Interesting Psak: who gets the money?

With the government having increased the funding of yeshivas and kollels, specifically with a recent one-time grant, an interesting question was raised - who should get the additional money? Should the avreichim get the money added on to their stipends to help them with their cost of living and expenses or should the rosh kollels get the extra money to help offset their expenses and debts, along with lightening their load of fundraising even if just a bit?

The dilemma was posed to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, Rav of Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq. 

After a discussion about the need to support avreichim who learn Torah and how important that, along with the need to be grateful to the roshei kollel who take it upon themselves to fundraise and support the kollels and avreichim, Rav Zilbershtein related to this specific question. Rav Zilbershtein said, if the kollel pays a stipend per avreich that is based on the funding of the government - the funding plus x, then the avreichim should get the money added from the government. If however the kollel pays a specific stipend and that is not connected to or determined by the government funding and whether to government pays more or less the stipend doesnt change then the additional money from the government should go to the rosh kollel.

However, Rav Zilbershtein concluded with his psak that the two, the Rosh Kollel and the Avreich, should split the additional funds, regardless of how connected the stipends are to the government funding. Rav Zilbershtein said the funding should be divided with two-thirds going to the avreichim and one-third to the rosh kollels. 

Ra Zilbershtein explained that there was so much heavenly assistance, siyata dshmaya, in obtaining the additional funding that it must be both the merit of the avreichim learning and the roshei kollel being moser nefesh to support the learning that together brought it about. Therefore the funding should be split among both with a little bit more given to the avreichim. The avreichim should get more to help with their expenses and the increasing cost of living with the available money being able to buy less.

source: Hamechadesh

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