This video was shown recently at the Agudah Convention in America.. my thoughts and comments after the video..
1. you will notice more females in this video (and there are not all that many) than in any video or ad or newspaper by the haredi community in Eretz Yisrael..
2. they could have made a possibly even stronger point by not making it a haredi issue. there is poverty all around, and the recent budget cuts hurt a lot of people, haredim included but not limited to that community. The first half of the video seems more anti-government than sympathetic to the haredim. They could have, or should have, shown images of general poor, not just haredim. The second half focused on haredi poverty and the images there are compatible with that.
3. the video itself was well-done, in my opinion. I thought it told the story well and created a sense of sympathy and a desire to help
4. It is a shame the only solution offered is give, more money, and more giving. Maybe it is time to be creative and find solutions from within. Without ascribing blame. If the poverty is so bad, maybe throwing money at it is not the best solution.
5. They don't seem to be asking for more vocational training programs, for better wages (even though they talk about the discrepancy of wages between men and women), for more job creation (even though it is mentioned how even working people are having a hard time making ends meet) - only for more subsidies and welfare payments. Teach a man to fish? While some individuals may want that over the fish itself, as a community they are not interested.
6. and yes, it would be negligent to not mention that this problem is self-inflicted. They are saying - we insist on being poor, and the government is still at fault for not giving us enough money to get by with. As well, they don't see it as a problem - they are normally proud of being poor, of being moser nefesh for Torah. if they want to be poor, why is it so bad that the government cut the various welfare payments?
7. Despite all that, how can one not sympathize with them, show empathy, want to find a way to help? To help the kids that don't have food to take to school for lunch? To help the families that are learning Torah, no matter how much I think maybe they should reevaluate?
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