Lost in Kollel » Going to Work

Successful at Business Without Degrees?

aaron — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:19:25 +0000

The parshiyos of the building of the miskan are very inspiring to those seeking to leave the confines of the beis medrash and enter the working world. To build the mishkan, the Yidden were entrusted with highly skilled work work of which they had no prior experience, yet they were able to produce a finished product that was perfect and exact. The Ramban points out that this was a gift from Above – those who dedicated themselves to the work, would be rewarded by being granted the skills needed to carry out the work as expert crafstmen.

It’s amazing to see how yeshiva eductated men who have no professional training of any kind enter the work force and become super stars. It doesn’t matter what industry or field they find themselves, they are soon making a name for themselves as serious contenders to be dealt with.

What is amazing to see is how adapatable we are. I remember back to the late 90s when the stock market was booming. Yeshiva guys with no finance background at all were sitting around computer screens analyzing a stock’s technical performance. In those days, more than just a few of them were making serious money by trading securities, and doing amazingly well. When the stock market petered out in the 2000 crash, real estate came in. Soon many people – with no formal training or background – were making very good money in both residential and commercial real estate. Since 2008, when the bubble burst, it may seem as if all is quiet, but the next phase of money making enterprising fellows are out there – hard at work buidling successful businesses.

Making a living is a holy task, much like building the mishkan was. Hashem promised those who dedicated themselves to the work of the mishkan – even those without the knowledge and expertise that was needed – would be successful.

Is it any surprise that earning a parnossa is no different?

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Which Son is Yonason Rosenblum More Proud Of?

aaron — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:12:40 +0000

In a recent column in Mishpacha, Yonason Rosenblum wrote glowingly about his son Yechezkel who learns a few hours in the morning, and repairs major appliances the rest of the day. This is an a quote of what he responded to a questioner if he was indeed successful with his children:

“Yes, baruch Hashem, my children are successful,” I told him. “But I’m not sure if my most successful is not my son who learns in kollel in the morning and repairs major appliances afternoons and evenings.”

In the article, he goes on to praise his son for taking responsiblity for his family’s income by realizing that no one else would provide his needs, for teaching himself an honest trade that can support his family, and for using his skills to problem solve and give others satisfaction in exchange for honestly earned payment.
He may not had said it in black and white, but when reading the article one can’t help but notice that Yonason has a favorite son – and that would be his son Yechezkel.

Everything he said about Yechezkel is so sensible and logical – taking resposibilty for his family, feeling satisfaction from his work, and using his skills to help others. The only question is – why does the world consider this a chiddush that is was worth writing about it in a column of a weekly magazine.

My prediction: If in Eretz Yisroel – where a working man was traditionally looked down upon – Yonanson Rosenblum can publicly praise his son (and publish his picture!), then we are definitely on the way to recovery. Kollel will always exist, but working will become the normal way of life even for the “shtarka” Bnei Torah.

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Tu Bshvat – A Multitude of Choices

aaron — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:45:00 +0000

It’s Tu B’shvat, and the choices are endless. No, not the choices of fruit to eat. It’s the opening of the freezer in Lakewood, when the fresh batch of bochurim are free to date at last. Of course, the negotiations have been ongoing for months, and by now every eligible bochur in Lakewood has at least 10 different girls to choose from.

However, in many frum homes across town and all over the country, the situation is not so rosy. Thousands of eligible girls are sitting and waiting for the phone to ring. It’s been months since they’ve dated, and their list of names are slim to none.

Do the boys really have it so good? Is the fact their phones don’t stop ringing and the list keeps on growing with an abundance of names something to envy?

When faced with too much choices, it becomes difficult to make decisions. Where does one start? How do we begin to select from all the names of girls (who all are great girls, of course)? It then becomes a full time job for the bochur or his parents to whittle down the list and make broad generalizations (no out-of-town girls, the father has to be heimish, what does he do for a living, etc.) to settle on just a few names.

