When people discuss retirement, they are often discussing different things, hence statements like that of one of my friends, "retirement is goyish." The first time I heard of this comment arguing that saving for retirement was unnecessary, I was perplexed/floored. What could possibly be "goyish" about having the money stop working because it is simply impossible or not in the best interest of the client/patient to be in the workplace? What could possibly be goyish about retaining some dignity and not come to rely on others when your expenses exceed your income (which can and does happen even if you continue to work)? What could possibly be "goyish" about leaving the classroom because your heart is no longer there?

Once I put my thinking cap on (dan l'chaf zechut), I realized that my friend has a T.V. view of retirement where retirees cease being productive. Personally, I have no issues with people who have worked for many years, met their obligations, and put their children on their own two feet, taking some of their hard earned money to do things they are interested in doing, be that traveling the world or leaving the world of earning to sit and learn or volunteer. I guess there are always those who will park themselves in front of their TV and speed the aging process. But that doesn't make retirement bad, does it?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I tend to jump straight to "stage 2" as defined by my guest poster because I'm hoping to reach the audience that views retirement as only fun, fun, fun, forgetting that retirement also means expenses that made yeshiva look like a bargain.

From now on, I'm hoping to use "stage 1" or "stage 3" in posts about retirement because I like the demarcation. It is important to remember that one spouse might be in a "stage 1" while the other hits "stage 3" pre-maturely. Or a couple might never enjoy a "stage 1" because they slowed down while they were still working.

Nonetheless, when thinking about retirement, there is much to consider. So, without further ado, my guest poster:

----------------------------------------------------

Just a few thoughts on the posting on retirement that you put up that the article referenced doesn't cover and that might be helpful when you do your commentary later.

Given the age that people live to today talking about retirement is a misnomer--there are at least 2, possibly 3, retirement levels for people over 65, and each level has differing requirements. Level 1 is the "yippee, I no longer have to work all year and can finally do all the things I've put off doing and see all the places I've put off seeing" level. During this time period, generally from immediately post retirement until some time in the late 70s, retirees seem to like to travel, and still pretty much have the energy to do so. People on this level are likely to move away from their home communities, particularly if those communities are in cold weather areas. Trying out new experiences is part of this level. Generally speaking people on this level are still fairly healthy, although some problems may be developing or first show up. Most seniors on this level are still fairly self-mobile, most continuing to drive their own cars. Obviously there are exceptions, but I'm talking about the general run of people in this age range. This level lasts until the mid to late 70s. While there are some who may require assisted living facilities or nursing homes, the majority of those on this level can remain in their own homes.

Level 2 is from the late 70s into about the mid 80s. This level is characterized by a reduction in "energy," with activities slowing down. Many serious health issues can become problematic during this level. In particular, vision and its related ailments starts playing a larger role in the lives of people on this level. People on this level may find themselves needing to be closer to family--and moving to be closer if they are living elsewhere- because they need extra help they didn't need for Level 1. Mobility may become an issue for some on this level--you see a lot of knee and hip replacements as joints wear out and bones break easier. Many on this level no longer drive a car, so getting places can be more difficult. Certain heretofore quite doable household chores take much longer, if they can be done at all. A number of people on this level may find themselves requiring assisted living facilities or nursing homes.

Level 3 does not have a large population of people, although that will change as they are constantly upgrading average life expectancy. People on this level are from the mid 80s to in the 90s. Fully healthy, fully independent people on this level are rare. While some may live by themselves in their own homes, they need assistance with many/most ordinary tasks of living. Short and long term memory problems are common on this level. Any health issues that arise present more of a difficulty as people in this age range have less resistance to such health issues, less ability to fight back. For wont of a better word, people on this level are fragile. On this level living independently becomes the exception rather than the rule. Certainly a large percentage of these people find themselves living with family or living in nursing homes.

From an economic point of view, the monies required differ for each level as expenditures change. Planning for retirement income, therefore, requires people to look at the three levels and see how much will be needed to sustain them on each level. As the article noted, nursing homes are notoriously expensive. If that possibility may exist as you go to Level 2 and Level 3, spending will need to be adjusted in Level 1 to account for this.

. . . . just some thoughts I thought I'd share.

Guest Post: Do Not Provide Your Child's Social Security Number

[Another fantastic Guest Post from another fantastic reader and contributor. Thanks for your time and effort as you alert readers to an important issue].

It's that time of year, parents are busy filling in school and camp application forms, complete with the "required" names, ages, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and more. But before you provide that information (that actually may not really be required), stop, and think, and realize that you could inadvertently be setting up your child for a painful financial future.

Identify theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. As per the Social Security Administration (http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html) "A dishonest person who has your Social Security number can use it to get other personal information about you. Identity thieves can use your number and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then, they use the credit cards and do not pay the bills. You may not find out that someone is using your number until you are turned down for credit or you begin to get calls from unknown creditors demanding payment for items you never bought. Someone illegally using your Social Security number and assuming your identity can cause a lot of problems." This is a very real threat, and numerous victims have had their lives turned upside because a crook used or stole their Social Security number.

So what does this have to do with your kids? In 2006, 5% of all social security numbers stolen belonged to children, and in 2010 that number had increased to 8%. In one recent study of 42,000 children, Carnegie Mellon found that over 10% of their Social Security numbers had been misused, that’s more than 50 times the rate for the adults studied. It's gotten so bad that next month the FTC is sponsoring an event entitled "Stolen Futures: A Forum on Child ID Theft" (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/stolenfutures/). Kids are the perfect identify theft victim because their Social Security numbers may not be used for years, allowing thieves lots of time to open accounts, rack up bills, and even commit crimes ... and your child will never know until they actually try to open a bank account or get a job or buy a house.

This is a serious problem. The government has long recognized that Social Security numbers were being requested too frequently and in ways never intended. This is why medical insurance companies are no longer allowed to you Social Security numbers as account numbers (until a few years ago your insurance card had your Social Security number embossed on the front). But, despite insurance companies not actually needing your Social Security number, Doctor's offices routinely ask for it for no other reason than that’s what they are used to. The truth is that you may decline to provide Social Security number, and you'll still be seen by the doctor.

And schools and camps are no different. Just about every school and camp application asks for your Social Security number. In fact, one yeshiva application we just filled in asked for a copy of my child's birth certificate! Why? I've asked multiple schools and camps to explain the need for this information, and they have yet to give me a reason other than that's the way they have always done it.

Ok, so schools don't need your child's Social Security number, and they most definitely don't need a birth certificate. But what's the big deal if you provide it to them, after all, you trust your school, right? Actually, wrong! Few (if any) of our schools have the right safeguards in place to secure confidential information. Offices are routinely left unlocked, filing cabinets are often open, computers are seldom adequately secured, there is usually no formally defined information access policy or audit-trial. In fact, I have personally seen piles of applications sitting openly on secretary's desks. And that's just this year's forms. If you are feeling brave, ask your school what they did with previous year's forms! And if you think schools are bad, camps are even worse!

