Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain
UK Agudah umbrella charity (290191) at 97 Stamford Hill; grants and advice “in any part of the world”; sister bodies include Agudas Israel Housing Association and Agudas Israel Community Services; political cousin of Israeli Agudat Yisrael / United Torah Judaism
| Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain | |
|---|---|
| Type | Unincorporated charitable trust |
| Logo | |
| Founded | Registered 20 September 1984[1] |
| Founder(s) | |
| Dissolved | |
| Registration ID | Charity 290191 |
| Status | Active; reporting up to date; not recognised by HMRC for Gift Aid |
| Headquarters | 97 Stamford Hill, London N16 5DN |
| Location | Stamford Hill, Hackney |
| Area served | Throughout England (Commission field); objects: any part of the world |
| Services | Umbrella body; advice; grants to organisations and individuals |
| Registration | England and Wales |
| Key people | Joseph Schleider; Robert Grussgott; Rabbi Jacob Meir Rosenbaum; Henry Bondi; Ian Heitner |
| Website | |
| Remarks | Year to 5 April 2025: income £410,169; expenditure £432,096. Same address as Agudas Israel Community Services. Not the same legal person as Agudas Israel Housing Association. |
Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain is the registered UK political-communal vehicle of the Agudah tradition: charity 290191, registered 20 September 1984, office at 97 Stamford Hill, London N16 5DN. It is an umbrella body. It gives advice and makes grants to organisations and individuals. Objects: “to advance Jewish religious education and to relieve poverty, distress and sickness amongst Jews in any part of the world.” The Commission operating field is throughout England. The deed’s area of benefit is any part of the world. No Gift Aid recognition. No trading subsidiaries.[1][2]
Email on the register: JoeHoneytree@aol.com; telephone 07966 153532 (same number used by Yesodey Hatorah Trust).
What Agudah is
Agudat Yisrael was founded in 1912 in Katowice as the political organisation of non-Zionist, then anti-Zionist, Haredi Orthodoxy. After 1948 the Israeli party sat in Knesset coalitions; with Degel HaTorah it forms United Torah Judaism. That is the machinery through which Gur, Vizhnitz and other Agudah courts extract housing, yeshiva and exemption budgets. Satmar’s Vayoel Moshe line treats that bargain as serving the state.
This UK charity is the London nameplate of that family — not the Israeli party, not World Agudath Israel in Jerusalem/New York, and not automatically every “Agudas Israel” company on the UK register.
Finances
| Year | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | £105,482 | £66,095 |
| 2024 | £349,203 | £381,398 |
| 2025 | £410,169 | £432,096 |
The Commission summary does not publish named grantees or an Israel / occupied-territory split. Objects allow overseas relief; the public field does not list Israel as an operating country.
Trustees
| Name | Appointed | Other trusteeships (selection) |
|---|---|---|
| Rabbi Jacob Meir Rosenbaum | 10 December 2013 | None on record |
| Robert Grussgott | 1 April 2022 | Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations; UOHC Properties Ltd; Agudas Israel Community Services; The Zeire Agudath Israel General Charitable Trust; Bikur Cholim Limited; A T.I.M.E. Limited; The Eliezer Foundation; Britefield Trust |
| Henry Bondi | 1 April 2022 | Dencommon Limited; Keren Hatorah; B H Gur Limited |
| Joseph Schleider | 29 March 2023 | Zeire Aguda; The Zeire Agudath Israel General Charitable Trust; Yesodey Hatorah Trust |
| Ian Heitner | 30 January 2025 | Beth Abraham Synagogue Limited; Itzchok Meyer Cymerman Trust Limited; Colel Polen Kupath Ramban Limited; others |
Schleider chairs Yesodey Hatorah Trust and sits on the Zeire Agudah youth trusts. Grussgott sits on the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (Kedassia / UOHC) board — the Stamford Hill communal union, not a court. Bondi’s B H Gur Limited is a Ger-named company; that is a court link on an adjacent board, not proof that 290191 is a Ger charity.
Related UK bodies (not this charity)
- Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA; society 23535R) — social landlord set up in the early 1980s for Orthodox Jews in Stamford Hill; 900+ homes in Hackney, Haringey, Salford, Canvey Island, Westcliff, Gateshead. Supreme Court 2020 upheld allocation “primarily for the Orthodox Jewish community” (R (Z) v Hackney LBC). Named developments include Schonfeld Square, Davis Court (after “Rabbi Davis of Agudas Israel of the United Kingdom”), Palm House / Yetev Lev Court. Separate regulator, accounts and board.[5]
- Agudas Israel Community Services (AICS) — welfare-rights and employment advice at the same 97 Stamford Hill address; NHS-listed for Hackney and Haringey.
- The Zeire Agudath Israel General Charitable Trust / Zeire Aguda — youth / Agudah junior network; Schleider and Grussgott overlap.
- Jewish Rescue & Relief Committee of Agudas Israel World Organisation — World Agudah relief vehicle on the UK register; different trustees.
Israel and occupied territory
Charity 290191’s Commission map is England. Its deed allows work “in any part of the world.” Until accounts name payees, overseas grants cannot be mapped onto the Green Line or onto Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit or other Agudah settlement cities.
The Israeli Agudah is a different legal and political person: coalition seats, Housing and Jerusalem ministries, yeshiva budgets, Haredi towns over the Green Line. UK Agudah courts (Gur, Vizhnitz) use that machinery. This Stamford Hill umbrella is the diaspora cousin, not the ministry.
See also
- Agudat Yisrael
- United Torah Judaism
- Agudas Israel Housing Association
- Agudas Israel Community Services
- Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations
- Yesodey Hatorah Trust
- Zeire Aguda
External links
- Charity Commission 290191
- Agudas Israel Housing Association (separate body)
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Charity Commission, Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain, 290191.
- ↑ Giving is Great, Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain.
- ↑ Charity Choice, Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain.
- ↑ Charity Commission, Agudas Israel Organisation of Great Britain trustees.
- ↑ Robert Booth, UK supreme court backs housing charity's 'Jewish only' rule, The Guardian, 16 October 2020.