A Tale of Two Communities

It was the best of places, it was the worst of places. Community A provides for the needs of every child, preparing them for a life of Torah and a life of Parnasah. B focuses on the Torah, claiming the preparation for Parnasah is bitul zeman.

Both A and B encourage their students to study for some years in Yeshiva Gedola, but those in A who are not going to stay in full time learning, becoming Rebbes, Rabbonim, Roshey Yeshiva and Talmidey Chachamim, have no doors closed to them when it comes to making a parnasah. They can become doctors, lawyers, accountants and do so with alarming regularity. But they are professionals who not only attend daf yomi and have chavrutas, they are often more than capable of giving the shiur itself.

Many of those in B who are not going to become Talmidey Chachamim stay in learning, some by default, others by inertia, a few do it to get a "good" shidduch. A lot of people in B have decided to have large families, yet lacking the wherewithal to provide for their needs, becoming reliant on charity. Some do go out to work, though they are often limited in their choice and range of profession due to their lacking the requisite background.

The religious knowledgeable professionals in A use their wealth to support those in the community who have continued in learning, to enable and allow them to grow into the talmidey chachamim they have the potential to be, unfettered by the millstone of providing their families with daily bread. This symbiotic relationship accurately reflects the age-old Yissachar Zevulun arrangement. There is no supercilious snobbery on the behalf of those who have stayed in learning, they have done so because they are to become the religious leaders of the community and they fully appreciate their partners and supporters in this system.

Those in B who for whatever reason have decided to work are considered dhimmi, second-class citizens, bedieved Jews, less worthy or accomplished than those who sit in learning all day. Even the ones who are only still in learning due to the lack of any reasonable alternative and don't even spend most of the day sitting and learning, still consider themselves and their families superior and more exalted than the worker drones.

Community A has organized its affairs to be self-sufficient, self-supporting, solely reliant on its own members to contribute back to the community to support those in education or studying to become leaders. B depends on outside funding and contributions to support its institutions and families, even those who are in the system by default or inertia, who do not contribute to the workforce and who actually syphon off funds that would be better spent supporting those are will succeed in full-time long-term learning.

Being a product of community A, does it make sense that I feel I should contribute back to A rather than B?

TRK

(p.s. I know these are archetypal communities, not real ones, so don't get into that. Also, please try and keep away from the UO/MO debate for now. Furthermore, please just assume that A also produces talmidey chachamim. Thank you)