I'll admit to generalizing here. There may indeed be some schools and camps with perfect policies in place to secure your children's confidential information. But, even if this were true, it still does change the fact that schools in general do not need this information, and you as a parent are free to refuse to provide it. Or put differently, for over a decade we have sent kids to multiple schools and camps in multiple states, have always refused to provide Social Security numbers, and the institutions have still been more than happy to accept our kids and cash our checks.

That’s not to say that there are never legitimate needs for the information. But, when asked, challenge the institution for details about data security, ask who will have access to the information and where it’ll be sent, and if the school is collecting the information for a government agency, consider sending it yourself.

The bottom line is just as you protect your kids from illnesses, inclement weather, bad drivers, poor influences, and more, you also have to protect their financial futures from potential ruin. Don’t give your child social security to anyone, even (or especially) schools just because they ask for it. The answer must always be no, unless a very compelling reason and justification can be made for saying yes.

Guest Post: Accreditation, Track Records, and the Degree for Which You Don't Need to Step Foot

Thank you to my Guest Poster for helping me keep this blog active. I have a lot of thoughts I want to share that are not of the usual Orthonomic material, but then again the events are usual Orthodox events. More to come.

Guest Post by

A. Former Bochur

A couple of years ago, an entrepreneurial individual published The Bochur’s Guide to College (For Women Too) www.bochursguide.com. Ostensibly, it is a in informational resource which according to one review on Amazon offers “a very informative and helpful overview of the options available for those seeking to obtain a degree in a non-conventional way…. outlines different ways to obtain credit ranging from exams (CLEP, AP, and others) to online and distance learning. A fun read too!”.

The website features links to Amazon to purchase book as well as links to various online degrees from for-profit institutions which are apparently generating advertising revenue.

It is beyond the scope of this post to discuss the merits or demerits of the compatibility of a Torah observant lifestyle and the contemporary college campus. The fact is that secular college campus is in part reason of how we have gotten to this point.

The topic at hand is the value of having a college degree and how to obtain it. Most (although not all) frum Jews will stipulate the value of having a degree towards some sort of vocational endeavor. The question is how to get there.

In the past, the American Yeshiva world has been replete with success stories, either in business or professional life. While some have been able to excel in business without a degree, many Yeshiva graduates attended night school at commuter colleges that were the springboard towards a professional employment in a variety of professional fields. For the most part, all believed that obtaining a college education was a necessary component. This was achieved through an arrangement with the college to accept some number of Yeshiva credits, but ultimately the undergraduate degree was a diploma from the college of record. Some took this diploma to graduate school, and others were able to enter the workplace with the undergraduate degree and lead fine religious lives infused with Torah values and learning, and the ability to make an honest living.

Phase II of this Yeshiva world phenomenon occurred when it was discovered that for fields like Law, there was no specific major that was a prerequisite for entry. As a result, the “Yeshiva degree” was invented. Ostensibly, this was to turn years of Torah study into some sort of diploma which would be subsequently accepted by the law school. For Law, there has been a strong track record of success for this path. A variant within Phase II included other professional fields such as Accounting for which prerequisites and passing the CPA became more important than the undergraduate degree. As a result, the Yeshiva degree plus the coursework in Accounting could be leveraged to obtain the professional credential.

Enter Phase III, which is really a mish-mosh of Yeshiva (or Seminary) degrees, online degrees, “CLEPing“at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Young people and their parents have be told that some of these degrees are “accredited” and therefore worth the investment. There are a variety of different drivers of this phenomenon, which are also too complex for this post.

A perusal of the website above will list the various programs from which one can obtain a degree, there is little accountability for what is being advised. And the types of degrees being promoted here are very much the same approach that some Yeshivas are publicizing as channels in which one can get a college degree with minimal time and coursework and maximum time learning in the Yeshiva.

Without getting into the ins-and-outs of what is “accreditation”, let’s just compare it to some sort of Kosher symbol. OK, someone claims that it is kosher, and perhaps it technically is under certain circumstances. But is it a reliable hashgacha that most would recognize? In the same way, OK the degree is accredited, but is it recognized by employers? Another question that people should be asking is what is the value of the diploma alone without any relevant job experience, and in many cases writing and social skills within the corporate workplace.

It should be pointed out that many of these modern day diploma mills are in reality for-profit entities which are often more expensive than the local college. So, in the end, is this a worthwhile investment? Sure, the claims are that one can complete the degree in half of the time as other recognized schools. But so what? Most established universities track employment rates of graduates (one can quibble with how accurate the numbers are, but there is some tracking going on?). But are the Yeshivas doing that for the programs which they are directing people to?

The most recent one is the following (but there are others which have been marketed over the years).

*MEMO: To All Yeshiva Rabbinic Degree holders (First Talmudic Law or First Rabbinic Degree etc...)*

The Jewish Community announces the fourth cohort in the most successful M.B.A. Degree program starts again on *June 14th, 2011*. *(Participants meet twice a week for only 6 weeks, the rest of the pro**gram is completed via correspondence and can be done from any location)*

*

*The Introduction Seminar is Tuesday, June 14th *

***Students must register at least two weeks before then*

This Masters in Business (M.B.A.) program has *an additional **$2,000reduction OFF

**the discounted tuition of $8,100*. *(Total M.B.A. tuition would be $6,100

....paying class by class as you go and financial aid is also available.).*

- There are only 12 physical sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings that take place in Brooklyn or Queens *(students meet twice a week for 6 weeks), *

- *The rest of the program is completed **entirely online*.

- M.B.A. Graduate Degree Specifics:

https://sites.google.com/site/teameducationinc/ellis-university-mba/course-specifics>

- Schedule and Calendar:

*LINK*

- *Read what current students are saying about the program:*

- Past student comments:

* LINK

*

- *6 different concentrations are available:*

- *M.B.A. - **General*, * *

- *M.B.A. - **Finance*, *

*

- *M.B.A. - **Information Management*,

- *M.B.A. - **Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management*, * *

- *M.B.A. - **Project Management*,

- *M.B.A. - **Entrepreneurship*

- *Financial Aid is also available*

** You can use your *Traditional *or *Yeshiva** Degree* for entry. Students have the option of earning your M.B.A. in 13-15 months if you desire.

Please call with any questions.

