[Alberta's Child]

The simple truth is that a monastic life is fine, but a society can't possibly survive if more than a tiny fraction of its members live this way. I suspect this is the basis of a huge social disconnect between various elements of Israeli society.

There is a serious misconception about what exactly a true "monastic" life involves. St. Benedict founded the first Christian monastic order in the 6th century. For centuries, the motto of the Benedictine order has been the Latin phrase "Ora et Labora" (prayer and work) . . . Benedictine monks were expected to grow their own food, do their own skilled labor, etc.

[livius]

This is true, and in addition, Christian monastic life has always been seen as a contribution of these people to society (through their prayers, etc.), even when the monks in question were hermits.

However, I think Jews also believe this. The people who devote themselves to the study of the Scripture/Talmud are performing a service to the rest of the community.

However, in neither case were Christian monks or Talmudic scholars urging homicide/suicide attacks on the surrounding society. Only Islamic "scholars" seem to do that.