However, by the girls’ side of things, when a name finally does come in, it gets full attention. Because names are far and few in between, the decision doesn’t have to be based on trivialities, but rather on substance. Most of the time, the girl will agree to meet him, for lack of alternative choices. The decision process is practically non-existent.

If you think I’m wrong, and that having endless choices is a good thing, then please do me a favor. Go into the halls of any kollel, and explain that to the many yungeleit who are looking to move on, but don’t know what they should go into.

They are looking for something to do, but they don’t know where to begin. The world of opportunities is too big, so they have to start making decisions based on trivialities. Not based on real criteria such as what they enjoy doing, or what they seem to have a talent for, but rather on considerations like “What will X think about me?” or “My in-laws will be mortified if I do…” Or, even worse, they become so overwhelmed with all the choices that they freeze in fear and don’t take any action, because they can’t come to a decision on what to do.

Having choices is a great thing, but too many choices make it hard to make a decision worth following.

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NY Times Article on Kollel Stipends in Eretz Yisroel

aaron — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:33:20 +0000

I recently came across this article in the NY Times about a frum member of the knesset – Chaim Amsallem, who publicly announced that the Israeli government should stop subsidizing full time kollel and instead encourage them to work.

He was publicly criticized and ridiculed for his comments, and even ousted from the Shas party having the audacity to suggest such a revolutionary idea.

But the mere fact that he saw fit to come out publicly with such a statement shows that the tide is slowly turning. Both the Israeli government and the frum community in Eretz Yisroel are keenly aware that the current trend is both not sustainable, and not working well. The tax payers of Israel will not continue allocating all that money on people who are not contributing to their economy. The Charedim are too big a segment of the population to be ignored any longer. And their ability to contribute positively to the economy is enormous.

In America, parents of young couples are coming to the same realization. No longer can we afford to raise a generation that has been trained not to work, instead of providing for their own needs. The kollel members of society are too large to ignore any longer, and they too can greatly contribute to our own mini economy.

The tide is already turning.

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Where is the Shortage Exactly? (It’s not what you’d think…)

aaron — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:02:26 +0000

There are probably no official statistics, but if someone were to calculate a total of all new chinuch positions that were created this year and subtract the positions that were eliminated, there is most likely a net loss this year. For the first time in decades, there were more chinuch positions lost due to firings and school closings than positions created due to natural growth of our communities.

Each year, more and more kollel members join the ranks of those who are “looking” for a job in chinuch. Add to that all the Rabbeim who were fired or their jobs were eliminated, and we have a huge glut of qualified, top notch mechanchim, with no place to go.

Actually, to put it this way – if you are looking to be moiser nefesh for Torah, don’t go into chinuch. That is not where the need is now. Instead, go get a job. Open a business. Make a ton of money. It is clear that the recent financial crisis was the hiccup that is causing us to experience the harsh reality that Torah, just like anything else, costs money. Every year for the past 2 decades, less and less people were out earning money to support the ever growing population of mechanchim and kollel members.

We need a few good men out there to realize the need we have for Torah supporters, instead of adding yet another person to the oversaturated field of Torah teachers. Yes, even going to work can be for a noble cause, and it may very well be the highest calling.

There is definitely no shortage of qualified rebbeim for our sons. However, there is a severe shortage of qualified business people to support Torah. If you are looking to be moiser nefesh for Torah, it may be that going to work or making out in business is actually the best way to do so. We need more people who are courageous, honest, and capable to make a ton of money. That money will make its way back to our yeshivos ketanos, girls’ schools, kolleim, and shuls.

Is anyone out there really willing to be moiser nefesh? Sometimes doing the uncomfortable and unpopular thing is what is needed most. If you truly love Torah, if you are really concerned about the future of Torah for our coming generations, go out there and make some money for the Torah’s sake. Yes, even business can (and must) have a higher calling.