Sincerely,

Aaron Braunstein

*Program Director*

*(516) 528 - 8871

(347) 560 - TEAM*

*Teacher Education Assessment & Management*

Program Director

www.GoTeamEd.com

Office: (888) 418-GRAD

I would encourage all readers of the post to write or call the fellow asking him some of the following. Can he produce some statistics as to the value of this program at “Aspen University” or “Ellis University” for employment in the Tri-State area for example? How many graduates have obtained jobs in the past 3-5 years? Without any relevant work experience, what is the value of the diploma in the marketplace? What is the average salary of a newly minted MBA from these programs? How do corporate recruiters react to these schools on a resume and how do they stack up with local brick-and-mortar MBA degrees? How many graduates have obtained employment without any relevant job experience? Does this person stand to gain a commission for each referral to sign up? All good questions, each begging for a compelling answer.

We have a concept of “lifnei iver” which can loosely be translated as dispensing irresponsible advice to those who might be uninformed, naïve, or vulnerable. Those out there should probe as to how credible those making any referrals to these programs really are, whether made by the person above or the head of your local Yeshiva that endorses such a program. Can the value of these short-cuts be corroberated by hard (or even soft) evidence?

Guest Post: Grow a Garden, Eat Healthy, Save Money

by Zach

Whether or not you believe in global warming, and how the current production of produce worsens the problem, I'm sure we can all agree that tomatoes and other vegetables do not naturally grow in plastic wrap. I'm sure most of you are also tired of buying tomatoes, peppers, or other vegetables weeks in advance of when you may actually need them while they slowly ripen. Lastly, I'm sure all of you do not want to continue to ingest the pesticides that other fruits and vegetables are doused in every day. Its debatable of the actual dangers of these chemicals, but even if they're ok, (which I doubt) I'd rather not have them anywhere near my food.

So how do we solve these problems. Well, a home vegetable garden is something that I started last year and really enjoyed throughout the summer. Its a slow process, it takes about 2 ½ – 3 months for the first fruits, but a very rewarding one. I guess I'll just give a brief summary of my experience last summer and if anyone has any questions about specifics, they can email me.

After I read Al Gore's “An Inconvenient Truth”, I felt inspired to single handedly save the world. But I'm only in college and couldn't afford a hybrid car, so I thought that a vegetable garden would help. I had a patch of soil 4 feet wide and 30 feet long, so I chose 5 crops and gave them 6 feet a piece: Corn, Butternut Squash, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Strawberries. You can buy seeds at Home Depot, Christmas Tree Shop, or your local guy (Herolds Farm here in Fair Lawn). You may need to add some nutrient rich soil, but I didn't and everything worked out pretty well. I started planting after Passover last year in mid-April, and within about 3 weeks there was already some signs of life.

After that initial joy of the first seedlings, things get kinda boring for the next 6-8 weeks as the plants continue to slowly grow a little every day. The corn was the most fun to watch though; I left for shul in the morning one Shabbos and they must have grown 4 inches by the time I got back a few hours later. But for the most part, if you water a couple times of week, the plants will continue to grow and strengthen as they prepare to bloom.

In late June/early July (depending on when you start), you'll finally be able to enjoy the first fruits. From here on out its really just about watering every other day and harvesting your fruits whenever they are ripe. I usually waited to do this until friday afternoon (when I had some free time) and we had enough tomatoes to last the entire week.

Here is a breakdown of how each plant grew last year. My numbers are a little rusty as I'm doing it from memory.

Corn: Worked great, the stalks grew about 6 feet tall and produced two ears per stalk. We harvested maybe a couple but then I came home one afternoon to find that squirrels had devoured the rest of them. It was fun while it lasted. Hopefully you'll have better luck.

Strawberries: Didn't grow at all. I hear they are very hard to grow from seeds, but you might be able to buy the plants themselves.

Butternut Squash: Grew very well, we got maybe a dozen or so squashes (squashi?) from just one plant. It grows all over the place though so you might want to trellice it on a fence. All squash grow similar (zuchini, yellow squash, acorn, pumpkins...) so I'm assuming that they'll all grow wonderfully in this area.

Peppers: Came in very late and only produced a couple peppers. I have a feeling we didn't do something right so maybe they'll work better this year. There are so many varieties to choose from so plant all different varieties of colors and spiciness.

Tomatoes: This was the best by far. I think we got on average a Quart of the little yellow plum tomatoes every week. I was even able to give quite a bit to some friends. They can get very tall depending on what type you buy, so you may need to stake them, or cage them, or they'll just flop over. Thats not so bad (it happened to me) but it doesn't look so nice and can get kind of messy. This year, I'm going to try and do 3 different types of tomatoes so I'll have much more variety.

Anyways, thats pretty much it from last year. I had a great time doing it, and the harvesting was the most fun of all. Its a great way to get the kids involved as well, and they can definitely help out. For the most part, you can keep your prices very low (I only bought seeds for like 3$ a pack) but if you want to keep things neat, you may need to spend some money on cages/stakes/fertilizer/ or gardening tools if you don't have them already. I was lucky and already had them.

I'll just mention the economic benefits as well, because I know this blog tries to help out in that department. I can't say that it saved my family that much money but we probably got like 30$ or something out of the process. Then again, I had no idea what I was doing last year and was so thankful it actually worked. If you do thing right, I've read that you can grow as much as $2000 worth of produce in a 20 by 20 foot area. That seems like a ton of money from just a garden, but I guess it depends on how big your weekly grocery budget is. I think in reality, if you do things correct, you can probably grow about $500 worth of food, but even if that doesn't happen I guarantee it is one of the most fun and rewarding experiences.

This year, we are going a little crazy and are growing lettuce, carrots, onions, hot peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, 3 types of tomatoes, corn, and maybe more. If anyone is interested I can keep them updated on how it goes, so post some comments!! I don't think this will pay for your school tuition (unless you go to a CUNY school) but it could help.

Again, if you need any specific help or advice on how to grow specific plants feel free to email me at countzacky@yahoo.com I'm not an expert, but I've done a ton of research so I'd be glad to help.

Best of luck to all.

Guest Post: 10 Tips for Saving Money, Time, Nerves, and Health on Pesach

by Rosie (Thank you!)

1)Keep a log of what is spent each year and how much of each item was used up. If new items are to be purchased for the following Pesach, such as fry pans, tablecloths, knives, etc, put that on the log and put the log in a place where it is accessible all year. Keep Pesach in mind when buying furniture and baby gear as to how easy the items will be to clean. Throughout the year, buy needed items on sale such as aluminum foil, food storage bags, etc.

2)Pay income taxes prior to Purim rather that wait until Pesach. The government gets your money one month sooner but you avoid the headaches. It is truly sad to see people trying to work on taxes when they could be cooking for Pesach.

3) Have your plumbing lines snaked prior to Pesach and make sure that all toilet tissue is good for plumbing. Do not allow anyone to flush tissues or wipes and find a nice way of telling people to flush once for #1 and twice for #2 to avoid clogging toilets. Emergency plumbing work costs more. Be sure to have plungers handy and apparently dawn dishwashing liquid can help some drain clogs.

