So where do the unexpected revenues come from? Where do the miracles that we sought to translate into Excel fall?
During the interview, the interviewees were asked to fill out meticulous and detailed Excel tables relating to all expenses and income. Afterwards, a cross-check was made between the two columns of numbers, income minus expenses.
When a gap between expenses and income arose (i.e., expenses were greater than income), respondents were asked to clarify how they dealt with these gaps. The responses were recorded and analyzed by the research team.
Interviewees often referred to these unexpected expenses as "miracles," since they occurred irregularly and were not included in the standard flow of household expenses and income. They were reported only after considerable effort and a sincere attempt to recall all the unexpected income that enabled the household to function economically despite the large gaps.
Analysis of the interviews revealed a variety of responses, which can be placed in four categories: (1) an unexpected grant from a formal source; (2) unexpected work in a formal place; (3) an unexpected gift from relatives, or philanthropy; (4) informal work ('black work').
In order to illustrate these categories, we will present, next to each channel, one of the 'miracle stories' (out of many) that came up in the interviews.
An unexpected grant from a formal source
The meaning of an unexpected grant from a formal source is a sum of money, usually a significant amount, that came from an entity supervised and recognized by state authorities; for example - a grant to an employee, a grant to a student, tax refunds from the US based on the number of persons, a collection by a formal entity that was made in error and returned, refunds following the sale of a property due to discrepancies between foreign currency and local currency, and so on.
We bought a small apartment in a certain area and my husband wanted a larger apartment. It was his dream, he knew we would have many children and a larger apartment was important to him. We turned to the Rebbe to ask if we should do it. Still, buying a larger apartment is not easy. He said only one sentence: Buy it, and you will still have a surplus. That's it. We sold the apartment, at that time they were selling in dollars, and we got it at a value of 4.9 shekels to the dollar. We put the money aside, and looked for an apartment for several months, until we found one in Betar, five rooms. The dollar then dropped to 3.8, a crazy drop. We were left with over 100,000 shekels in surplus. Here, please, tell me, which Excel line do you put this in, I want to hear?! [Rina, Breslov Hasid and mother of ten children].
Unexpected work in a formal place
This category means work that is reported to the relevant authorities – that is, not work that is 'under the table’, but that is not part of the monthly inertia of life. As mentioned, the interviewees only remembered this income when we asked them to recall how they made up the gap, that is, these are random and occasional jobs. The interviewees mentioned, for example, unexpected graphics and computer work, filling a place at school, a suddenly released training fund, a one-time salary increase, and work as a polling clerk in elections.
My wife has a friend who has children and in short, she has difficulty raising the children. Her children are with us almost every day, in the afternoon. […] And she is eligible for help from welfare and one day we were contacted by welfare that she was eligible for a "supporting family" something like that, I don't know the exact definition, and she suggested that it would be us, we received a nice amount. It came out over 6-7 months, 2000 shekels every month, oh 2500 every month. Something like that. Something like 15 thousand in the last year [Michael, 34 years old, father of seven children, Avrech Kollel].
An unexpected gift from relatives or philanthropic assistance
This category includes philanthropic assistance, while distinguishing between 'pure' philanthropy, in which the donor does not know the recipient, and 'family' assistance to close or distant family (see Orbach, 2009, p. 19). For example, the interviewees testified to assistance they received from various family members - the husband's parents, the wife's parents, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, aunt, grandparents, married sons and daughters, unmarried daughters. There were also many descriptions of assistance received from the kollel, assistance from a generous person who decided to help in a surprising and one-time way, assistance from a close friend, etc. This category, of course, includes assistance from the community, such as scholarships for the holiday, the provision of boxes of poultry and meat by the kollel or synagogue, shopping vouchers totaling thousands of shekels, cards and vouchers for purchases at high discounts, and more.
I also have other income from time to time, I have an aunt who I used to take care of and she left an inheritance, it's not much at the moment but there's an average of, say, 500 shekels a month, so that's 5,000 a year. Now, the inheritance is in the process of being realized. I'm waiting for them to sell the apartment. In the will, the aunt specifically wrote that Ovadya would receive exactly 19 percent of the apartment's value. Now if we calculate the value of her apartment, which, by the way, is in a prestigious tower in the city... I'm supposed to receive around 350,000 shekels, so I'll have to pay my daughter. In the meantime, I've been rolling and rolling [Ovadya, a 53-year-old widow with twelve children].
Informal work
This category includes income from casual work, which is not the interviewee's formal job, and it characterized mainly the men among the interviewees. They mentioned, for example, 'specialist' work that is not part of their regular job: construction supervision, renovation work, lectures, Torah research, real estate brokerage, stock investments, matchmaking fees, editing Torah books, and more.
It's really a miracle. For example, my husband's uncle is now involved... It's funny to say, he supervises [in the yeshiva], but he's also involved in construction. Officially, he's not involved in construction, he studies all day... But he understands construction, let's say his brother built a house, so he was the construction supervisor, instead of paying a construction supervisor, he paid him. And he accompanies the family, a lot of cousins, when they go into construction, he goes over the contract and everything... Every now and then there are construction opportunities and it brings in a lot. Because he occasionally deals with construction projects, so he knows a lot of aluminum suppliers, carpenters, so people ask him... He's just a broker. A kitchen, for example, he gets a percentage for it. An aluminum broker gets a percentage for it...
I'll tell you a story. Do you want a miracle? But again, it's not for publicity with names. Our last match, they suggested, the girl came and said - heavy on me, father supervises, mother manages, dossim... heavy on me. She didn't want to. Then during the inquiries, someone told them that the father is involved in construction, so she said - good. A stone was lifted from her heart. When my husband David heard this, he was very hurt. It was very difficult for him [that the fact that he was involved in construction is starting to become known]. I told him - David, this is what we do and I am proud of it. You are a provider, we don't fall, and we stay afloat. A miracle. Now if it had come to a certain rabbi you know... he would have canceled the match if he had heard that my husband, the famous supervisor, was involved in construction [Sara is a teacher, married to a rabbi in a well-known yeshiva].
In conclusion, a component of unexpected income from relatives, friends, and philanthropy reflects kinship relationships and mutual community and family responsibility.
Further research will be required to address the intergenerational transformations of capital. The informal work component is often confined to what is known as 'undeclared work,' although its share is not as dominant as one tends to think.
In the next chapter, we will deal with the "ultra-Orthodox wedding," during which we will try to answer a host of almost existential questions: Why do Haredim purchase an apartment for their children beyond what is common in the general public, and most importantly, what are the various ways, means, or approaches that enable this behavior?
More on the topic:
""God helps and sends": How does the Haredi economy work? • A Sustenance from Heaven I Chapter 1
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