As director of placement at the New York office of Professional Career Services (PCS) � Agudath Israel of America�s job network � Moshe Tyberg is well positioned to know� just how strong an impact� the economic downturn has had on the Orthodox Jewish community.� Yet even he was brought up short, he says, by a recent incident at his shul.
"A particular individual who had lost his job and was unable to come� down to our offices asked if I could stay behind and conduct an interview with him after minyan one morning. Another shul member� picked up on what we were discussing� and came over to me afterwards to tell me he also desperately needed a job. And then, as discreetly as he could, he turned around and pointed at a few men who were lingering in shul and whispered, "and so does he... and so does he... and so does he.?�
Even before last month�s meltdown on Wall Street, Mr. Tyberg observes, hundreds of families in our community were hurting as result of the economic slide of the last eighteen months � a� decline� that was largely precipitated by the weakening real estate market. The recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and other financial giants, he notes, is sure to exacerbate what is already a crisis situation.
"Aside from the many breadwinners who worked directly for Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers or any of the affected financial institutions and who are now unemployed, there are many baalei mishpacha� in related fields who will also suffer. Deloitte and Touche, for example, which was Lehman Brothers� accounting firm, has already let many people go.?
But it�s not only professionals who are hurting as a result of the weak economy, emphasizes Mr. Tyberg.� "For every mid-size or large business in our community that closes down, scores of people�from middle management personnel to chief operating officers -- join the ranks of the unemployed.� And when people are out of work, they�re not making purchases at local businesses, they�re not paying bills, they�re not paying tuition � in short, the entire community suffers.?
The toll that job loss takes on a breadwinner and his family goes way beyond the financial,? Mr. Tyberg continues. "When a baal mishpacha loses his job, his self-esteem is affected and, in far too many cases, his sholom bayis, as well.� "Some of the stories I hear from job-seekers about the tension levels in the home, the impact on innocent and confused children � they�re nothing short of heartbreaking.?
Rabbi Yoel Tolwinsky, who is the director of placement for the Lakewood-based New Jersey PCS office, concurs. "In some ways, the situation in this community is even more difficult since many of the job-seekers are just coming out of kollel or until recently had well-paying jobs in areas like business management, real estate, construction or mortgages� -- industries that are facing deep cuts. So the prospects for gainful re-employment are that much slimmer.?
Just recently, Rabbi Tolwinsky relates, he got a call from a woman begging him to find her husband a job. "She told me he�s so depressed, he has a hard time just getting through the day.
"I�d like to say that a situation like that is unusual�but unfortunately, these days it isn�t.?
While his office has placed many people in well-paying positions, says Mr. Tyberg, there are countless more who are desperately seeking employment.� "The bottom line is that growing numbers of reliable, qualified heads of household who are out-of-work through no fault of their own are turning to PCS for help � and we don�t have even close to enough jobs to go around. That�s why it�s imperative that the community get involved by letting us know about available positions.?
To further that objective,� a number of Agudath Israel of America activists have launched an emergency campaign aimed at raising awareness regarding the current unemployment situation and urging members of the community to take a proactive stance in identifying job openings and contacting PCS with the pertinent information.� Yet another aspect of the campaign calls for volunteers to act as mentors who can assist job-seekers with resume writing and job interview preparation.
To help jumpstart the campaign, which has been timed to coincide with the Yomim Noraiim, the committee has asked shul rabbonim from throughout the tri-state area to speak about this critical issue at some point during the Yomim Tovim and is actively recruiting gabbaim to act as liaisons between shul members with job information and PCS.
"The Rambam tells us that the greatest mitzvah is to provide another man with the means to earn a livelihood,� says a spokesman for the committee. " In the z�chus of our joining together in this undertaking, may Hakodosh Boruch Hu bless every member of Klal Yisroel with parnassa b�ravchus in the coming year.?
(YWN Desk - NYC)
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=24398
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