4) Old refrigerators that are rarely used, tend to die on Pesach when lots of food is put in at once and the refrigerator must work hard to cool it down. Frequently check to see that the refrigerators are working and that the food is cold.

5) Make all routine auto maintenance and health care visits prior to Purim or after Pesach. The exception will be for children returning from yeshiva, seminary, or college and need to see the dentist. This will save on time spent on oil changes or dental hygiene appointments that can be scheduled for after Pesach.

6)Purchase clothing prior to Purim to avoid running out erev Pesach to buy items that could have been planned long before.

7)Plan only one activity for chol ha moed that costs such as a trip to the zoo and the rest should be kite flying in the park or other free activities such as a public library that has toys and activities. Give the kids a choice of the activity that costs.

8) Expect the unexpected. Don’t let your car run out of gas like we did one erev Pesach. Chicken pox tends to come out on Pesach and one year 5 of our children came down with it the day of bedikas Chometz. Keep on hand fever reducers for epidemics and remember to have either laxatives or prune juice on hand for stomach aches due to change in diet. Pesach cleaning can trigger asthma attacks. Keep a few windows open if a gas stove is kept running on a yomtov.

9) Plan some type of treat for after bedikas chometz such as Passover chocolates. Everyone should be congratulated on a job well done.

10) Make cleaning products from kosher for Passover vinegar or baking soda. Use spray bottles and don’t fill buckets of water if there are babies in the house that toddle or crawl, unless they are sleeping.

Guest Post: Purim Pledge

Guest Post follows (thank you and more Purim Posts to come, I hope. So busy!)

I don’t want to get into the debate about drinking and drunkenness on Purim, even though I do have some strong feeling about the subject. I would rather focus on an area in which we can all agree; we must have a zero tolerance policy for drunk driving, especially on Purim.

Yeshiva students who are not accustomed to regular drinking may be more susceptible to minimizing or even ignoring their impairment when it comes to driving. Let me say this clearly; no child or young adult should drive or attempt to operate a vehicle if s/he had anything to drink on Purim.

College Campuses have a similar problem when it comes to spring break, a period of time where many students engage in behaviors the normally would not consider. One solution I have seen on a number of college campuses is to offer a Drunk Driving Pledge to prevent students from drinking and driving.

Students are encouraged to sign the Pledge, and are offered an entry into a Raffle for doing so. Drunk Goggle demonstrations, which simulate the impairment of drunkenness and can be a powerful illustration of the dangers of drunk driving, often accompany the Pledge drives.

I believe it is time for a similar strategy for Purim. I have drafted the following text for a Purim Pledge aimed at children and young adults between ages 15-24:

In order to help ensure a safer Purim, I pledge that:

1) I will not operate or attempt to operate a vehicle if I have consumed any alcoholic beverages whatsoever.

2) I will not get into a vehicle driven by anyone who has consumed any alcoholic beverages whatsoever.

3) If, in consultation with my parents and Rebbeim and while obeying all applicable laws, I choose to drink on Purim, I will make safe transportation arrangements before Purim.

For an additional raffle entry: I will encourage my friends to sign the Purim Pledge.

It’s a simple idea, but coupled with organized Pledge drives on the local level it can save lives on Purim. For more information about the Pledge, or to help bring it to your community, please email chaimshapiro@ aol.com and join the Pledge Facebook Group at http://on.fb.me/fzFGx4

Chaim Shapiro, M.Ed serves on the Executive Committee of JBAC, The Jewish Board of Advocates for Children http://jewishadvocates.org/ . He is also the founder of the largest Orthodox online networking group, the Frum Network on LinkedIn.

Guest Post: Employment Issues and Reliance on Community

A reader emailed me with some fantastic comments on my last Employment related post on the Emergency Parnasa Initiative Meeting as reported by Matzav for which I titled my post "And if we have to pay them more, they are worth every penny." I relate to his comments and I am placing them up as a quick Guest Post. I'm hoping that this week, I will visit a few other employment related subjects because these are important issues and a lot of the information being disseminated and the culture issues surrounding it are (in my opinion and the opinion of others far more qualified to speak on the subject) are problematic.

Guest Post/Commentary follows (with minor edits):

Comments for this thread seems to have digressed towards what I consider to be the tangential issues or work ethic, religious accommodation in scheduling, and the job market for the “therapy professions”. Furthermore the forum covered in the Matzav.com piece seems to be ignoring a very important topic in any discussion of employment within the frum community. The premise of the initiative that was proposed in this gathering was that frum business owners should be more willing to hire frum employees. Another implicit antecedent for this front burner issue is the economy, job market, which has resulted in the current challenges in employment . But in reality, these challenges are somewhat independent of the current economy and job market, and more a function of the lack of education, training, and skills facing the frum community. Much of this has been self-inflicted by a movement towards insularity, an anti-college sentiment, and the social pressures to remain in Yeshiva through one’s 20’s. This shift is about 30 years in the making, and the chickens have come home to roost, only to be exacerbated by the current economy, but not a direct result of it per se.

Instead of restricting one’s aspiration and potential employability to working for frum employers, why aren’t frum people getting real college degrees that would allow them to compete for professional jobs in the general workplace? (This question is largely rhetorical in light of the self-inflicted points listed above.) Why do frum people, even Yeshivish, have to rely on the frum community to hire, train, and pay them? Are people so narrow-minded that they ignore that getting a degree, getting a professional job in the general workforce with potential growth and progressions—and yes, remaining Torah observant and maintaining sedarim in learning is quite do-able? After all, before 30 years ago, it was a model that happened and worked quite well. Frum Jews had great work ethic, employment stability and had opportunities to effect Kiddush Hashem in the general professional workplace.

Somehow, the challenges of a Torah observant person being employed in the general workplace have been overblown in recent years. Consequently, an underskilled and underemployed workforce has emerged, with limited options. Then, the law of labor supply and demand take over.

There is a legitimate sentiment among frum employers that they might be reluctant to hire someone whom they cannot fire. Let’s take an example. Let’s say a frum business owner (we'll call him Chaim) decides to be nice and considers hiring 29 year old Moishie, previously in Yeshiva in Kollel exclusively to work as a Manager in his medical supply warehouse. (Let’s ignore the fact that Moishie has never supervised anyone other than the busboys at Camp Nearim in 2003 and doesn’t know Accounts Payable from Camp Nearim canteen order form.) Let’s assume that Moishie’s wife is a Teachers Aide at the local Bais Yaakov and they have 4 kids. It just so happens that Chaim sits next to Moishie’s father at the same table in the shtiebel and they have invited each other to simchas over the past 10 years. Given Moishie’s limited experience, skill set, familiarity with technolony and no experience in managing others, there is a high probablility he will fail working as a Manager in Chaim's warehouse. While Moishie is failing, he is a headache for Chaim, and has decreased the morale of his workers, So, even after Chaim attends the Matzav asifa and guilt trip, why would he want to take a chance on hiring Moishie (and probably paying him far in excess of his relative market value) with all of this baggage?

