Super Satmar?

Mishpacha magazine presents a philosophy of independence

Yoeli Landau, the mega-wealthy Satmar tycoon and philanthropist from New York, is the subject of a recent feature article in Mishpacha magazine, titled “Declaration of Independence.” The article presents his philosophy, which is a fascinating cocktail of values - modern American materialism given a Jewish spin, positive Chazal-based values that go against charedi trends,and horrible anti-Israel values.

The modern American dream is financial success and material wealth. Landau has aced that one. That’s great, and he is also extraordinarily charitable, and is perfectly entitled to his private jet. But he makes a strange claim about largesse in philanthropy correlating with a person’s willingness to indulge himself in material luxury. I must state that in many years of fundraising I have seen no such correlation.

Landau’s personal story is a true rags-to-riches American dream. His account of his background, though, is extremely revealing:

As a kollel yungerman with no income, Yoeli registered for all kinds of government programs in order to subsist. “At the time, there was a special support stipend for the homeless,” he remembers. “In order to get approved for this assistance, municipal officials came down to confirm that you had no home to sleep in. So I slept in a local shul for a few nights. When they saw me sleeping on a bench in the beis medrash, they approved me for rental assistance. I was thrilled… I got every type of benefit there was,” he affirms, and it’s unclear if there’s a spark of mischief, pride, or shame there — but the authenticity is clear.

That last sentence is not doing justice to the seriousness of the huge disparity between the possibilities presented. Landau has publicly confessed to cunningly cheating the government in order to obtain welfare benefits. Well, is this something to be ashamed of, or something to be proud of?! It makes all the difference as to which is the case!

Everyone with inside knowledge is aware that lying about one’s status and cheating the government in order to obtain welfare benefits is something that is unfortunately widespread in the charedi and especially the chassidic community. It’s remarkable to see it acknowledged in Mishpacha magazine, even if they’re only mentioning the tip of the iceberg. But no doubt when the New York Times one day writes an expose of this, or Tucker Carlson uses it to denounce Jews as swindlers, charedim will scream that it’s antisemitic slander. Yet when it’s such widespread behavior, and a high-profile personality like Landau and a popular magazine like Mishpacha can’t even plainly state that this is a terrible crime, they only have themselves to blame.

Meanwhile, although there’s no message that it’s wrong to cheat the goyim, Landau at least broadcasts a strong message that there is shame in poverty and relying on others:

Slowly he began to creep out of poverty. Things looked promising enough that he eventually decided to take a courageous step — to stop taking all the welfare benefits that New York offered the needy... “As long as I’m a schnorrer relying on government support, I won’t succeed in life. I’ll be stuck in a rut, a needy person who lives on handouts… It’s a philosophy that has guided me from that point on, and for the rest of my life: Dependence generates weakness; independence generates strength.”

If only this traditional Jewish approach was more widespread in the charedi world. Chazal saw shame in poverty and relying on welfare. The Gemara says that a person should flay carcasses in the market (a lowly occupation) rather than demanding charitable support from others. The Rishonim had various different opinions about the permissibility of receiving payment for teaching Torah, but they never allowed a person to simply refuse to learn a trade and to force others to support him. And when it comes to one’s children, the situation is equally clear. The Gemara records it as a concrete obligation on a father to teach his children a trade, i.e. to be economically self-sufficient. One is not allowed to decide that his children will be dependent upon others. Contemporary charedi society has entirely undermined these values, and it’s good to see Landau express them.

Still, Landau’s philosophy is problematic. First is that, on a practical level, not everybody is going to succeed in business. It is general studies - so-called “secular education” - which are generally required to make people able to earn a living wage. Basic math, science, English, completing written assignments. This is precisely what many charedim and especially chassidim are opposed to, and neither Landau nor Mishpacha address this. Landau says that he declares to charedim in Israel, “Stop seeing yourself as weak and needy.” But they are weak and needy, because they are unemployable. I’ve had absolutely heartbreaking conversations with poverty-stricken charedim in Ramat Beit Shemesh, who I myself have hired where possible, but they’ve often not been suited to anything above janitorial work.

Similarly, Landau’s claims that charedim contribute to Israel do not reflect reality. He insists that they turn the wheels of the Israeli economy, via American donations to chareidi yeshivos in Israel, charedi tourism, and those charedim in Israel who are employed in businesses and industries. But these sums pale into insignificance when compared to the sums that the charedi community as a whole drains from the economy, due to their underpayment of taxes and overuse of welfare benefits, which run into tens of billions of dollars annually.

Likewise, Landau talks about how they relieve economic burdens on the country via the chessed that they do. But again, this is absolutely trivial compared to the chessed required to fund the hospitals and medical systems and roads that charedim also need. Not to mention funding and staffing an army.

And there’s also the not insignificant matter of needing people who are skilled professionals in all kinds of fields. You can’t build a First World economy - which is what is needed for Israel to survive in this part of the world - on a society of massively uneducated and underemployed people. That’s something that charitable support from rich American chassidim is not going to help with.

The Satmar economic model currently “works” (with huge welfare reliance and tax evasion) when they’re a small minority in a vastly larger American economy. And they can strive to be entrepreneurs in a modern economy maintained by others. But it doesn’t work for charedim in Israel, who are a full third of the next generation. You need educated, skilled professionals in all kinds of fields, not a society of business entrepreneurs.

This brings us to the second problem with Landau’s philosophy of independence. It’s not just about independence from needing others, but also about independence from any responsibilities to people outside the charedi community and national needs:

He presents what he views as the crucial metaphor: “The Satmar Rebbe said something simple: As long as you depend on others, you leave yourself no room to grow. As long as you maintain that glass ceiling, you have no space in which to flourish. You’re limited to those handouts, and you have to constantly say thank you no matter how meager they are, and worst of all — you are always dependent on what others think. They will decide when to give you money and when to shut the spigot, they will also dictate what you will learn and how you will conduct yourself. Is it any wonder that we got to this major draft crisis?”

Landau is presenting the draft crisis as being about how charedim are financially dependent on the government. Remove the financial desperation, and charedim have more political leverage to insist on nothing other than universal exemptions in exchange for political support.

But what about how the draft crisis is a crisis for the nation as a whole, especially all the people who are not charedim?! The manpower shortage that the IDF has warned about means that they cannot sufficiently protect the nation. The over-reliance on reservists due to the refusal of the charedi community to help has caused terrible suffering - wrecked businesses and careers, destroyed marriages and families, PTSD and suicides. What about that crisis?

Mishpacha’s article concludes as follows:

The man who began his life with 1,000 dollars in a damp basement in Williamsburg and reached the pinnacle of his industry is offering a simple and revolutionary message: Stop waiting for someone to help you. The first step to success is to stop relying on others and begin to trust the One who gives you the power to succeed. It all begins with taking that leap of faith, Yoeli says, and the siyata d’Shmaya will follow.

It’s good not to need the help of others. But what about the help that they need from you?!

We don’t need a declaration of independence by the charedi community - we need a declaration of achdus, mutual concern and responsibility.