Government ministries continue to plot against the Torah
world. Last week the Education Ministry imposed further
economic decrees against the yeshivos ketanos.
In tandem with government talks about closing the Religious
Affairs Ministry, to avoid overlapping support payments
Attorney General Eliakim Rubinstein instructed the ministry
to channel all future funding via the Education Ministry. He
then directed government ministries to ensure that the
transfer of the budgeted NIS 200 million ($45 million) from
the Religious Affairs Ministry to the Education Ministry does
not affect the per student funding the yeshivas receive.
"Unifying the regulations is in no way intended to affect the
general support budget or the supported organizations but to
ensure that the support payments are given for genuine needs
and to avoid overlapping," wrote Rubinstein.
Yet the Education Ministry appears not to have taken note of
the directive and within a few weeks it cut drastically the
monthly sum transferred to yeshivos ketanos. One year
ago the Religious Affairs Ministry paid about NIS 300 ($66)
per talmid every month, whereas since the funding was
rerouted, the Education Ministry has elected to reduce this
amount significantly, redirecting the some of the money to
government schools and leaving no more than NIS 100 ($22) per
talmid under the age of 18.
After this extreme budget slashing now the Torah world is
concerned that the yeshivos gedolos and the
kollelim are next. Several elements of the allocations
for yeshivas and kollelim are slated to be transferred
to the Education Ministry, which is unprepared to handle the
matter since no special department has been set up to
administer payments and no suitable criteria have been
formulated. As a result the money could get absorbed into the
other ministry budgets. According to the Education Ministry's
current budget proposal for next year, approximately 20
percent of funding for yeshivos gedolos will be cut.
United Torah Jewry MKs are working to maintain the budget
allocation at least at last year's level.
They are also making a concerted demand to transfer the
yeshivas' budget to the Prime Minister's Office since their
activities are really not tied at all to the Education
Ministry. However Shinui ministers are applying massive
pressure to have the budget transferred to the Education
Ministry where the yeshiva funding can be totally
eradicated.
Several months ago the NIS 62 million ($14 million) dormitory
budget was also cut extensively and many are concerned it
will be completely expunged from next year's budget. When
Zevulun Orlev assumed the post of Welfare Minister he decided
to discontinue the dormitory budgets at the end of the last
school year, claiming it was unreasonable for 90 percent of
dormitory allocations to go to chareidi institutions. This is
really an illusion since chareidi dormitories have just been
budgeted separately from other institutions for over 20
years, ever since the original department chose not to handle
chareidi institutions. Other dormitory institutions get
plenty of money.
Following Orlev's decision, new criteria were formulated and
they have undergone seven changes in recent months. Orlev
continued to search for ways to trample the yeshivas
underfoot, announcing he was unwilling to provide funding for
a talmid to stay in a dormitory if he lives in the
same city.
According to his policy a talmid living in a certain
city in the center of the country and studying at a yeshiva
in the adjacent city would be eligible for dormitory funding
whereas a talmid living in Jerusalem's Ramot
neighborhood and studying in Bayit Vegan, for example, would
be ineligible, even though the distance in time and space
from his home is much greater.
Spokesmen for the Union of Yeshiva Managers claim Orlev was
trying to wipe out the dormitory budget. Later it was decided
that this condition would not apply to a talmid with
four siblings under the age of 18 none of whom is allocated
dormitory funds. It was also determined that funding would
only be given to dormitory institutions with at least 60
students enrolled.
In addition, instead of the 3 percent across-the-board cut at
the Education Ministry, Orlev decided to cut the budget by 30
percent starting this year, allotting just NIS 40 million for
dormitory expenses during the 2004 budget year. Instead of
NIS 450 ($100) per month per talmid, yeshivas with
dormitories will receive NIS 300 ($67) per month.
