Mayanot Foundation
Golders Green trust run by founders of the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, passing its donations to "Mayanot Foundation"
| Mayanot Foundation
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Other |
| Founded | 1998-09-01 (registered) |
| Registration ID | Registered charity 1071277 |
| Headquarters | London NW11 |
| Area served | Barnet, Israel |
| Key people | Solomon Gestetner (chair) |
| Website | www.mayanot.edu |
Mayanot Foundation was established by a declaration of trust of 18 May 1998 and registered on 1 September 1998; register areas are Barnet and Israel.[1] Its trustees are Rabbi Solomon Gestetner (chair), Chaim Rapoport ("C Rappaport" in the accounts), Steven Vogel, Kasriel Shemtov and Shimon Kessler, with a principal office in London NW11; the independent examiner is Batsheva Lazar, whose London NW11 address is also the charity's register contact address (PDF p.3).[1][2] It raises funds to "assist in the establishment and maintenance of the Mayanot Foundation, a college engaged in Talmudical research and Jewish education and studies", including scholarships for needy students (PDF p.4). In 2025 donations were £118,514 (2024: £87,591) and spending £73,168, of which £72,310 (2024: £110,706) was granted to "Mayanot Foundation"; funds rose to £56,918 (2024: £11,572) (PDF p.5, 8, 11).[2] The Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem named Shlomo Gestetner as its director and Kasriel Shemtov as associate director on its 1998 website.[3]
Objects and activities
The charity's registered objects read: "TO APPLY THE CAPITAL AND INCOME OF THE TRUST TOWARDS SUCH CHARITABLE INSTITUTION OR INSTITUTIONS AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL IN THEIR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION DETERMINE."[1]
The register describes its activities as: "Provides financial support to the Mayanot Foundation and other institutions as the charity may deem fit and other charitable causes in the UK and Israel."[1]
Register classifications: General Charitable Purposes, Education/training, The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Religious Activities.[1]
Areas of operation recorded on the register: Barnet, Israel.[1]
Trustees
Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[1]
| Trustee | Appointed | Chair | Other trusteeships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solomon Gestetner | 2011-07-19 | Yes | — |
| Chaim Rapoport | 2011-12-12 | — | |
| Steven Vogel | 2011-12-12 | — | |
| Shimon Kessler | 2018-06-06 | — | |
| Kasriel Shemtov | 2018-06-06 | — |
Historical trustees (UK Government Web Archive)
| Capture date | Trustees listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-14 | Solomon Gestetner (chair) (from 19 July 2011); Chaim Rappaport (from 12 December 2011); Shimon Kessler (from 06 June 2018); Kasriel Shemtov (from 06 June 2018); Steven Vogel (from 12 December 2011) | [4] |
Finances
| Financial year end | Income | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-31 | £79,916 | £72,391 |
| 2022-12-31 | £101,892 | £25,800 |
| 2023-12-31 | £111,149 | £169,795 |
| 2024-12-31 | £87,591 | £111,537 |
| 2025-12-31 | £118,514 | £73,168 |
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 31/12/2016[5]
Funding in Israel
- FY2025 grants to "Mayanot Foundation" £72,310 (2024: £110,706); no other grants are listed (PDF p.11).[2]
Israeli partners
The accounts name only "Mayanot Foundation" (PDF p.11).[2] This appears to be the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem; the identification rests on the name and on its 1998 website, which named the UK trustees Shlomo Gestetner and Kasriel Shemtov as its director and associate director. Its website gives its address as Sderot Ben Tsvi 7, Jerusalem, and also describes a Mayanot synagogue in Nachlaot, Jerusalem.[3][6]
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 |
|---|---|
| Mayanot gives its address as Sderot Ben Tsvi 7, Jerusalem; no activity beyond the Green Line is stated.[6] | High |
Support for the IDF: The UK accounts state no IDF or military funding.[2] The partner's website describes a "Lone Soldier Residential Center" for lone soldiers who have made aliyah, "Working in conjunction with the IDF", with Shabbat meals, holiday programmes, care packages and an "Adopt a lone soldier" programme with the Mayanot community in Jerusalem; it is not shown that UK funds pay for it.[6]
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;[7] 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.[8][9][10][11] 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.[12]
- Balance sheet dated before the year end. The balance sheet for the year to 31 December 2025 states that it was approved on 11 August 2025 (PDF p.9).[2]
- Examiner at the charity's contact address. The independent examiner's address is the charity's register contact address (PDF p.3).[1][2]
- Partner's IDF-linked and advocacy programmes. The Mayanot website describes a "Lone Soldier Residential Center" run "in conjunction with the IDF" and "Israel Advocacy Training: A comprehensive Anti-BDS education"; the UK accounts do not say that UK funds support these programmes.[6][2]
Other registers and records
Scotland and Northern Ireland
No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (register export dated 14 October 2026, searched by name).[13] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[14]
The Gazette
Searches of The Gazette for the charity's name returned only Companies House filing lists naming similarly named companies; no notice naming the charity was found.[15]
Grants recorded by 360Giving
No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[16]
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.[17]
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.[18]
US counterparts (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer)
| Organisation | EIN | Latest filing year | Revenue (US$) | Expenses (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends Of Mayanot Institute Inc[19] | 113348050 | 2023 | 2,199,590 | 2,589,560 |
These US organisations share the name or beneficiary of the UK charity; no financial flows between them and the UK charity were established.
Parliament
Hansard exact-phrase searches for "Mayanot Foundation", "Mayanot" returned 0 contributions in total.[20]
Web archive
- mayanot.edu: 26 yearly captures, first 1998-12-06, last 2026-01-01.[21]
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".[4]
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 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, charity_other_names), extract dated 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Charity Commission, Mayanot Foundation (1071277): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, home page Wayback Machine, capture of 6 December 1998 ("Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies Jerusalem 94584 Israel"; "Chairman: Joseph I. Gutnick Director: Shlomo Gestetner Associate Director: Kasriel Shemtov").
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register entry 1071277, full print (capture of 20210114) UK Government Web Archive.
- ↑ Mayanot Foundation accounts, year ended 2016-12-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200106).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, Home mayanot.edu, retrieved 16 October 2026 (contact address "Sderot Ben Tsvi 7, Jerusalem"; programme panels include a "Lone Soldier Residential Center ... Working in conjunction with the IDF" and "Israel Advocacy Training: A comprehensive Anti-BDS education, providing knowledge and skill to support Israel on college campuses").
- ↑ 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 each of the 25 batch-16 charities, all retrieved successfully on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" section; none was shown for any of them. Nineteen registered charities showed "Charity reporting is up to date (on time)"; Halacha Lemoshe Trust showed "up to date (8 days late)", The Josh Charitable Trust "up to date (140 days late)" and The Pauline Aviges-Graham Foundation "up to date (34 days late)"; Songbrook Limited, Shekel Limited and Refeeah Trust showed "Removed charity".
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 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, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-16 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
- ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-16 charity names returned no matching charity).
- ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Mayanot' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
- ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-1071277 360Giving, queried 16 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-16 screening covered 247 name strings: the 25 charity names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, Companies House officers of the five charitable companies, and trustees, examiners and other people named in the accounts and sources read for this batch; matching on surname plus forename tokens, reviewed manually. No forename-and-surname match for any person was found; token matches were surname-only coincidences (for example Miller, Shah, Weinberg and Rapoport) or the generic words "UK", "Ltd" and "Company Limited"; 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 in 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.
- ↑ Friends Of Mayanot Institute Inc – Nonprofit Explorer ProPublica, viewed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Mayanot" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
- ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for mayanot.edu Wayback Machine, queried 16 October 2026.