The Montefiore Endowment

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Charitable company maintaining the Montefiore synagogue and mausoleum at Ramsgate and funding Torah study, including in Jerusalem's Old City

The Montefiore Endowment
Type Charitable company
Logo
Founded 2006-02-20 (registered)
Founder(s)
Dissolved
Registration ID Registered charity 1113038; company 05604295
Status
Headquarters The Montefiore Endowment, Schaller House, 44A Albert Road, London, NW4 2SJ
Location
Area served Throughout London, Israel, United States, Kent
Services
Registration
Key people Alan Bekhor (chair)
Website www.montefioreendowment.org.uk
Remarks


The Montefiore Endowment is a charitable company (05604295) incorporated on 26 October 2005 and registered on 20 February 2006; register areas are London, Kent, Israel and the United States.[1] The accounts for the 14 months to 31 December 2024, audited by RDP Newmans LLP, give its registered office as Schaller House, 44a Albert Road, London NW4 2SJ, with A R Bekhor as chair. It took over the assets of The Montefiore Endowment at Ramsgate (230919) on 20 November 2007. Its objects include maintaining the synagogue, mausoleum and cemetery at Ramsgate, its collections and advanced Torah study. Income was £648,663 (2023: £166,890), including £423,079 from the sale of manuscripts at Sotheby's New York; expenditure was £667,111, investment gains £850,355 and the endowment £5,075,939 (PDF p.2, 4–8).[2]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "1.THE MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF THE SYNAGOGUE AND THE MAINTENANCE OF THE MAUSOLEUM AND CEMETERY BELONGING TO THE CHARITY; 2. THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC BY THE MAINTENANCE AND PROMOTION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT OF THE MOVEABLE PROPERTY OF THE CHARITY INCLUDING SCROLLS OF THE LAW, BELLS, CLOAKS, SILVER PLATE, BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS AND PICTURES IN SUCH WAYS AS THE DIRECTORS OF THE CHARITY THINK FIT INCLUDING:A. THE DIGITISATION, TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS.B. THE DISPLAY OF ARTEFACTS3.THE PROMOTION OF THE ADVANCED STUDY OF THE HOLY LAW AS REVEALED ON SINAI AND EXPOUNDED BY THE REVERED SAGES OF THE MISHNA AND TALMUD IN ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING WAYS;- A.IN THE TRAINING AND MAINTENANCE DURING TRAINING OF ORTHODOX JEWISH TEACHERS, MINISTERS AND RABBIS BY AWARDING SCHOLARSHIPS OF SUCH VALUE AND TENABLE AT SUCH INSTITUTIONS OF FURTHER EDUCATION AS THE DIRECTORS OF THE CHARITY SHALL THINK FIT; B. BY MAKING GRANTS TO ANY INSTITUTION OF FURTHER EDUCATION WHICH PROVIDES SUCH EDUCATION AND IS ESTABLISHED FOR CHARITABLE PURPOSES; C.IN SUCH OTHER WAYS AS THE DIRECTORS OF THE CHARITY THINK FIT.4. THE ADVANCEMENT FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT OF THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG ADULTS AND LAY READERS IN THE ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY IN SUCH WAYS AS THE DIRECTORS OF THE CHARITY THINK FIT, INCLUDING:A. THE PROMOTION OF THE STUDY OF THE HOLY LAW AS REVEALED ON SINAI AND EXPOUNDED BY THE REVERED SAGES OF THE MISHNA AND TALMUD AND ITS APPLICATION TO CONTEMPORARY LIFE;B. THE PROVISION OF LEADERSHIP TRAINING.5. THE PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS HARMONY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC BY:A. PROMOTING MUTUAL RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THOSE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS;B. TEACHING THE BENEFIT OF TOLERANCE, MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING, SOCIAL HARMONY AND INTEGRATION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEACHINGS OF THE HOLY LAW AS EXPOUNDED BY THE REVERED SAGES OF THE MISHNA AND TALMUD AND AS DEMONSTRATED IN THE LIFE OF SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE."[1]

The register describes its activities as: "Maintenance the property of the Charirty;Promoting the advanced study of Judaism;Training of scholars to be teachers, Ministers and Rabbis;Make grants to other institutions for further education"[1]

Register classifications: Education/training, Religious Activities.[1]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout London, Israel, United States, Kent.[1]

Trustees

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]

Trustees of The Montefiore Endowment (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Pamela Sinyor not recorded —
Isaac Levy 2013-11-04 Naima Jps (289066); The Heshaim Or Theological College (230825); The London Board for Shechita (1171869)
Alan Bekhor 2013-11-04 Yes —
Charlotte Hannah Green 2018-05-29 —
Daniel Richard Murad Sopher 2022-04-11 Screen Academy Foundation (1183889)
Daniel Kessler 2022-04-11 —
Ruth Jacqueline Basrawy JP 2024-01-25 —

Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)

Trustees shown in archived register pages
Capture date Trustees listed Source
2010-07-09 Abraham Levy; Lucien Gubbay Ronnie Musry; Rick Sopher; Pamela Sinyor [3]
2011-09-26 Abraham Levy; Lucien Gubbay Ronnie Musry; Rick Sopher; Pamela Sinyor [4]
2018-01-04 Abraham Levy; Lucien Gubbay Ronnie Musry; Alan Bekhor; Rick Sopher; Pamela Sinyor; Isaac Levy [5]
2021-01-12 Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy OBE – also trustee of Naima Jps, The Charitable Fund of Rabbi Abraham and Estelle Levy, The Hinuch Trust, The Heshaim Or Theological College; Charlotte Hannah Green (from 29 May 2018); Ronnie Musry; Pamela Sinyor; Lucien Gubbay (chair) – also trustee of Sir Moses Montefiore for Coals and Blankets, The Sir Moses Montefiore Holy Land Trust; Alan Bekhor (from 04 November 2013); Isaac Levy (from 04 November 2013) – also trustee of The London Board for Shechita, Naima Jps, The Heshaim Or Theological College; Rick Sopher [6]

Companies House records Richard Moshe Sopher as a director until 3 June 2026 and Lucien Ezra Gubbay until 11 November 2024; the formation agents Broadway Secretaries Limited and Broadway Directors Limited held office from 26 October 2005 to 5 February 2008.[7]

Companies House officers

Companies House lists 17 current and former officers of the charitable company (05604295), 8 of them active.[8]

Appointments of these officers to overseas companies registered in the UK (FC) or on the Register of Overseas Entities (OE):

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2020-10-31 £105,100 £527,015
2021-10-31 £86,104 £640,057
2022-10-31 £93,131 £589,268
2023-10-31 £166,890 £573,651
2024-12-31 £648,663 £667,111

Source: register annual-return history.[1]

Archived accounts

Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:

  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2008[10]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2009[11]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2010[12]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2014[13]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2015[14]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2016[15]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2017[16]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/10/2018[17]

Funding in Israel

  • Grants (note 8) totalled £158,022, including Yeshivat Hakotel £16,750, Midreshet Harova £8,500, Midreshet Tehila £21,750, Eretz Hatzvi £4,000, Sephardi Haburah £25,000, LSJS £41,669 and Jewish Chaplaincy £10,000; the report also refers to gap-year students at "colleges of advanced Torah learning in Jerusalem" (PDF p.5–6, 27).[2]

Israeli partners

Yeshivat Hakotel, 7 HaMekubalim, Old City, Jerusalem;[18] Midreshet Harova, 50 Chabad Street, Old City, Jerusalem;[19] Midreshet Tehila, Eretz Hatzvi and Eretz Hemda (locations not verified).[2]

Activity beyond the Green Line and support for the IDF

Findings are graded by confidence. "Partner" findings concern the Israeli recipient organisation, not proven use of UK funds.

Evidence of activity beyond the 1949 armistice line
Finding Confidence
£25,250 went to Yeshivat Hakotel and Midreshet Harova,[2] both located in the Old City of Jerusalem,[18][19] which UNESCO's World Heritage Committee treats as part of East Jerusalem, referring to Israel as "the occupying Power".[20] High – East Jerusalem, Old City (verified place)
Midreshet Tehila (£21,750) and Eretz Hatzvi (£4,000) are named without locations.[2] Unverified – name only

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[2]

Controversies and regulatory action

  • No Charity Commission inquiry, Official Warning or Gazette insolvency notice naming this charity was found, and its register entry shows no regulatory alert;[21] it is not among the charities named in the Commission's cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements (May, September and December 2025) or in the September 2026 statement of results.[22][23][24][25] The charities in the Commission's settlements class inquiry (opened August 2026) have not been named, so it is not known whether this charity is among them.[26]
  • Related party. Note 26 records rent and security of £23,333 and a grant of £41,669 to Jews' College, trading as the London School of Jewish Studies, which has trustees in common (PDF p.33).[2]
  • Grant not itemised. The report names a grant to "Eretz Hemda in Jerusalem", which does not appear in the grants note (PDF p.6, 27).[2]
  • Late filing. The register records the FY2024 return as received on 5 November 2025 against a due date of 31 October 2025.[1]

