"Ki Karov Eilecha Hadavar Meod..." - Why is it so difficult and costly to be a frum Jew?

Devarim 30:11-14: For this commandment which I have commanded you today is not hidden from you and it is not distant. It is not in heaven [for you] to say 'who can ascend to the heavens for us and take it for us so we may listen to it and perform it [the mitzvahs]?' Nor is it on the other side of the sea [for us] to say 'who will cross the sea and so we may listen to it and perform it [the mitzvahs]?' Rather, the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it [keep the Torah and Mitzvahs.

Ki Karov Eilecha Hadavar Meod - It is very close to us, easily accessible.

Moshe Rabeinu is leaving us a message: It's easy to keep the Torah and be a Halachah observant Jew. It's not pie in the sky (pardon the rhyming cliche) and it's not impossible to learn and do. It's close, easy, and not a burden. This is not to say some areas aren't more difficult than other. Of course they are! That's why the Torah provided for Shoftim and Batei Dinim.

So what happened?! Who went and took all the joy out of being frum? "What do you mean?", many will ask.

The cost of kosher food is astronomical, especially meat, dairy, and anything produced in or for a "kosher" factory (Liebers, Paskez, etc.). Jews live in the most expensive neighborhoods, forcing even those who can't afford to live in the more affluent neighborhoods to live there if they want to be part of a community, especially on Shabbos and Yom Tov. For Pesach, the price of a five pound bag of Domino sugar at the kosher stores magically costs $4.99 just because it has an OKp on it, though it's interesting to note that the supermarkets sell the same sugar year round, including for Pesach (with and OKp on it all year round), for about $2.75. When I confronted a store owner about prices, his answer to me was "do you want to buy the store?" I haven't been in there since.

Ki Karov Eilecha - It should be accessible, but being frum, unless you have a really good income, puts you in hock! Then there's the expense of giving your children a Torah education! Not only do we have to pay taxes to support the public school system, we also have to pay astronomical tuition to give our kids a good education. And let me tell you, many of the Jewish schools' educations stink. I've been to some of them as a student. They really stink!

Ki Karov Eilecha - I grew up Lubavitch and got turned off to it for many reasons, primary of which was when the Rebbe advocated Ahavas Yisrael, many Lubavitchers took that to mean Ahavas Yisrael only for other Lubavitchers, people they were with whom they were working to get them to be frum, and anyone with lots of money to give away. As the son of neither a rich person, a rabbi, or a shaliach, I was considered persono non grata by my rabbeim and schoolmates, nearly all of whom met at least one of the above criteria. Not so easy!

Ki Karov Eilecha - Why am I paying nearly $1200 in rent every month when the same house in many other neighborhoods in this city, good neighborhoods, would only cost about $400 or $500 per month in rent?

Ki Karov Eilecha - Why do I go out for dinner, why do I pay $25 for about five or six bites (no joke!) of lamb chop? Why does is the price of kosher meat in general at least three times the price of non kosher meat? I can understand a bit more, fifty cents or a dollar, but almost $4.00 a pound for chicken breasts instead of $1.20 for non kosher?!?! That's highway robbery! It does not cost that much more to produce kosher meat and poultry. It just doesn't!!

Ki Karov Eilecha - Why is it that when looking for a job, one must be afraid to mention that one must leave early on Friday afternoons for a three or four month stretch? My wife didn't get hired for a job because of this!

Ki Karov Eilecha - I really don't understand this. Where is the joy of keeping Torah and Mitzvahs properly without having to sell your firstborn to afford to feed him? I mean this seriously. As I mentioned in the previous post, my wife and I are deeply in debt, in large part because of a decision to follow someone's advice who at the end of the day had no place giving such bad advice.

Ki Karov Eilecha - where did it go wrong? When did it become such a burden to be a halacha following Jew? Don't get me wrong: I believe in Torah, in Hashem, in Yiddishkeit. I just don't believe this is what God intended. How could he have? There is a concept in Torah of having accurate weights when selling goods. I believe this also extends to charging fair prices for goods. It really bothers me when I stand in line at the supermarket and the person in front of me is buying groceries similar to mine and paying about a third of the price.

Ki Karov Eilecha - It's supposed to be easy! Not by rote, but also not so difficult that every time you go shopping you have to think to yourself - is this really worth it? This is not the message of Ki Karov Eilecha. I truly believe that if Moshe Rabbeinu showed up in 2007, he would look around at the Jewish communities and say "Hashem! What happened to the Jews? I thought they would survive the generations? Where did they go?!" He would not recognize us because this is not the Jewish nation he envisioned.

Ki Karov Eilecha - Where are the Rabbanim who are supposed to be watching over all this? Many of them are Mashgichim running Kosher Mafias around the country, causing part of the problem of the high prices of food and education. And truthfully, how much does Hashgacha really work? In Monsey, NY, a butcher operating for nine years was caught after who knows how long selling treif meat. At kosher prices, much less!! There's an old saying - Who Guards the Guardians? Well, who Mashgiach's the Mashgichim?

Good Shabbos!

Next up: Bas Kol - the Fracturing of Judaism.

P.S. If there are any typos, please forgive me.