World of Torah Fund Seeks New Way to Preserve Yeshiva Donations

The World of Torah Fund is working on a new framework to keep financing yeshivas and kollels despite the crisis over tax code Section 46. The fund says institutions that, following specific legal advice, choose not to include certain students in lists reported to the authorities will not lose its support.

The issue escalated at the end of May, when Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered an immediate halt to tax refunds on donations to Haredi institutions where draft-age students study. That decision shook the yeshiva world because many donations depend on the tax benefit granted under Section 46.

For the first time, a letter sent by the fund to institutional leaders, and obtained by Kikar HaShabbat, reveals the outline being prepared to ensure donations keep flowing. After consulting accountants and experts in taxation and nonprofits, the fund said even an institution that continues, in principle, to omit the relevant students from reporting lists, would still be able to receive its support, while the fund would look for alternative ways to transfer the money.

The fund stressed that this is not an instruction or recommendation to act in any particular way, but rather an attempt to give institutions tools to deal with the legal complexity created by the attorney general’s directive. The move comes amid disagreements among legal advisers and accountants in Haredi institutions over how to respond, and marks an initial attempt at a broader solution to the donation crisis in the yeshiva sector.