The Scholar Who Gave Up His Stipend and Got the Money Back Thanks to a Lecture by Rabbi Yigal Cohen...

Yitzhak and Ruth Levy (pseudonyms for real people) are raising an exemplary 'kollel' family. Yitzhak has been immersed in the study hall since he could think, and any free moment is dedicated to learning. Ruth raises their children with peace and calm, while she also cares for several infants in the mornings to contribute to the family's income. Their total revenue consists of an 1800-shekel stipend from the kollel where Yitzhak studies, about two thousand shekels that Ruth earns from her caregiver job, and another thousand shekels the family receives monthly from a kind-hearted Jew who decided to support a Torah scholar, choosing Yitzhak for this purpose.

If you think it's impossible to raise a family with four children on such a limited budget, you simply don't know Yitzhak and Ruth. Contentment with little is second nature to them, and they are frugal and cautious with every expense. However, if you meet their children, you will always see them cheerful and full of life, neatly and cleanly dressed, with their appearance showing they are loved children of a nurturing family. How is it possible? It is possible. This isn't a family living in poverty and misery, but a family that decided to sacrifice materially as much as possible so that the father could continue learning Torah full-time plus, and the mother could continue investing in raising the children.

When living on such a tight budget, every shekel counts. Yitzhak's kollel stipend was, of course, very significant for the family's livelihood. Although Yitzhak didn't study for the stipend, he certainly was pleased with its existence. There came a day, however, when Ruth pointed out to him that this stipend had become a burden on his neck.

"When you return from the kollel, you no longer seem as satisfied as before," she said. "It seems to me you used to enjoy studying at the kollel much more."

"True," Yitzhak sighed and explained what he had always explained. Studying in any kollel has a certain framework, and the scholars are required to learn according to the program of the kollel head. And Yitzhak, what can he do, preferred to study other tractates than those studied at the kollel during that period. Yet, only those who study according to the kollel's program are entitled to the full stipend. Otherwise, they receive only the Ministry of Religious Affairs grant, which amounts to about eight hundred shekels.

Ruth knew as well as he did the significance of a thousand shekels less in the family budget, but she also knew that in Torah study – one must study what the heart desires. "Leave the regular program," she decreed. "Start learning independently what you want. Isn't that why you remained a kollel scholar – to grow in Torah according to your inclinations?"

"And what about the money?" raised the obvious concern Yitzhak.

"Hashem will help. We will not fall into debt, Heaven forbid. We've always managed."

What he didn't dare do on his own, Yitzhak dared to do at his wife's opinion. Starting the next month, he informed the kollel administration that he was studying independently. They, of course, informed him of the stipend cut, and he began studying the tractate he wanted to learn.

* * *

....You, of course, want to know how the family coped with the reduced monthly budget? Unfortunately, we have no way to tell that story because the Levy family never had to deal with a reduced budget...

That same week that Yitzhak began independent study, giving up a thousand shekels from his kollel stipend, he met the Jew who used to support him for a thousand shekels each month.

"There you are!" he cheered. "You are exactly who I was looking for!"

"How can I help?" Yitzhak hastened to inquire.

"You can definitely help. Not me – my father-in-law."

All Yitzhak knew about his friend's father-in-law was that he was not observant at all. "What can I do for him?"

"You know, he's not religious. But in recent years, he has somehow become a bit closer; he started listening to lectures by rabbis. He especially loves Rabbi Yigal Cohen."

"No, I didn't know. Glad to hear it."

"Well, exactly a week ago, he watched a lecture by Rabbi Yigal Cohen, where the rabbi explained that instead of donating to various charities, he recommends directly supporting a scholar whose Torah is his craft. My father-in-law was excited by the idea and called me to find out if I had a suitable name for him. When I told him I was giving you a thousand shekels each month, he immediately said: from now on, I, too, will give him a thousand shekels each month. I want a partnership in Torah"...

...And so, as mentioned, we cannot tell you how the Levy family coped with their monthly modest budget being cut by a thousand shekels – because it was never cut. They made a decision with an economic price for Yitzhak's Torah study, and the money returned to them immediately from another source.

Great Torah scholars have already expressed in the past that scholars are like the 'eaters of manna' of our generation. Can anyone reading this story have any doubts about it?