I also think that there is a sense of entitlement today where the Moishies of the community feel entitled to being paid a living wage (defined as Moishie and his wife see it) once they leave Kollel. After all, they have followed “the script” to a ‘t’. Furthermore, it is presumptuous for the Moishies to ignore the level of risk that business owners are taking in their small companies, and the families that the Chaims of the world need to support as well. Back to our story, Moishie is now stuck, at age 29, with little probability that he can ever ultimately get a job outside of the benevolence of the frum community.

The current economic and employment situation should be a logical wake-up call to the Rabbanim seated on the dais at this gathering to promote those options for eduation and training which would ultimately open up more options for frum young people to enter the workforce and maintain stability there. There needs to be a shift away from badmouthing real college degrees (perhaps from commuter schools like Brooklyn and Queens, or Touro and YU), overrating the value of Yeshiva degrees, and overblowing the spiritual challenges of the workplace. Anyone with any intellectual honesty knows that many of these same challenges exist today, even if one is learning in Yeshiva full-time.

Many of the middle age employees who have worked exclusively within the frum community have not accrued the skills, current technology, experience, work habits, and self-presentation that would allow them to compete for professional jobs, of the likes that will provide them with not only better salaries, but deferred compensation and healthcare which are not necessarily provided by smaller Jewish-owned companies. Once again, that is a relatively new development.

Guest Post: Torah Umesorah Presidents Conference

Once again, I am thankful to readers who take their time to contribute to this forum. This morning a reader wrote me with some comments and observations on the Torah Umesorah Presidents Conference held in Miama over the past weekend. Guest post follows:

Hello, I thought that you might be interested in some observations on the Torah Umesorah Presidents conference held in Miami over the last weekend. The conference targets executive directors and lay leaders of day schools and focuses on non-curriculum issues.

Obviously the affordability issue was a point of discussion but apparently far less than last year where most schools were in real crisis positions. Most schools (that survived) seem to be in stable/manageable positions this year.

There were a few seminars on better business management of schools with a focus on leveraging the expertise of the community for purchasing, specialized services, etc and sharing of capital and service costs across institutions.

Although there was a lot of 'rah rah Torah!' rallying of the troops, here was also a small undercurrent of recognition that the current system is still unsustainable without some major changes.

There seems to be considerable optimism that the current political climate is as favorable as it has ever been for introduction of vouchers, tuition tax-deductibility or similar, and there was much discussion of the lobbying and political participation required to get there.

There were also a few (non-Torah Umesorah) invited speakers who proposed that the only real solution is for Jewish philanthropists who do not currently donate to Jewish causes to be convinced take up Jewish education as a cause. It was made clear that this would only be possible as a multi-denominational effort (i.e. the Orthodox movement would only have access to a significant donation from a Spielberg/Katzenberg/Zuckerberg-type as part of a 'movement' that would also be funding Solomon Shechter, community Hebrew schools, etc). A long the same lines, the successful low-pressure 'out-of town' Kiruv movement has developed somewhat of an uneasy natural alliance with the UJA and local Federations who need nominal Jews to remain slightly educated about their own religion in order to remain in the community another generation. There was was a presentation by the Kohelet Foundation, which funds non-Orthodox day school tuition on the condition of parental involvement in a special Partners in Torah program designed to increase parental valuation of traditional Jewish learning.

Disappointingly (to me), other than a few small-session questions, there was no discussion of the non-education lifestyle costs and opportunity costs in the Orthodox community and the resultant effect on the sustainability of schools. The biggest indicator of this was the food at the conference, which was ridiculous in its frequency, quantity and presentation (think New York wedding shmorg for every Shabbat and weekday meal including kiddush, breakfasts, afternoon snacks and a poolside melaveh malkah bbq). Although it's likely most of the costs were underwritten, the (at least) $150 over-spent on food for 400 participants could have provided full subsidy for 6 children or saved one school on the brink of bankruptcy. The menu at an education conference should at the very least be subject to the Agudah's wedding cost guidelines.

Guest Post: Some Economic Observations on the Current Kiruv Framework

Thank you to another great guest poster for his observations and thoughts. I redacted the name of one example of a program and as always welcome comments on an interesting topic.

Some Economic Observations on the Current Kiruv Framework
by Rabbi Dr. Daniel P. Aldrich

After observing the current state of kiruv for the past few years, I have come to feel that some of the popular methods and frameworks may also providing external incentives that are not ideal for student growth. If I can be blunt, the current system is a pay to play system– one organization even calls it “Earn and Learn.” That is, to attract students – initially to a [Program Name Redacted] or similar seminar program, and then to yeshiva – mkarvim have a number of incentives, ranging from 500 dollars a semester in cash to free books and plane tickets. My biggest concern is that the system is, as we say in social science, “crowding out the intrinsic motivation” of the students who want to go. Fortunately, I don’t have to rely on my own intuition to understand the theoretical and empirical problems with paying people to do something that they (and others) may actually really want to do. A lot of peer-reviewed research on this topic has been done by others.

More than four decades ago, the economist Richard Titmuss argued that paying regular donors to give blood actually decreased their willingness to donate. His book, titled The Gift Relationship, suggested the radical notion that offering incentives to volunteers made them less interested in volunteering (you can buy an updated, edited version of the book at http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Relationship-Human-Social-Policy/dp/1565844033).

Titmuss showed that, in contrast to the American system with incentives and marketization of blood, the British system of pure volunteerism produced more blood. Scores of studies followed these initial observations. In 1978, Mark Lepper and David Greene showed (in their book entitled The Hidden Costs of Reward) that monetary rewards reduce motivation across the board. In 2008 Mellstrom and Johannesson showed (in their peer-reviewed article entitled “Crowding Out in Blood Donation”) that introducing monetary rewards for donation decreased blood donations by half. Closer to my own academic work on social capital and civil society, economist Bruno Frey (1997, 1999, and especially his 2000 paper “Motivation Crowding Theory: A Survey of Empirical Evidence”) showed that offering money to communities to host “unwanted projects” such as nuclear power plants and garbage dumps actually made them less likely to accept the offer. Without the incentives on the table, Frey showed, many local residents would have been glad to host a nuclear power plant. For readers interested in seeing how states have tried to solve the problem of building controversial facilities with a variety of tactics, please see SITE FIGHTS (http://www.amazon.com/Site-Fights-Divisive-Facilities-Society/dp/0801476224/). But once developers of these facilities started offering incentives, the residents lost their enthusiasm, calling the incentives “blood money.”

