Sydney Mosdos Mend Fences

By Australian Jewish News

KESSER Torah College (KTC) and the Yeshiva Centre are at peace for the first time in more than eight years.

Last week, the ongoing legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW were dismissed upon the request of both parties.

They have now released a joint statement to open a new chapter of goodwill and respect between Sydney’s largest Chabad institutions.

“KTC recognises the immense contribution that The Yeshiva Centre and the Chabad movement have made for Sydney Jewry over the last 40 years under the inspired leadership of Rabbi Pinchus and Rebbetzin Pnina Feldman,” the statement – cosigned by Yeshiva spiritual leader Rabbi Pinchus Feldman and Kesser Torah College president Meir Moss – said.

“TheYeshiva Centre acknowledges and pays tribute to the hard work and commitment of the management of Kesser Torah College for the last eight years in keeping the school operational.

“The parties have agreed to leave all outstanding grievances in the past and to move forward in a spirit of friendship.”

The representatives of both sides said they were grateful to Rabbi Yosef Feldman and Rabbi Michoel Gourarie for their tireless efforts over an extended period in facilitating this peace agreement.

The AJN understands that the dispute began when Yeshiva College’s property in Dover Heights – now the site of fellow Orthodox Jewish school KTC – was given to Blake Napier Limited in 2003. Part of the agreement included Blake Napier Limited, which helped found KTC, paying the outstanding tax bill.

However, it is believed there was a condition that Rabbi Pinchus Feldman not set up a new Jewish school, in a bid to give KTC a chance to grow.

The AJN understands the dispute revolved around the establishment of Yeshiva College, Bondi, which was registered in 2007.

Both parties have now agreed to put their differences behind them and work together for the good of the community.

Australian Jewish News Editorial:
“A New Year’s Resolution”

NEARLY nine years ago, members of the Feldman family handed over a property worth more than $20 million to a trust, Blake Napier Limited. That property, which is now the home of Kesser Torah College, has been the subject of court cases and negotiations ever since. However, last week, as the spirit of Yom Kippur imbued the community with a sense of humility and forgiveness, peace was finally struck between the two parties.

The resolution, which has been years in the making, will allow the community to come together. For the first time since the old Yeshiva College in Dover Heights became Kesser Torah College at the end of 2003, both schools have a clean slate.

This is a rare moment when everyone in the community can hopefully put the past behind them and look towards the future.

A future that will see Kesser Torah College and Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, the spiritual leader of Chabad in NSW, come together and embrace each other.
A future that will allow the split, which had developed between those who supported Kesser Torah College and those who supported Yeshiva, to be closed and eventually forgotten. A future that will hopefully not include lawyers, legal proceedings or court rooms.

At a time when dozens of volunteers stand outside shuls to protect the community from attacks, when Israel is condemned in the streets and the number of people marrying out is on the rise, it does Australian Jewry no favours to be riven by internal squabbles.

That being the case, we congratulate both parties on finally settling this longstanding dispute.

We encourage the entire community to support Kesser Torah College as it strives to maintain its high quality of education, and we urge the community to recognise and support the many worthy services provided by the Yeshiva Centre.

If Kesser Torah College president Meir Moss and Yeshiva spiritual leader Rabbi Pinchus Feldman can put this dispute behind them, then surely the rest of us can as well.

Behatzlachah to both organisations.