An interesting story that's out there: A Jewish high school basketball team is one game away from a regional championship... but the game is on Shabbos. And the league won't move the game, despite requests from all over including state senators, and despite the seeming ability to do so... and the league does not allow games on Sunday. Why? Hard to say:
Amen to the last part - it's quite a Kiddush Hashem. Jewess with Horns and Jersey both have posts on the subject - check them out."Sunday is a logical day, because people don't work on Sunday. There's no school," Reader said. "It's been picked by society to say that's a day when people from a family are together. And so why not make that the day of rest."
When a reporter said most people would consider his "day of rest" comment to be a Christian biblical referance, Reader said, "You can make an assumption and I can make an assumption."
Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, praised the young men for making the hard decision to stand by their faith, even if it means forsaking their hoop dream.
On another interesting note, via DaBoys, I found this fascinating Pew study about religion in America. I want to expound on this later, but this set of statistics shows just how well Jews have it... which means we also are incredibly bad at other things.
The most affluent religious group in America? Well... Hindus. But right behind them, and well ahead of anyone else? Jews. 46% of Jewish homes have an income over $100,000. 46%! And yet... we have so many institutions and charities begging for money?
The problem is not that people aren't giving. The problem is an incredible redundancy of organizations and schools that are not necessary, horrid spending practices by individuals and institutions, lack of oversight of any funds whether in schools or charities, a ridiculous level of inefficiency in all institutions, and a complete unwillingness to open up the books. Why aren't more parents - who are increasingly asked for more and more money for tuition - demanding to see where their money is going?! Why do we allow what should be an affluent group get drained of all resources to the point that an economic crisis is always looming? Why is that bottom group constantly getting bigger and bigger instead of being lifted up?
It is laughable that almost no Jewish organization has opened their books. Not schools. Not charities. Not shuls. There's all this money in the Jewish community, yet where does it go? Nobody knows.
I think that you are making a big mistake - what percent of the 46 are Orthodox? The school and giving structure is entirely different for most of the Jews in America!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your list of "problems," except for the first one. Why do you think there's a redundancy in schools? I think the proliferation of schools is necessary and important, and has improved the state of chinuch. Even with all there is, there are still too many high school kids who can't find their place. :-(
ReplyDeleteI was thinking along similar lines as Diana.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see anywhere if the study made the distinction between "committed" Jews (e.g. anyone who is a synagogue member) and just Jews.
What would be a more relevant study to your point, assuming one exists, is how much money Jews give to Jewish causes and to what specific causes compared to their respective income levels.
Diana - Thought of that. I'm going to assume that it's relatively similar across the board. I can't imagine that it's *that* different.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Ah, was wondering if someone would ask that! I think that's a good subject for another post, but in short, I don't think we need to have 8 different schools for the Orthodox community. *Even if* - and that's a big debate - you think different hashkafos need different schools, that doesn't preclude schools saving money and pooling resources, particularly for general studies.
Avrom - I don't really care how much people give in this discussion, and that's their own business; I'm more interested in how what they do give is spent.
Shmez, you are so very wrong!
ReplyDeleteTake into consideration the cost of tuition, kosher food, and living in a frum neighborhood, and that is 10s of thousands of dollars a year!
Diana - Huh!? Income! The study is about income. Jews are very successful, yet Orthodox Jews are all struggling. And tuition is part of it - why is tuition so ridiculously high? Where's all this income going in general?
ReplyDeleteI'm saying that if Reform Jews Dave and Sarah, and Orthodox Jews Dovid & Suri each made $100,000 year, the money would be spent differently.
ReplyDeleteAssuming they each have two kids, Dovid & Suri are starting with $12,000 (estimation) less than Dave and Sarah who send their kids to public school.
And if you ever price compare at the grocery store, kosher meats and cheeses are not comparable to non-kosher meats and cheeses. And also, if Dave & Sarah aren't making Shabbos every week, their entertaining budget is much lower.
Also, Dave & Sarah may not be concerned about walking to shul, so they could live in a neighborhood with larger houses that cost less.
Does that convey my point at all?
I will make you a pie chart if you want...
Sigh. That's not the point! With $100k, Dovid & Suri should still have plenty of money left over. The reason they don't is because they are forced to waste gobs of money on tuition and also give over money to other organizations that are deemed fitting, yet that money is often wasted tremendously. (In addition, Dovid & Suri are spending incredible amounts on extravagant items for their home, on clothes, and the like. But that's another issue, too.)
ReplyDeleteDovid & Suri really really like custom sheitels.
ReplyDeleteBut that aside - Dave & Sarah's $100,000 is equivalent to Dovid & Suri's $65,000 from the get-go, and that makes a very big difference.
Also, Dovid should really lay off the Swedish massages.
Sigh. Firstly, $65k is a lot of money! Second, it *shouldn't* be down to $65k. If schools were run better and more efficiently, they wouldn't be.
ReplyDeleteI think we are arguing two different points - I wish you could find a quick answer so that all of the money coming in to the organization that I work for would be used more efficiently so I could get paid more.
ReplyDelete*End of rant*
$65,000 is a lot of money in Kansas, but it's not as much money "in town" where everything costs more!
I would love to see some kind of chart - but that would take a lot of effort, and I really appreciate the effort you put into Globbing, so I think that's wasted type... But I need to see where you think all of this money is going.
But I need to see where you think all of this money is going.
ReplyDeleteSo do I! That was the post! :)
"But that aside - Dave & Sarah's $100,000 is equivalent to Dovid & Suri's $65,000 from the get-go, and that makes a very big difference."
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong Ez (as that seems to be the order of the day lately)...Diana, I think what you said is exactly his point, as in "why is that the reality(!), it should not be such a spread".
Well, I made up that number, so that might be a good reason.
ReplyDeleteEzzie are you saying that if Dave/Dovid donates $100 to their temple/shul it's not being used wisely?
Or that Jews that are making over $100k should be donating more?
Are the other 54% poverty stricken?
Maybe I'll go over and read the study VERY carefully
G - Yep!!
ReplyDeleteD - Ezzie are you saying that if Dave/Dovid donates $100 to their temple/shul it's not being used wisely?
Shuls probably less bad than most other organizations. But that's correct.
Or that Jews that are making over $100k should be donating more?
No.
Are the other 54% poverty stricken?
No.
Maybe I'll go over and read the study VERY carefully
Did you read it at all!? :)
:P
ReplyDeleteIn addition, many very rich Jews give their charity to non-Jewish causes.
ReplyDeleteAnother wrinkle--where are Dovid and Suri getting their same supposed $100K from? Does Dovid work? Do they both work? Are their parents helping out, and if so, how much? Granted, I know that even when Dovid and Suri do make the same $100K they're struggling (which really is crazy, if you think about it), but what about the thousands of families that aren't making even close to that much?
ReplyDeleteDo they dress their children in matching European designer Shabbos outfits, and buy new ones every season? Does she have a custom sheitel? Does he have a lot of electronic gadgetry that isn't really used except to impress the other guys? Do they have more than one car, and are they leasing or buying, new or used?
I still don't understand how the schools charge such astronomical tuitions (and of course underpay their teachers), but they're still always running in the red. Even assuming that a majority of students are getting some form of tuition assistance, it still doesn't add up. How much is overhead? How much do they have to lay out in salaries and benefits? Do the administrators get paid more than the teachers (probably), and if so, by how much and WHY? If they do fundraisers, how efficient are they in terms of net profit? There's no point in making a lavish fundraiser if it doesn't actually net you any real income. Etc.