I have heard the following joke told more than once:

Question: How do you make a small fortune in Israel?
Answer: Make aliyah with a large fortune

The implicit assumption in this joke (which I have found to be present in both Americans and Israelis) is that if you are frum, you will be better off financially living in the US than you would be living in Israel. No question.

Well, if you were planning on living a comfortable life, sending your children to private schools and camps, owning your own home and staying out of debt, this goal might not be so easy to attain in the US as you think.

Check out this blog post by Ask Shifra, where she talks about the “costs of being frum” in America, goes through some of the details of her own situation, and then opens it up to the commenters. The comments are the important thing here – the overwhelming majority are from Orthodox Jew who (relative to the rest of American society) are earning very large incomes, yet are struggling to make ends meet (and often cannot do so) in order to educate, clothe, house and entertain their families.

It is true that many people struggle in Israel. Taxes are higher, salaries are lower. But many of the other sources of income drain mentioned in the comments on Shifra’s post – private school tuition, camp, college – are just not factors here. Although the above joke may be true about Israel, it is becoming increasingly relevant to the situation of many Orthodox Jews living in the US as well. (Oh well, there goes that excuse…)