Civil Appeal 38817-02-25 Yosef Shachor v. Talmud Torah Association and the Great Yeshiva Etz Chaim

Civil Appeal 38817-02-25
Civil Appeal 38871-02-25

1. The two consolidated appeals before us revolve around Beit's judgment Jerusalem District Law (Liquidations 1363-03-18; [Nevo] The Judge 1 Generations) in which he received a request for instructions submitted by Respondent 1, the Special Director of the "General Talmud Torah Association and the Etz Chaim Great Yeshiva (in liquidation)" (hereinafter and respectively): The Association andThe Special Manager). In the framework of the application, the Special Director claimed that officers of the Association, including the three appellants, had illegally pocketed funds belonging to the Association's institutions, and in contravention of the provisions of the The Non-Profit Organizations Law, 5740-1980 (hereinafter: The Non-Profit Organizations Law).

It was claimed that the funds were paid to the appellants as salaries from the Neve Simcha company - Kiryat Metersdorf Retirement Home inTax Appeal (Hereinafter: Neve Simcha), which constitutes an asset of the "Wolf Endowment", the fruits of which are the beneficiaries of the association.  According to the Special Director, these payments were made in contravention of the instructions The Non-Profit Organizations Law and the law Loyalty, 5739-1979 (hereinafter: The Trust Law), which prohibit the distribution of profits and the receipt of salaries by board members and trustees, and therefore demanded their return to the liquidation fund.

2. In order to complete the factual background, it is stated that the land on which the Etz Chaim Yeshiva was built was purchased at the time by the "Wolf Endowment" from the funds of the donors to the endowment. About 100 years after its establishment, The Wolf Endowment was registered as a public endowment in 2008 andAmong its purposes, according to the certificate of registration of the endowment, it was written: "For children and teachers who are in the school and the midrash the general Talmud Torah and Yeshivat Etz Chaim, which belongs to all the Ashkenazi communities spread out in Jerusalem and beyond."  The trustees of the endowment at the time of registration were, inter alia, Yosef Tukchinsky, is Appellant 1 Other Municipality Requests 38871-02-25 (Hereinafter: Joseph) and Adv. Yosef Shachhor, who is the appellant Other Municipality Requests 38817-02-25 (Hereinafter: Adv. Shachor).

The Ottoman Settlement [Old Version] 19163.       Shortly after its registration as a public endowment, and with the approval of the court, the Wolf Endowment sold Yeshivat Etz Haim to real estate developers, and residential buildings and commercial and entertainment centers were built on its land.  As part of the proceeds from the sale of the Etz Haim Yeshiva, the association received Neve Simcha – through two Panamanian companies that hold its shares – which operates a retirement home in the Matterdorf neighborhood of Jerusalem.  The nursing home is managed by an external operator owned by Neve Simcha, called Neve Simcha Properties and Investments Ltd., which owns various real estate assets, including an area in Jerusalem known as the Lemel Complex (hereinafter: Lamel Complex).  There is no dispute that since the acquisition of Neve Simcha, its profits have been transferred by the Wolf Endowment to the association.