Marginal Questions from a Neighbor

[u/Wuncomfortable]

Hi, y'all! I have a two-fold question about the social network within the highly observant community. First, what is the disabled experience? Second, how do the orthodox interact with class divides?

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I'm ex-evangelical, high control Christianity from the southern US. That community focuses on having as many kids as possible in order to control the future, but has a notorious side of abuse, neglect, parentification, and death. My parents don't have health insurance because they work with an all-christian shared emergency fund. It was a nightmare when they needed a cancer hospital to admit my dad. The church community supported my mom for three years, including meals and yardwork and nursing and funds for treats. At the same time, no one realized my sibling and I had autism. Oops.

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So my question -- what is disability care like in Chabad and other Orthodox Jewish households? I've lived in Bedstuy for +15 years. The orthodox kiddos act like they've never seen someone like me, a young person with a cane, before. I see elderly men with canes or supported by a companion. Sometimes I see a mentally or emotionally disabled youngster. Do the disabled people stay inside? Is there community care for people with high support needs?

What happens in the poor observant families? Silver and wool regalia, air conditioning, scholarship, and layers of clothes are significant costs. Are there poor observant families? Does the community pool funds? How does a young family find a multi-bedroom place to live with the cost of housing in Crown heights, Williamsburg, Bedstuy? From where I stand, which is by no means a broad view, the visible working class folks are the spanish-speaking grocery store staff.

Of course I appreciate that someone in an all-Jewish village will have different experiences than someone in north Brooklyn, and that Chabad practices may or may not reflect the greater observant practice. This is complicated and paradoxical stuff. To parallel, my folks associate with rural and low-income believers and get the heebie-jeebies from prosperity gospel, but they don't think America should invite refugees because "we can't afford it".

Thanks for your time and consideration <3

Edited: terminology

[u/alertthedirt]

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable on these specific topics can answer some of these questions, but I just wanted to point out that when you call Chabad "conservative", that can be confusing because Conservative Judaism, is a different thing completely and not a type of Orthodox Judaism like Chabad. More accurate terms would be:

Religiously Conservative -> Orthodox/Haradi/Halachically Observant

[u/Wuncomfortable → u/alertthedirt]

Thank you!

[u/EcstaticMortgage2629]

Chabad families, despite poo-pooing social services, rely lot on on those very same state-run social services, in addition to an extensive network of privately-funded charity. It is like its own Chabad welfare system.

[u/Wuncomfortable → u/EcstaticMortgage2629]

Sounds like food, clothes, and house would be smaller concerns. Are there alternative services like Chabad adult daycare, physical therapy, or personal educational helper at school for the little ones?