Interesting Psak: People Studying Torah Must Take Parnassa from the Public

The conflict over the exclusion of the haredi political parties from the government coalition has been interesting in the way it has revealed both political and social alliances.
Rav Tzvi Tao, the head of Yeshivat Har HaMor, has issued a psak in a letter he published and sent to alumni of the yeshiva. Yeshivat Har HaMor is a dati leumi yeshiva that was founded originally by students of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt"l, and it was founded after breaking off from Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav.
Rav Tao paskened that a talmid chochom who took upon himself to study Torah is like a soldier fulfilling his duty for the nation, and such a person has the right to take his parnassa from the general public. Rav Tao says people who learn Torah and get supported by the public must fulfill their duties faithfully, learnign Torah l'shma and by giving up of themselves and in holiness, and not take advantage of the arrangement to receive pleasure or to get rich. But when he does, he is serving the entire nation, and if he should have to give up his toil in Torah in order to work to support his family, the entire public is hurt by it. Taking money for his livelihood by learning is part of taking responsibility for establishing the Torah in the nation. He should receive his parnassa from the nation.
Rav Tao differentiates between charity given to support the poor and charity given to support Torah learnign. When tzedaka is given to support the poor, it is to alleviate his suffering, while doing chessed. Tzedaka that is given so a talmid chochom can learn Torah is part of building the Torah of the nation. As well, poor people are supposed to avoid taking charity, and if they must they feel shame. A talmid chochom who dedicates his life to Torah learning should not need to stop learning in order to get parnassa by working, which will take a lot of work and time to earn money taking him away from a lot of learning time, such a person does not need to refrain from taking tzedaka in exchange for toiling in Torah. He is like a soldier fulfilling his duty and it is upon the nation to support him.
(source: Kipa)
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