Unfortunately, yes. My aunt passed away 2 years ago, with several kids. I was told they had areivim. I think the money was paid to some escrow account, though I am not certain.
I have Areivim and most people I know have it too (yes, I live in Lakewood). I know someone who unfortunately had to claim Areivim a few years ago. At the time, Areivim was a few months behind and only made the collection for him six months later. From what I understand, the money was put into a low-risk investment fund (it's possible that they require something that's FDIC insured, I don't recall exactly).
Incidentally, Areivim recently decided due to the abundant inflation to raise the payout to $150k per orphan. If they were at all financially insolvent, they would not have undertaken a 50% increase.
From what I've seen, I don't think that their members tend to be wealthy like you hypothesize, if anything it's the opposite.
Although Areivim is a tremendous help, the money they raise is intended for marrying off the orphans. In Lakewood, when a yungerman dies r"l without life insurance, they usually have to make another community-wide collection campaign for him, IN ADDITION to Areivim.
Interesting and encouraging. Although it begs the question: if Areivim can't provide a family's real needs, why don't they just advise young families to take out a good term insurance policy that *will* cover them and can cost as little as $50/month?
I'm also unaware of any acquaintances/contacts who belong. That's why I hadn't even thought about it for many years.
But I suspect this is popular in chassidishe circles. And I've seen online evidence suggesting it's big in Chabad. I'll ask my kids in Lakewood if their chevra is involved.
I have areivim and know many many people that have it as well.
Do you know anyone who has (sadly) had to claim a benefit?
Unfortunately, yes. My aunt passed away 2 years ago, with several kids. I was told they had areivim. I think the money was paid to some escrow account, though I am not certain.
I believe that's what they're supposed to do with the money in the meantime. It's an encouraging sign.
Interesting article. A few thoughts:
I have Areivim and most people I know have it too (yes, I live in Lakewood). I know someone who unfortunately had to claim Areivim a few years ago. At the time, Areivim was a few months behind and only made the collection for him six months later. From what I understand, the money was put into a low-risk investment fund (it's possible that they require something that's FDIC insured, I don't recall exactly).
Incidentally, Areivim recently decided due to the abundant inflation to raise the payout to $150k per orphan. If they were at all financially insolvent, they would not have undertaken a 50% increase.
From what I've seen, I don't think that their members tend to be wealthy like you hypothesize, if anything it's the opposite.
Although Areivim is a tremendous help, the money they raise is intended for marrying off the orphans. In Lakewood, when a yungerman dies r"l without life insurance, they usually have to make another community-wide collection campaign for him, IN ADDITION to Areivim.
Interesting and encouraging. Although it begs the question: if Areivim can't provide a family's real needs, why don't they just advise young families to take out a good term insurance policy that *will* cover them and can cost as little as $50/month?
I'm also unaware of any acquaintances/contacts who belong. That's why I hadn't even thought about it for many years.
But I suspect this is popular in chassidishe circles. And I've seen online evidence suggesting it's big in Chabad. I'll ask my kids in Lakewood if their chevra is involved.
I also have areivim for around 5 years, i would estimate its around 8-10 months a year that we pay out, and the average family is around 4 kids.