JustASC

Money magazine has a feature on “The price of faith,” with profiles of  a Jewish, Muslim, and Christian family and the extra costs they incur related to their religious observance.

A few observations:

1. Jewish observance turns out to be more expensive than the other faiths, but as usual in discussions of the “high cost of Jewish living,” it is mostly about the “high cost of Jewish day school education.” Take out the tuition number, and the premium for kosher food, synagogue memberships, and tzedakah doesn’t seem quite so onerous. (On the other hand, the Houston family profiled in the piece note how their need to live within an eruv — in walking distance of an Orthodox synagogue — drove up the price of real estate. Of course, every family has their own non-negotiables when they buy a house –  good public schools, a shorter commute, access to good public transportation.)

2. Rising standards of living have meant rising standards of observance, meaning the Jewish couple spent $30,000 renovating their kitchen to include two sinks, two ovens, and two dishwashers. (Although they didn’t spend $100,000, like this Teaneck couple.) Adding conveniences our ancestors never dreamed of is a lifestyle choice, but one aided and abetted — and sometimes coerced — by authorities who dictate ever higher and more nervous-making levels of punctilliousness.

3. So what’s the price of faith for the Muslim and Christian families? Mostly charitable giving (or tithing). The Christian and Muslim families don’t have kids yet, but the Jewish family has five, including one with special needs. Religious families across the board tend to have larger families on average, which needs to be factored into their financial picture.

4. The Jewish family notes the high cost of kosher food, an understandable premium when you have a limited market. But we’ve all suffered sticker shock visiting the local kosher grocer, even in northern NJ, where the Orthodox population is relatively dense. Are the higher prices always justified? Does the OU have ongoing discussions among its members and manufactuers about the need to keep prices in check, or at least in line with non-kosher products?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under JustASC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.