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Starting a Business from the Ground Up

aaron — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:41:54 +0000

Kollel guys looking to go work don’t have the wealth of choices that are available to most American college grads entering the work force. A college grad however, has many choices. Most of them will start their careers by using their degree to get themselves a “starter job”, which they hope to use as a stepping stone in their career advancement. But some of them will use their accomplishments while in college (research, projects, associations) as a means of reaching out to investors who will fund their projects and ideas with the hope of creating a successful new business, such as the VC’s that funded Larry Page & Sergey Brin’s startup company in 1999 called Google. Not very many, though, will begin their careers by starting their own business without any financial or logistical backing whatsoever.

But us kollel guys don’t have these options available. We generally don’t have any degree to speak of, so we can’t get a traditional job that pays even a modest salary. We also don’t have the expertise and recognition that will get the interest of venture capitalists or other investors in the business. And we have much greater expenses than the population at large, so we can’t just take any entry level position which pays far less than a frum family can manage on.

And so, we are left with only one choice, and that is called bootstrapping. That means to create a new business with little or no money, and to grow that business by using only the internal cash flow that is reinvested in the business. Building a business this way requires no college degree, no angel investors, and no large business loans. The business is conceived, operated, accounted, and overseen by its owner – who doesn’t have to answer to anyone, except to satisfy his customers so they come back and bring others along with them.

Is the path to success a long and hard one? Is it tough to begin your business using a fold up table and chair, without having the “prestige” of an executive office? Aren’t most small businesses out of business within 5 years? Yes, yes, and yes.

But when you are a kollel guy looking for work – there is not much of a choice in the matter. That makes the decision to operate this way so much easier.

P.S. Here’s a great free e-book on how (and why) to be a successful bootstrapper – The Bootstrapper’s Bible, by Seth Godin.

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Son Apologizes for His Dead Father Not Learning in Kollel

aaron — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:08:08 +0000

If I wouldn’t have seen it myself, I would not believe it.

I recently attended the levaya of the father of one of my friends back in yeshiva, who was tragically niftar at the young age of 61 after suffering from cancer. He was a person that loved to learn Torah, and devoted many hours of his week to learning. But at the levaya, his son – who is learning in kollel together with all of his brothers – felt it necessary to apologize to the assembled why his father went to work. He explained that his father took advice from his rebbe before he went to work, and that he had no other choice but to work – since he had no one to support him.

Why does the son feel the need to apologize? Did his father do something wrong? Did he even do something out of the ordinary that required further explanation? Of course not. When he went to work 40 years ago most people didn’t even know what the word kollel meant. Certainly the concept of “support” was unheard of – that insanity hadn’t taken hold back then.

When kollel becomes so commonplace that a son feels the need to apologize why his dead father chose to “go to work”, that is not mesirus nefesh for Torah. True learning in kollel always involved great sacrifice, including being subject to ridicule and extreme poverty.

There should be nothing to be ashamed of for doing what is normal.

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Don’t Even Know Where to Begin

aaron — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:55:44 +0000

I received a letter from a concerned aunt of a 30 year old Lakewood yungerman. She wrote:

How is a young man of 30 to leave kollel when all he can do is work in a very menial job, when he has little English skills, a bit of arithmetic, and no experience in dealing with anyone but the frum velt? He is terribly unprepared. Is there a place where men can get job training in Lakewood? And remedial English? And advice on how to write a resume? And encouragement from professionals who have gone the same route? Not everyone has your English background. My nephews went to a chassidishe cheder. What are they prepared for?

Sounds discouraging, no? Really, what should he do?

If there was an easy answer to this problem, I’m sure you would know it already. Of course it isn’t easy, but it is doable. The truth is, there is help and options available even to a young man like this.

Our grandfathers came from Europe to America 70 or more years ago, with just the clothes on their backs and a limited knowledge of english. Many of them struggled to provide a livelihood for their families, and took on menial, backbreaking jobs just so they could have a roof over their heads and some food for their families. Over time, these menial laborers, who did janitorial work for nursing homes, became the owners of nursing homes. Some of the apartment building supers became the owners of those apartment buildings.