Other registers and records

Scotland and Northern Ireland

No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (full register download of 14 October 2026 searched by name).[27] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[28]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name found no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice; results were limited to Companies House filing lists.[29]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[30]

Sanctions screening

The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees and officers named in the accounts read for this profile and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found. Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (UK sanctions ID RUS1127) does not appear among this charity's trustees or officers.[31]

Land and property

The register records that the charity owns and/or leases land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[32] Candidate titles and addresses (CCOD dataset and register/accounts data):[33]

  • Synagogue and Mausoleum, Honeysuckle Road, Ramsgate (title K929202, freehold, proprietor added 25 March 2008) – CCOD match on company number 05604295 (proprietor THE MONTEFIORE ENDOWMENT); the accounts describe 0.095 ha of synagogue and mausoleum and a 0.29 ha burial ground at Ramsgate as heritage land (source: [33])

Parliament

Hansard searches for 'Montefiore Endowment', 'Montefiore Endowment Committee' returned 0 contributions in total.[34]

Web archive

  • montefioreendowment.org.uk: 19 yearly captures, first 2007-09-29, last 2026-01-06.[35]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 2 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile (cited in the sections above). The 2021 archived full print showed the status "Charity reporting is up to date" and "Other regulators: No information available".[6]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity, charity_trustee, charity_annual_return_history, charity_area_of_operation, charity_classification), extract dated 14 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Charity Commission, The Montefiore Endowment (1113038): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ Register entry 1113038, contact and trustees (capture of 20100709) UK Government Web Archive.
  4. ↑ Register entry 1113038, contact and trustees (capture of 20110926) UK Government Web Archive.
  5. ↑ Register entry 1113038, contact and trustees (capture of 20180104) UK Government Web Archive.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Register entry 1113038, full print (capture of 20210112) UK Government Web Archive.
  7. ↑ Companies House, Company 05604295 (The Montefiore Endowment): officers Find and update company information, viewed 14 October 2026.
  8. ↑ Company 05604295: officers Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
  9. ↑ BROADWAY SECRETARIES LIMITED: appointments Companies House, viewed 14 October 2026.
  10. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2008-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  11. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2009-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  12. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2010-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110926).
  13. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2014-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  14. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2015-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  15. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2016-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  16. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2017-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  17. ↑ The Montefiore Endowment accounts, year ended 2018-10-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Yeshivat Hakotel, Contact Us hakotel.org.il, viewed 14 October 2026 ("7 HaMekubalim, Old City Jerusalem 97500").
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Midreshet Harova, Contact Us en.harova.org, viewed 14 October 2026 ("The Midrasha administrative offices and primary learning spaces are located at 50 Chabad Street"; postal address "Old City, Jerusalem").
  20. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Decision 48 COM 7A.4: Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2026, viewed 14 October 2026 (refers to "Israel, the occupying Power" and to works "in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City of Jerusalem").
  21. ↑ Charity Commission, Register of Charities, charity overview page (register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/ followed by the organisation number) for every charity in batches 1–7 (175 pages, all retrieved successfully on 15 October 2026) and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section. Alerts appeared only for Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh (1139320), Ezer Viznitz Foundation (1161881), BC Trust (1155555), Vyoel Moshe Charitable Trust (327054) – all named in the cheque-cashing class inquiry – and The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust (1003102).
  22. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  23. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025 (re-fetched 14 October 2026).
  24. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  25. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator concludes investigation into 4 charities as class inquiry continues GOV.UK, 9 September 2026, with Statement of the results of a class inquiry (same date), both retrieved 15 October 2026.
  26. ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026, retrieved 15 October 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
  27. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, CharityExport-14-Oct-2026.csv, downloaded 14 October 2026; keyword search of charity names for the batch-6 charities found no matching Scottish registration.
  28. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-6 charity name returned zero results).
  29. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Montefiore Endowment' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
  30. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1113038 360Giving, queried 14 October 2026.
  31. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-6 screening covered 429 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages and archived full-print register pages (UK Government Web Archive), Companies House officers of the charitable companies, and trustees, officers and related persons named in the accounts read for this batch (including archived accounts); matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually (all candidate hits were surname-only coincidences or generic word overlaps); lists downloaded October 2026.
  32. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access on 14 October 2026; no titles were looked up or purchased. Candidate title numbers below come from the free CCOD / OCOD datasets (October 2026 release), not from paid title registers.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 HM Land Registry, UK companies that own property in England and Wales (CCOD) full extract, October 2026 release, matched on charitable company numbers and registered names; title numbers listed are candidates only – no title registers were purchased.
  34. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Montefiore Endowment' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).
  35. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for montefioreendowment.org.uk Wayback Machine, queried 14 October 2026.
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