TALMUD TORAH-----kollel 5

According to my understanding the ideal is (and this is paskened in the mishne brureh)that a miut should be in full time learning and a roiv should also work.

ich farshdein az in eretz yisroel the gedoilim say that in order to be mavdil between them and us everyone should go to kollel, but is it not better to belong to a community where that is not necessary and the ideal of a miut in full time learning can be achieved e.g. toldos avrohom yitzchok chassidim where (kach shomati) there is a 'work ethic'



I am not familiar with such a Mishna Brura, but the Meforshim say such things in many places.

But no, you are mistaken. Without a question, Learning Torah is a higher calling than working and being Koveah Itim - that is clear in Halachah - Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, et al. The more people who learn, the better it is for Klall Yisroel.

This majority issue is that most people - that is, the hamona am, the lesser of the bnei torah - cannot be expected to maintain such a lofty lifestyle. But it doesn’t mean that if everyone wants to they should not.

In addition, the entire idea of a "minority" applies to those who literally cannot make a living and rely on G-d to support them.

As in "vahavta es hashem ... bechol meodechah" - and you should love Hashem with all your money. Note, the Meforshim say, that in the second part of Shema (vhaya im shomoah), it omits this instruction to love hashem with all your money. The reason, they say, is because whereas the first part of shema is written in singular (bchol levavechah etc) the second part is written in plural (becol levavchem etc) - and when speaking to the public - when talking "in plural" you cannot demand that they love Hashem with all their money. That is only demanded of those on that level (when speaking "singular").

However, as I said if everyone or even most people want to be a yachid - on that level - then that would be wonderful - but also, nowadays Kolle people are not giving "all their money" to love Hashem. They are living adequate lifestyles, be it because of relatives, or a wife who works, or any other means. In all communities those who becomes dirt poor in order to "love hashem" are still, always, a small minority.

Third, the proportion of majority/minority here is not divided along communal lines, meaning, the proportion of a majority who is not poor does not have to exist in every community. Does it have to exist in every block? Every city? Every postal zone?

We once had Shevet Levi - and entire community of Kolel people who lived of Tzedakah to serve Hashem. The Rambam compares shevet levi to today’s kollel people - those privileged to learn all day rather than work. And in the zevulun "community" I imagine they all - or the vast majority - worked.

So even where a you find a community where only a minority serve hashem bchol meodechem, it is not a deviation form the "majority" principle. Since in klall yisroel at large, a majority still work, the proportion is maintained.

Each community however, would elevate itself by becoming the community of Levi.

Its simply like saying not everyone is expected to be a millionaire - most people wont, and if they do not , they are not considered failures. But if you do have a community where everyone is a millionaire, it would be a wonderful success!

Those are the Kollel communities, where everyone is a spiritual millionaire.