High Gas Prices Affecting Kollel Yungerleit

June 20, 2008 | Comments 0

High Gas Prices Hit Lakewood NJ

Kollel Yungerleit in Lakewood are especially sensitive to high gas prices. Most families live on a fixed income, which does not go up at all with the cost of living. (Lakewood Yeshiva Kollel Checks are $80 a week, and have been that amount for almost 30 years!)

Updated Jan. 2011: Now, although gas prices are not as high as they were in the spring of 2008, the price of cotton has skyrocketed in recent months. Spot cotton is trading on the NYME at appx. $1.72 a pound, an all time high, compared with just .60/lb. one year earlier. This will affect the price consumers pay for apparel and bedding, especially for cotton rich items such as ruffled and tailored bed skirts and cotton sheet sets. Instead of cotton bedding, customers may choose alternative forms of fabric such as satin sheets and satin pillowcases, which are comfortable and much more affordable than their cotton counterparts.

End of update

Lakewood kollel families typically do a lot of driving, especially in the summer months as thousands flock to the Catskills to enjoy the bungalows so graciously provided for by their parents and in-laws. A round-trip from Lakewood to the Catskills will cost around $80 for gas and tolls.

But the ones who are really hurting are those who travel for their shtellehs (positions). So many rabbeim that live in Lakewood teach in far away places, such as New York, Staten Island, Passaic, Queens, Far Rockaway, Mosney, and even Baltimore! The cost of their commute has practically doubled, reducing their earnings dramatically. Yeshivos and Day Schools are in no position to reimburse them for their added expenses, leading to further financial distress.

May Hashem spare us from futher price hikes, and give these hard working Rabbeim the financial peace they deserve.

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