Please enable JavaScript in your browser to experience all the custom features of our site.

RabbiHorowitz.com

Mr. Harry Skydell, Chairman
Mr. Mark Karasick, Vice Chairman
Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, Director
Rabbi Avrohom M. Gluck, Director of Operations
The first 1000 members will have a chance to win a
16 GB
iPod
touch
with Rabbi Horowitz audio

Membership Benefits:

  • Save articles to your favorites folder.
  • Save and print selected articles in a PDF journal.
  • Receive emails containing the latest comments on your favorite articles.
  • Mark articles as "READ".
  • More member features coming soon...

Raffle Rules:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter, complete the signup form and join as a member. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. All entries shall become the property of CJFL. CJFL is not responsible for lost, misdirected or delayed entries.

The contest is open to the general public. Members need to be at least 18 years old. Identification must be produced on request. Employees of CJFL, its raffle sponsor, advertising and promotional agencies and their respective affiliates and associates and such employees' immediate family members and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are excluded from this raffle. ALL PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED MEMBERS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED INTO THIS RAFFLE. The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded. Decisions of the raffle judges are final - no substitutions will be available. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness (first initial and last name) and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation, radio broadcasts, newspapers and other publications and in television or film releases, slides, videotape, distribution over the internet and picture date storage) which CJFL may deem appropriate. In accepting the prize, the winner, acknowledges that CJFL may not be held liable for any loss, damages or injury associated with accepting or using this prize. CJFL retains the rights, in its absolute and sole discretion, to make substitutions of equivalent kind or approximate value in the event of the unavailability of any prize or component of the prize for any reason whatsoever. This contest is subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws. CJFL reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this raffle at any time without prior notice. One entry per person.


No Free Lunch
by Rabbi Berel Wein
This article orignally appeared in The Jerusalem Post

  Rated by 14 users   |   Viewed 16312 times since 8/12/09   |   16 Comments
Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size    [ Change Font Size ] Email This Article to a Friend
   

8/12/09

The current economic downturn has once again proven the truth of the adage that there is no free lunch in economic matters. In my opinion it is true in general life and in spiritual life as well. Many of the current problems, scandals and issues that have beset our world can be attributed to this attitude that many people have - that a free lunch is always present and eatable without later consequences. Thus complete reliance on political arm twisting in order to obtain governmental welfare largesse, which initially appears to be a lavish free lunch, carries with it great costs.

It creates a dependency mentality that permeates a large section of our society and is generational in its effects. It creates a culture of begging and eventually of cheating and dishonesty, with a false impression that somehow stealing from the government is not really stealing. It turns other citizens against us, seeing us as being basically predatory, extortionist and above all lazy and dishonest.

I am aware of a case where a man who traveled often to collect money solely on his own behalf, when he passed away, the asset that his sons fought about and actually contested in a rabbinic court was his list of donors. A generation brought up to believe that there is no necessity for it to work in order to make a living for one’s family is doomed to a spiritual and social disaster - and eventual self-destruction. There is no free lunch for anyone in this world.

However, the culture that demands that young men be supported indefinitely by struggling in-laws also convinces a large section of young people that a free lunch is not only possible but it is to be justifiably expected. This is also running into some opposition now because of the diminished economic realities of our current situation. But in my opinion it is morally and practically an indefensible position. It causes heartbreak and division within families and it undoubtedly fosters a family of dysfunction and dependency.

There are families in Israel who are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt with no hope of ever crawling out of this difficulty because of their supporting children and grandchildren who are not themselves working. In Israel it is almost impossible to survive financially unless there are two incomes in the family. When one of the incomes has to be supplied by parents or grandparents then the situation becomes a generational challenge and problem.

The cost in mental and physical health to all concerned is enormous and continuous. Yet many young couples in our society are convinced that they are entitled. But only later to their dismay do they realize that the lunch is not free in any respect. That such a system is encouraged by responsible religious and educational leaders is deeply troubling to me. Our children and grandchildren should be educated and trained to be self sufficient, independent and to realize and believe that there is really no free lunch for anyone in this world.

It is interesting to note that there are governmental policies that also seem to be based upon the false notion that a free lunch is available. The relationship of Israel with the rest of the world, especially with the United States, also was based on the false premise that we are entitled because of the Holocaust and the sympathy engendered thereby to the Jews. But that also was a false notion whose influence has long ago dissipated. The reliance on the Holocaust as a defense for our national existence as a state in the Land of Israel was a mistaken free ride from the start.

Ben Gurion was wise enough to tell the Peel Commission in 1936 that the Bible was our deed to the Holy Land. Ben Gurion in spite of being a secular agnostic was an Eastern European Jew whose grandfather had taken him to a Chasidic rebbe to receive a blessing. His successors in office in the main never had such beliefs and never expressed them publicly to the world till now. They relied on an illusory free lunch that no longer exits, no matter how many Holocaust courses and museums are created and financed.

Not believing in the eternal truth of our own G-d given cause has led us to lose our standing in the eyes of the world. That free lunch has turned out to be quite expensive as the current diplomatic situation clearly has shown. My friends, all rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, there really is no free lunch.



To sign up for Rabbi Horowitz’s weekly emails, please click here.


Reader's Comments:      Rating & Comments Policy      Rate & Write a Comment!
 Average Rating:              Rated by 14 users    (16 comments)
Subscribe to this Article
(by subscribing you will receive email notification
when new comments are posted)
There are no comments yet. Click above to write the first comment.
Dear Readers:

Please visit our Parenting Resource listing to learn about agencies and services that you can make use of. If you know of an agency that can be of assistance to others, kindly drop an email to our site administrator at admin@RabbiHorowitz.com and pass along the information to him.

I ask that you please consider supporting the work we are doing to improve the lives of our children. Click on these links to learn more about our teen and parent mentoring program that serves hundreds of teens and their families, or our KESHER program, now in 20 schools in 4 states. Your financial support can allow us to expand these services and help more children.

If you believe in the governing principles of this website – to help effect positive change through the candid discussions of the real issues we collectively face, please consider becoming a daily, weekly or monthly sponsor of this website and help defray the costs of it’s maintenance.



Working with Families and Educators on Behalf of our Children

This site is managed by The Center for Jewish Family Life, Inc., 56 Briarcliff Drive, Monsey, NY 10952
Project Y.E.S. was founded by Agudath Israel of America
The Center for Jewish Family Life/Project YES - 56 Briarcliff Drive, Monsey, NY 10952 (845) 352-7100 ext. 114 Fax: (845) 352-9593
email: email@kosherjewishparenting.com


Advertisements