Economists, recognize this same effect, but label this phenomenon “crowding out.” In general, our cognitive space is divided into our intrinsic motivations (those things that we want to do) and external motivations (things we do, like coming to a seminar for fear of failing, because of incentives or disincentives). Offering incentives to a volunteer makes him or her less likely to participate – because if you’re offering money for the person to take on a facility or to give blood, then that signals to the volunteer that the outcome must have a negative value. In contrast, valuable things are pursued, and strong demand drives up their price. If a food manufacturer has to pay consumers to eat its products, it probably won’t last long. Parents fork out 45,000 dollars a year to send their precious charges to Harvard because they believe that it is worth it. Therefore, by paying students to participate in kiruv programs, we may be inadvertently telling them that being Jewish, rather than being a wonderful goal to aspire to, is an undesirable outcome that they have to be paid to accept!

The terrible irony with the kiruv system is that the problem is worse than just “crowding out” of the motivation of students who may have otherwise had a strong interest in furthering their Judaism. Imagine a student who is truly interested in learning more about Torah. He joins a [paid program] type class – and is placed with 10 to 20 other people, most of whom don’t share his natural motivation. They are there because they’re being paid to do so. They tap their pens, bounce their foot, repeatedly look at their watches, and shuffle impatiently as the time ticks down. I’ve spoken to local Shabbos hosts in various communities who have told me that their experiences with [paid program] students – who, to receive their checks, must go to several Jewish experiences like a Shabbos – have been less than rewarding. Those of us who do kiruv the "old fashioned way" (that is, without incentives, and based on long term relationships and incremental growth) feel very blessed that the students who show up at our table – and it may be as few as five, or as many as thirty five –seem engaged and interested in what’s going on.

So it is a double whammy – offering students money or incentives to do what they want to do actually decreases their motivation. Social scientists and economists have produced four decades of empirical evidence supporting this claim. And, on top of that, we’re forcing naturally motivated students to sit in close quarters with many other students who completely lack interest.

I wonder if others have noticed a similar trend, or feel that the system is okay as is?

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Related reading from your truly:
Subsidizing the Ba'alei Teshuva
also posted at Beyond BT under the title The Benefits of Buy In for the Newly Observant

Guest Post: Predicted Symptoms of Middle-Income Overspending

Dear Orthonomics,

I attended a big actuarial conference this week and one slide at one of the presentations caught my attention.

The topic was marketing insurance to the middle market (defined as household income of $35,000-$125,000).

The speaker commented several times on the differences between the older baby boomers (born in the first 10 years of the boom) compared to the younger boomers and Generation X. The older boomers saved, took financial responsibility, and basically lived within their means. The younger boomers and those who follow them are debt-ridden spenders. It's very hard to sell insurance to this market because they have so many other needs, due to their profligacy.

He said - and this is where I thought of the Orthodox community - that things will not change for this group until they suffer a lot of PAIN. He predicts:

1) multigenerational housing - people moving in with their adult kids.

2) family interdependence [you had a post about this recently].

3) people working longer, putting off retirement - although he does not see jobs being available for this group when it ages.

4) an increase in poverty.

This was a good example of how the problems we see in the Orthodox community are not necessarily unique to our community. Many of the problems in the Orthodox community mirror problems in the rest of society (although frum people like to think that they're insulated and special). Maybe the frum world has the financial pressure of paying tuition - but if it weren't tuition, there's likely be something else to squander money on.

The generation before mine somehow managed to pay tuition and not go broke. Different generation, I guess.

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Thank you to the guest poster for sharing comments in industry re: the spending habits of the young. The Orthodox community shares that same plight, often coupled with our own meshugas and sociology, for lack of a better term. I think the Orthodox community as a whole is already knee deep in all four symptoms mentioned:
1. While I haven't seen too many parents moving in with children, I know of many married, adult children (often with children) who have found they cannot afford to maintain their own living quarters and have moved back in with parents. This must be a challenge in the shalom bayit arena.
2. Family interdependence is extremely high, and often unrecognized. I might be mistaken, but I have referred to many families that claim they receive no financial support, but they receive many, many hours of unpaid babysitting. Even where money is not being exchanged, there is interdependence.
3. I know empty nesters with higher mortgages than I have. 'Nuff said. Retirement is out of the picture for so many families.
4. Signs point to an increase in poverty.

Guest Post: Some Info on a Locale and a Guessing Game

The following post was sent to me from a reader who plans to self-identify. It is about a city the reader believes would be of interest to some of the Orthodox population. To keep it fun, the city is not being identified for now so readers can make their best guesses. Post follows (no edits, no commentary). Add your comments as the writer has asked a series of questions.

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Dear Orthonomics,

I am a young Balabos in a small outlying Jewish community struggling to overcome stability issues related to its small size -- I like to say we have 'barely one of everything' (1 each of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Chabad shuls, one Orthodox dayschool, 1 community Hebrew dayschool, 1 butcher, 1 baker, 1 Mikva, a small outreach Kollel, etc...)

Our community (and another similar one relatively nearby) is situated in a unique economic, political and institutional environment that should enable it to attract young Orthodox families facing all the major challenges ('crises') highlighted by your blog, namely the high cost of tuition, the high cost of living in Jewish areas, the poor economy, and the high cost of healthcare and college for large families.

Tuition:
*We are in one of the few jurisdictions where the local government pays a large portion (~$4000/year 'voucher') of the costs of (secular) education for private schools.
We are in one of the few jurisdictions where tuition at non-profit private schools is fully tax-deductible as a charitable contribution.
*Therefore, full Jewish daychool tuition is ~$7000/student/year (pre-deduction) and even lower on an after-tax basis.
*Additionally, tuition subsidies are made at the local Jewish Community Council level (schools actually get the money when families are granted subsidies). Guidelines suggest that families grossing under $100,000/year should pay under $12,000/year in total tuition.

Cost of Living and related issues:
*Reasonable (not low) cost of living and excellent social programs and policies for large families:
4-bedroom housing within walking distance of a synagogue (and ~30 minutes commute from downtown) starting at $350,000
*Reasonable (not-low) total tax burden for a middle class family.
*Very, very cheap decent healthcare (not tied to employer).
1-year child leave benefits (shareable between parents) including having your job held for you and receiving unemployment benefits during your time off.
*Very cheap, high-quality local colleges; decent public schools (if that matters).

Additionally non-Jewish factors:
*Extremely safe, clean and family-friendly city of about a million people, close to beautiful national parks.
*Local economy is pretty good given global situation; decent job market for white collar professionals and skilled trades.
*Family-friendly corporate environment (i.e. shorter/earlier working days than most places, typically high number of vacation days, etc...)

