The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk
Stamford Hill trust funding Yeshivas Brisk, a talmudical college in Jerusalem
| The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk
| |
|---|---|
| Logo | |
| Type | Trust |
| Founded | 1991-11-07 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1005809 |
| Headquarters | 33 St. Andrew's Grove, London, N16 5NF |
| Area served | Israel |
| Key people | Shmuel Baruch Feldman (chair) |
The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk is a charitable trust registered on 7 November 1991, with its register area of operation given as Israel.[1] Its trustees are S B Feldman, A L Levison and B Chontow, at 33 St Andrews Grove, London N16 5NF. For the ten months from 1 November 2024 to 31 August 2025 income was £818,445 and donations of £814,000 (previous year: £978,000) were made "to Yeshivas Brisk, an advanced Talmudical College in Jerusalem, Israel".[2]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "TO ADVANCE EDUCATION IN AND THE RELIGION OF THE ORTHODOX JEWISH FAITH AND IN FURTHERANCE THEREOF TO SUPPORT FINANCIALLY OR OTHERWISE THE CHARITABLE WORK OF THE YESHIVAS BRISK."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "Advancing Orthodox Jewish religious education and, principally, by assisting the Yeshivas Brisk advanced Tulmudical College in Jerusalem, Israel."[1]
Register classifications: Education/training, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Religious Activities.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Israel.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shmuel Baruch Feldman | 2017-03-15 | Yes | — |
| Benjamin Chontow | 2017-03-15 | — | |
| Arieh Leib Levison | 2021-07-01 | Areivim (1125655); Beis Brucha Ltd (1131109); Friends of Dr Adler's Surgery (1191581); Friends of Kupat Hakahal Kirhyat Sefer (1113041); Friends of Orchos Torah (1178879); Ponevez Institutions Bnei-braq Israel (1123051); Project S E E D (281307); Taharos Beiyun (1151822); Torah Vodaas Limited (1092266) |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-07-14 | David Chontow; Israel Halpern; Chaim Breish | [3] |
| 2013-05-03 | David Chontow; Israel Halpern; Chaim Breish | [4] |
| 2013-09-04 | David Chontow; Israel Halpern | [5] |
| 2014-09-04 | David Chontow; Israel Halpern | [6] |
| 2021-01-13 | Israel Meir Halpern – also trustee of The Torch Trust; Benny Chontow (from 15 March 2017); Shmuel Feldman (from 15 March 2017) – also trustee of Emerald Benevolence Ltd | [7] |
| 2021-07-04 | Shmuel Baruch Feldman (chair) (from 15 March 2017) – also trustee of Emerald Benevolence Ltd; Israel Meir Halpern – also trustee of The Torch Trust; Benny Chontow (from 15 March 2017) | [8] |
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-31 | £769,529 | £783,680 |
| 2022-12-31 | £688,180 | £673,410 |
| 2023-12-31 | £742,857 | £716,518 |
| 2024-10-31 | £948,614 | £978,517 |
| 2025-08-31 | £818,445 | £814,365 |
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 31/12/2005[9]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2006[10]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2007[11]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2008[12]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2009[13]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2010[14]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2011[15]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2012[16]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2014[17]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2015[18]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2016[19]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2017[20]
- Accounts for the year ended 31/12/2018[21]
Funding in Israel
- £814,000 to Yeshivas Brisk, Jerusalem, in the ten months to 31 August 2025 (previous year: £978,000).[2]
Israeli partners
Yeshivas Brisk, Jerusalem.[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.
| Finding | Confidence |
|---|---|
| The accounts place the yeshiva in Jerusalem but give no district, so its position relative to the 1949 line is not established.[2] | Not established – Jerusalem, district not stated |
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;[22] 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.[23][24][25][26] 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.[27]
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).[28] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[29]
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.[30]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[31]
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.[32]
Land and property
The register records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.[1] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[33]
Parliament
Hansard searches for 'Friends of Yeshivas Brisk', 'Yeshivas Brisk' returned 0 contributions in total.[34]
Web archive
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".[7]
See also
External links
- No current official website.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Charity Commission, The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk (1005809): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 14 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ Register entry 1005809, contact and trustees (capture of 20100714) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1005809, contact and trustees (capture of 20130503) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1005809, contact and trustees (capture of 20130904) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1005809, contact and trustees (capture of 20140904) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Register entry 1005809, full print (capture of 20210113) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Register entry 1005809, full print (capture of 20210704) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2005-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2006-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2007-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20110711).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2008-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20130904).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2009-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20130904).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2010-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20130904).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2011-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20140103).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2012-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20130904).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2014-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2015-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2016-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2017-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ The Friends of Yeshivas Brisk accounts, year ended 2018-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200108).
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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").
- ↑ 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-5 charities found no matching Scottish registration.
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 14 October 2026 (keyword searches for each batch-5 charity name returned zero results).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Yeshivas Brisk' The Gazette, searched 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1005809 360Giving, queried 14 October 2026.
- ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-5 screening covered 345 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) and on the Companies House pages for Brightness Ltd; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually (all candidate hits were surname-only coincidences or generic word overlaps); lists downloaded October 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching 'Yeshivas Brisk' Hansard, queried 14 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints).