Tzfat Economics

Just time for a short reflection on something I've noticed, living in the poorest city in Israel.
There's a very different sort of work schedule for most people around here.  As I mentioned, the men at the synagogue where I study don't pray until 9:15 or so.  Some of them are employed at ordinary businesses, but can apparently make time in their work schedules for morning prayer.  Others, especially the older men, are professional Torah scholars: they study all day long, and the state supports them.  At least one other, in his 20s, is in a one-year period following his marriage, in which he learns Torah full-time, and the state supports him.  With his government paycheck, he can afford expensive clothes, plenty of good food, and rent, for himself and for his wife.
Those who are employed, at least, in commerce, have very short work hours.  Stores tend to close at around 2:00 pm here, may be closed all afternoon on Fridays and (for some reason) Tuesdays.  Today, Friday, at around 10:15 am, I visited the post office, and it was already closed for the weekend, even though the schedule posted outside indicated that it should have been open.
All of the Rabbis whose homes I have visited have large houses, well-furnished, and with large libraries.  The Chabad House can afford to give large public meals, with copious vodka, on Saturdays.
The question is: with apparently so little work being done, where is all of this money coming from, and why isn't there more obvious poverty?  There are poor people here, but they're as much a part of the community as anyone else; the only difference is that they need to borrow Tefillin, and go around the synagogue and Beit Midrash asking for money (which they always receive).
This reminds me of an article I read a couple of years ago, on the Washington Post website.  I can no longer find it, but the poorest community of 100 or more people, in the United States, is an ultra-orthodox Jewish community just outside of New York City.  All of the shop signs are in Yiddish, most of the women don't have jobs, all the men spend their days studying Torah.  Everyone has enough to eat and to wear, though, because everyone shares necessary articles (strollers, etc), especially the wealthier community members.
Is this how Tzfat remains statistically poor, yet apparently well-off?  Does Tzfat just run on state money (and how do taxpayers who are secular Jews feel about supporting Torah scholars and Yeshiva students)?  Does it run on endowments from affluent Jews who want Tzfat to have a functioning Jewish community?  I don't know.
Shabbat Shalom!

~JD

"אדם מועד לעולם
בין שוגג בין מזיד
בין ער בין ישן"

[A person is always liable to cause damages -- whether unintentionally or intentionally, whether waking or sleeping] (Bava Kama 2:4).