Additional Jewish factors:
*As a matter of reference, our OU-affiliated Orthodox synagogue is led by a seasoned an well-respected Rabbi of impressive scholarship and lineage. The Judaic Head of the Torah u'Mesorah-affiliated daychool is a Chofetz Chaim graduate. The outreach Kollel Rabbis are Lakewood/Gateshead educated.
*Good cooperation across spectrum of Jewish institutions; Orthodox-friendly community politics (aside from tuition subsidies, the mikva and kashrut certification is community-funded but Orthodox-administered).
*A small community allows for enormous lay participation -- lots of opportunities to take on leadership positions, Daven from the Ammud, Lein, teach your own class, etc...

Of course living in a small community has its downsides:
*No Eiruv.
*No kosher restaurants beyond the JCC cafeteria.
*The school is mixed-gender. Our community does not have a high school, although that could easily change if there were sufficient students (the close similar community mentioned above has one). Nearest boys-only Yeshiva (high school) is a 13-hour drive/$200 return flight away.
*Kosher meat, cheese and specialty products are expensive at local institutions (improving); you may need to bulk order from elsewhere.
*You are a multi-day drive/4-hour $500 return flight from any of the large Jewish centers.
The biggest issue is the stability issue related to the sustainability of small community size. The Orthodox dayschool currently has 43 children and survives on elbow grease, miracles and a few large donors. The synagogue has 100 member families (of which only 20 or so are observant). Twenty years ago (when I was growing up) the school had twice as many students and the synagogue at least 50% more families (although I would still have classified the city as having 'barely one of everything').

I think that the declining community size has been related to the general trend often-discussed on Orthonomics: the flight to large communities with many top-notch institutions over the recent boom years. We have always been a transient city with young families moving in, staying a while, and then leaving for larger Jewish centers as the kids grew older and they outgrew available institutions. The difference is that over the last few years families have been leaving earlier and have been less likely to consider a city like ours in the first place.

Now that the boom is over, and the sustainability of affordable top-notch institutions in major Jewish centers is seriously in question, there is a hope that we are in a unique position to attract a significant number of families looking for relief from the various Jewish crises. There has been discussion of a concentrated effort to actively recruit Jews to our city based on these factors.

I'm curious to hear Orthonomics readers' opinions:
*Would consider moving to such a city?
*If not, what's the sticking point?
*Given the current amenities, how long do you you think you would stay?
*What demographic do you think would consider moving here?

Any advice on how to structure a recruitment campaign.
*What are our chances of success?

I would appreciate it if you could post this to your blog.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions you would like answered before you post.

Guest Post: The New Normal

With thanks CJ Srullowitz, a financial advisor in New York City and blogger. I have more guest posts coming (as well as some original posts) and I am very thankful since I have work coming out my ears, to say nothing of the real work of the month, preparation for Yom Tov.

The New Normal

Once, when I was in the eighth grade, the boys in my class were discussing what to do with their bar mitzvah money. One of the boys mentioned something called a money market, which he explained was just like a savings account, and paid around ten percent interest. To my young, impressionable, pre-teen mind, that number became the benchmark against which all other rates of return were judged; for years, I considered ten percent to be a normal passive rate of return on money.

Fast forward many years. I became a financial advisor. I had already learned that ten percent money market returns were an aberration. In fact, no relatively safe investment could be counted on to deliver a return approaching that number. One would have to take on the full measure of volatility in the stock market to potentially average ten percent over time.
Fast forward to today.

Bill Gross is the co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO, a Newport Beach, California money management firm. PIMCO’s flagship Total Return Fund, under the stewardship of Gross, has grown to become the largest mutual fund in the world. Last summer, Gross and company described the economic circumstances and market conditions that they believe will face us over the coming years. They called it “the new normal.”

What is the new normal? Among other things it means slower economic growth, high unemployment, low interest rates, and tepid, “half-sized” - that is to say, four to five percent - stock market returns. In other words, you know the financial crisis we’ve been trying to shake? Well, get used to it. “All investors should expect considerably lower rates of return than what they grew accustomed to only a few years ago,” Gross insists.

The new normal will naturally have ramifications in the Jewish world, and in particular, the frum world. Consider:

• Yeshivos today, most of which were never-even at the height of the economic bubble-flush with funds, are under enormous financial strain. Some are being starved out of existence.
• While Information Technology is poised to be one of the growth areas of the new economy (along with Healthcare and Biotech), many frum people who are “in computers” do not currently possess the knowledge and skills for these jobs. According to a friend of mine who works for a cutting-edge IT firm, many are only trained for obsolete systems and have not kept up with the rapid changes in this field.
• For awhile it seemed like every former yeshiva guy and his brother-in-law were mortgage brokers, working very long days and weeks financing and refinancing properties for anyone and everyone who came along-making terrific commissions along the way. No longer. Fewer people are buying houses, fewer people are qualifying for mortgages, and those who are and do are finding that some banks (Chase, for example) are not taking mortgage loan applications from independent brokers.
• The frum world will always have its share of entrepreneurs, but with the severe tightening of credit, many are not getting the chance to borrow the money required to build, or even expand, businesses. Established real estate investors are finding deals, and many have cash on hand to finance them. But many younger people who are trying to get started in that business have it tough.
• One of the biggest supporters of kollelim in Eretz Yisrael saw his fortune-in the hundreds of millions-evaporate in a matter of weeks. I happened to meet him briefly by chance when he was borrowing office space from a client of mine, and watched as he sat hunched over on his cell phone trying to keep his kollelim from going under. He will survive, but many of his beneficiaries are already leaving kollel and returning to America.
  

And the setbacks did not begin in the last two years.


In 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported how Indians were quickly replacing Jews as the premier diamond dealers in Antwerp, Belgium. The Jews, who had at one point controlled 70% of the trade, saw their influence dwindle to just 25% in a few years. That number is even smaller today. At the time, Henri Rubens, one of the community’s leaders, declared the end of the glory days noting, “We were too complacent. Now that we realize it, it’s too late.” Mr. Rubens went into real estate.

These past few decades have been remarkable for the Jewish nation, and for the Orthodox in particular. We have grown both materially and spiritually, and the two often worked hand-in-hand. Much of our largesse was committed to building a strong infrastructure of homes, shuls, yeshivos and mosdos.

But the last couple of years have been challenging; the infrastructure is showing strain and even some cracks. Many feel that we simply have to get through this rough period before going back to “normal.” But what if we’re in for a new normal? What if we need to adjust our thinking and our budgets accordingly-not just for a few years but permanently?

God will surely provide us with what we need; but our definition of “need” may have to be adjusted. Should a more moderate financial future face us, we must not allow it to slow down our spiritual growth. Our commitment to Torah and mitzvos, to educating our children and feeding our poor, to learning diligently and working honestly, must not waver.

But what we spend on our homes, our cars, our vacations, and even our simchas may need to be reigned in considerably.