There is no exact directions on how to succeed in business. If there were, everyone would be rich. But someone who devotes himself to learning most likely has an above average intelligence, a savvy way of thinking, and is full of great ideas. This intelligence & creativity, coupled with a strong drive, are the qualities that made our grandfathers rich back then. They can be put to work again, with the same results – over time.

P.S. Stay tuned for the practical advice on how to write a resume – even a bare bones resume that most kollel yungerleit have to deal with.

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Day # 8 (and beyond): Back to Routine?

aaron — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:00:44 +0000

Every year it seems that we go through the same routine. Cry our heads off during viduy, promise to do better, and then life comes back to routine. Is there any meaning to all of it, if on Tuesday morning we all go back to our old selves?

The truth is that there is hardly such a thing as routine. We are living in a constant sea of change. In business, nothing stays the same for long. This past year alone, the biggest bank in the country was brought down to a shadow of its former self, hundreds of banks went under, the largest auto company declared bankruptcy, while companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon enjoyed comfortable profits.

Why such a difference? The former were punished by the forces of change, while the latter few were rewarded by it. Change is not necessarily your worst enemy, if you learn to embrace it and accept its existence.

How do you accept change? By anticipating it and realizing that by just doing the same old thing again and again won’t accomplish what it used to. Those who lean into the future of change are rewarded by it, while those who choose to remain in the “safety” of the present become the next GM and Citi.

We are all prime examples of this. Spiritual bankruptcy is rampant amongst ourselves, both in terms of individual behavior, and even in whole communities. If we aren’t willing to make changes, what will become of ourselves? It isn’t enough to say, “I’ll be the same I was until now.” Because one thing is certain, that what worked up until this point will not work in the future.

I’m directing my words and the reluctant kollel yungerman who knows in his heart that the time has come, but he is too afraid to do anything about it. One thing is for certain, that just because it worked up to today does not mean it will continue to work. You know that the pressures are mounting, the bills are piling up, and the stress levels are unprecedented. Leaving kollel does not mean leaving yiddeshkeit.

Look into yourself and realize that for things to work out, change is not optional. It’s now the time to make a move forward in life.

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Day # 4 – Relationship with Friends & Relatives

aaron — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:16:28 +0000

Leaving kollel invariably will cause a stir amongst your friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and relatives. Its not every day that a serious learner picks himself up and goes out to work. During these Aseres Yemei Tshuva, you should make it a point to decide how to deal with all this gossip and incredulous stares that you will face during the “going to work” process.

First of all, remember that your relatives are greatly relieved at your decision. They were worried about you, and when you show the responsibility and maturity to take care of yourself, they will be glad. About your neighbors and casual acquaintances – who really cares about their gossip? They will talk about you for a day or two at most, but after that the novelty of what you are doing will quickly fade.

But when it comes to your friends, herein lies a great opportunity. Your friends will not abandon you en masse just because you left kollel. Although they may outwardly express their displeasure at your actions, deep down they are somewhat intrigued and even a bit jealous. Those friends who are still in kollel with no plan at all, will consider you as an experiment for what they should do themselves.

That is where the opportunity presents itself. In your relationship with your friends, you must realize they are hurting inside, and they are in need of help themselves. Although you probably won’t be in a position to help them financially, you will be able to help them by getting out of kollel into a career or business that suits them.

Getting started in business requires that someone actively promotes your services to qualified prospects. As you engage in the business world, you are interacting on a daily basis with potential customers of your friends. Keep them in mind as you go about your way. There are countless opportunities to help another yid when it comes to parnossa, whether landing them a suitable job or a qualified customer.

There is no better z’chus for you than by demonstrating your concern for others, even as you go about getting yourself established on firm ground. All it takes is some care and concern, and it doesn’t even cost you a dime.

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