There has been a lot of talk in the religious media recently about the high cost of weddings. This is much more an issue outside of Israel. I once attended a wedding in the US and was told that it cost 50 grand. And that was just the flowers!!!!!
In Israel the weddings are a lot more simple [although no less simcha-dik]. The problem in Israel is that parents are expected to not only help support the children for many years afterwards - but also to buy an apartment. INSANE!! How is someone supposed to buy - on average - 7 apartments?? Especially given the fact that his monthly income is, say, a thousand dollars a month [if he finds a few high paying kollelim]. His wife works - another 2,000 dollars a month. THAT DOESN'T EVEN COVER DAILY EXPENSES. How is this poor man [תרתי משמע] expected to buy 7 apartments and then support his children's growing families?? [Not to mention his obligations to support the local shuls, the yeshivos where he and his children learned, other family members who are less well off WHICH IS FIRST PRIORITY and countless other tzdakas. Then there are taxes such as the 8,000 shekel plus on his property tax. And of course his mortgage if he is fortunate enough to own his own place etc. etc. etc. Then everybody has at least one child - often multiple - that needs either tutoring or various therapies and medications etc. etc. etc.].
To my mind, this is one of the greatest scandals of this century. For lack of a better term it is צער בעלי חיים of the highest degree. No wonder so many Avreichim live under intense, unrelenting pressure and live lives of גלגולים. That means that they "roll" debts, borrowing from one Gemach to pay another, then borrowing from a third to pay the second, then borrowing from a fourth to pay the third - all the while having to take bigger and bigger loans that they can't cover. [I say that if one lives in this world with גלגולים it is such torture that he received a כפרה for all of his sins and won't have to come back as a גלגול]. Even if a person works ten hours a day and isn't learning the expenses are impossible to cover.
Why is nothing being done??
I have a theory but "ואת הצנועים חכמה" [Mishlei 11/2]. I can't show all my cards. There is a lot that I don't write about on this blog [like, for example, most information about my personal life and family. The purpose of the blog is to increase wisdom, knowledge and fear of Heaven and generally, revealing information about Baal Ha-blog's personal life won't contribute to that goal]. My explanation/s of this phenomenon will also remain off these pages because it won't help matters.