Guest Post: Orthodox Jewish Financial Crisis

A reader asked if I could feature his article as a guest post, and I'm happy to oblige. Happy back to school week to all my readers.

Orthodox Jewish Financial Crisis
David Jackson
August 26, 2010

On a recent Sunday, a young Orthodox mother was busy preparing for her son’s first day of school. That Monday, Yeshiva Bais Hatorah, a 350 boys elementary school in Lakewood, NJ never opened. The school had accumulated approximately $500,000 in debt. The following week another Lakewood school,Yeshivah Keter HaTorah, announced it too would not open due to financial problems. Parents were left scrambling to find alternative schools.

The Jewish Week recently published an article with an alarming title “Can Day Schools Survive?” The article states “Even more significant than the declining interest of mega-funders, day schools have been hard hit by the recession, which has not only made fundraising more challenging but has greatly shrunk the pool of parents able to pay tuition. With the day school enterprise facing dropping enrollment and rising scholarship requests, nearly a dozen institutions will not open their doors in September and many others worry about sharing that same fate.”


At most Orthodox schools across the US, scholarships have become increasingly difficult to obtain as the percentage of students on scholarship continues to increase. Collectively, Jewish day schools are in trouble financially. Marvin Schick, a leading Jewish day school observer, recently wrote: “Conventional Orthodox schools are also experiencing unprecedented hardship. Modern Orthodox institutions that in the aggregate cater to relatively affluent families and charge top of the line tuition that without pause grows each year are now in trouble and forced to make staffing and other cuts.”

Yossi Prager, the executive director of the Avi Chai Foundation for North America is also very aware of the situation. The Avi Chai Foundation spends millions each year funding Jewish education. His article written in a 2005, in the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Action magazine, titled The Tuition Squeeze’, depicts a cartoon of a family getting squeezed by the high cost of Jewish education. He writes that “there is a sense that many schools are at the precipice of financial crisis. .... Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the critical need to close the gap between schools’ operating budgets and their incomes from tuition and fees. The gap can be as high as 30 to 40 percent of the budget.” This article was written before the Great Recession. The situation is much worse now.

According to Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, the Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, states that financial problems at the Orthodox days schools are one of the three biggest problems facing the American Orthodox Jewish Community.

On a bright summer’s morning, a father enters the Kiryas Joel Meat Market to buy some glatt koshermeat for shabbat. He worries about the prices of meat as it is very expensive on his meager kollel stipend. Nevertheless, shabbat is coming and it is traditional to eat meat. Kiryas Joel is a 100% Orthodox town, populated by Satmar Chasidim, 50 miles north of New York City. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2008, Kiryas Joel has the the highest rate of poverty for any town or city in the United States. Two-thirds of its residents live below the federal poverty line. The median household income was $15,848.


In Burrough Park, an Orthodox enclave in New York City, a frum social services worker stated that if it wasn’t for government welfare, ‘half of Borrough Park would starve.’ She was talking about the Orthodox Jews in the neighborhood. Perhaps she was exaggerating, but her words reflect a depressing reality. The poverty is real and seems to be growing.

A survey conducted for the federation five years ago showed that 350,000 Jews in New York City and state live close to the poverty line. The highest poverty rate is in Brooklyn. 27% of those 350,000 Jews are Ultra-Orthodox living below or the poverty line. That means that there are about 100,000 Ultra Orthodox Jews living in poverty in the area. This represents 25 - 40% of the ultra Orthodox population in the region.


In Lakewood, Dr. Casriel Roberts, who has donated over a million dollars to Bet Midrash Gevoa (BMG), the largest yeshiva in the US, warns of a financial catastrophe looming. He spoke at the Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood’s Annual Evening of Chizuk. “I am really worried about a tsunami that is coming ... There are 4,000 children being born in Lakewood every year. It is astounding. At the same time most of the schools are financially broke. And it looks like we will need to double the number of schools in the next 4, 5 or 6 years. The current generation of parents. I am going to estimate those ages 30 - 50 were mostly raised within the yeshiva system and never learned the secular skills to go be to go out into the world and earn a substantial parnasah [income] . So the current economic pain that we are feeling is not due, I believe to the recession so much as due this tsnumai wave that is coming towards us. .... It seems to me that financial gap that families are facing is more like 50,000 or 75,000 a year with baruch’ hashem all the children that we are having and the staying frum and the schools that are growing.”

In the right wing Orthodox communities, the growth of kollels and the lack of higher levels of secular education has been a driving factor in the large percentage of low income families. Most of them being large families. Low income, coupled with a large family is a recipe for financial hardships. Increasingly, the community is dependent upon government welfare such as food stamps, section 8 housing, medicaid and charity in an attempt to meet their basic needs. Sadly, these needs are often unmet.


Yet, the financial crisis in the Orthodox community is not limited to the right wing Orthodox. The Modern Orthodox and Centrist Orthodox communities are also facing significant financial problems.

Across the blogs, there is significant interest in the subject of money, as it relates to the Orthodox community. A few months ago a disgruntled Orthodox Jewish high income earner in the suburbs of New York City launched a blog called Bergen County Yeshiva Tuition Blog. The author calls himself a “200k chump.” What is a 200k chump? His family earns $200,000 a year but he still feels like sucker as they struggle to pay expensive day school tuition costs and high housing costs. He feels that given his high household income, he should not be struggling financially. Their income is in the top 5% of US households, yet he worries about paying all the costs.


The Modern and Centrist Orthodox Communities generally have higher incomes than the right wing Orthodox communities, yet many are still struggling to pay expensive tuition costs and high housing costs.

In the past few years, there has been a outbreak of high profile financial fraud cases in the Orthodox community such as the Abramoff, Rubashkin, the money laundering in the Syrian community, and two separate real estate ponzi schemes in New Jersey and Florida. Perhaps, the growing number of high profile financial fraud cases is an indication of a community increasingly desperate to obtain income.


Communal wealth, on a per capita inflation adjusted basis, is declining. Communal wealth is very important in building and supporting the intuitions necessary for Orthodox communal life such as days schools, mikvehs, synagogues and other charities.

Certainly, a decent percentage of upper middle class and wealthy households exists in Orthodox Jewish communities. Many community members do donate considerably to support the poor, schools, synagogues and other worthy causes. Yet, many of these communal institutions are still struggling financially.


The cold harsh reality is that the American Orthodox Jewish Community is dealing with a financial crisis. Major financial challenges exist both on the income side as well as on the expense side. On the expense side, the community is struggling to pay for private education, high housing costs and large families. On the income side, a significant percentage of families have low incomes, especially in the more right wing orthodox communities. Others, have lost jobs during the Great Recession.

This all begs the important question, what can be done in the Orthodox Community to remedy the financial crisis?