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As we have seen, it is a mitzva for the Jewish people to support rabbis and teachers who devote their time to teaching Torah. If they had to find other work to support themselves, they would be unable to fulfil that function. A few hundred years ago, when the quantity of Torah material which needed to be mastered had greatly increased, a consensus grew that people should not only support scholars, but also students. After all, their studies in yeshiva were preparing them to serve the community. However, those studying Torah but not planning to serve the community may not accept donations or charity to fund their studies. As we said above, all Jews have an obligation to study Torah, and this study should be done for the sake of heaven, not for the sake of profit.
In our times, we face a new situation. Modern life presents our youth with great challenges. Many yeshiva high school graduates have not yet attained a level of Torah knowledge to allow them to live their lives by its light. Since the ideal is for every Jew to live a life of Torah and faith, we must enable all high school graduates to spend a few years in yeshiva after graduation. This provides them with a strong Torah foundation before they start a family and go out into the working world. It is legitimate to use ma’aser money to support the Torah studies of young people whose parents cannot afford the tuition. Similarly, there are penitents who have returned to Judaism and would like to acquire basic Torah knowledge. This is a legitimate need, so ma’aser money may be used to provide them with a stipend for a year or two of full-time Torah study. Once the young people or returnees have the basics under their belts, they are no longer allowed to accept money for learning Torah. They must learn a profession to support themselves, while continuing to set aside time for regular Torah study.
Despite this, in some circles, due to great concern of being influenced by the secular world, the permission to accept money to study Torah has been greatly extended and taken to an extreme. Those communities go so far as to encourage all young men who can study Torah to do so, while living off stipends from communal funds and donations. This approach is mistaken. As Maimonides writes (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Torah Study 3:10),
Anyone who decides that he will engage in Torah study, not work, and take charity to support himself is desecrating God’s name, dishonoring the Torah, and dousing the light of the religion. He is also harming himself and losing his place in the World to Come, as it is forbidden to benefit from the words of Torah in this world. Thus our Sages state, “Anyone who benefits from the words of Torah loses his place in the World to Come” . . . and “All Torah study that is not accompanied by work is ultimately worthless.” Such a person will end up robbing others.
