Going going Gaon

By Zeddy Lawrence - Monday 24th December 2007


Two Lubavitch rabbis in London have been banned from using the name of the organisation in their activities and forbidden from running any outreach programmes.

The ruling comes amidst claims of ‘lavish and excessive expenditure’, ‘unconscionable conduct’ and ‘breaching their fiduciary responsibility’.

Top stories

email this page to a friend print this page email the editor buy this content
It follows revelations that the organisation has been unable to pay teachers’ wages and bank loans, after the bulk of the £750,000 raised through charitable donations this year was used to finance activities and salaries at Chabad’s ‘glitzy’ Gaon Club in the West End.

The centre was set up by Rabbis Yosef and Mendel Vogel, sons of Lubavitch UK’s principal fundraiser Rabbi Faivish Vogel. The pair initially staged events at Six13 restaurant in Wigmore Street, but in January of this year, they acquired their own premises in Stratford Place near Oxford Street. Attending the opening ceremony, the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said: “This is the one Jewish space in the midst of the city, that is not a synagogue, that is here for you to relax, unwind, refresh physically and spiritually."

However, the evident financial crisis facing the foundation ultimately led to a showdown this month at the London Beth Din, where it was claimed that donors were ‘alarmed by the lavish expenditure on the club at its glitzy new premises’ and that the trustees believed that ‘excessive expenditure’ was responsible for ‘diminishing returns’ received by other Lubavitch institutions.

The two brothers claimed that they and their father had always acted as ‘loyal and honest employees, absolutely devoted to the cause’ and were victims of ‘backstabbing emanating from the very highest echelons’.

The pair – who quit their positions within Lubavitch last month - further alleged that their resignations were constructive dismissal, a claim to be heard by the Beth Din in due course.

Ruling on the case, Dayans Gelley, Binstock and Abraham, banned the brothers from using the name of Lubavitch, Chabad or Gaon Club in future activities. They were also forbidden from setting up any similar projects for the next six months without permission of the Beth Din and were barred from ‘passing themselves off professionally as persons within Lubavitch UK, Friends of Lubavitch or Chabad.

They were also ordered to transfer ownership of all cars, computer hardware and furnishings purchased in the name of the club to the Foundation.

Rabbi Faivish Vogel, meanwhile who had already been removed as a trustee of the Foundation, resigned last week as its principal fundraiser.

In a letter sent to donors last Friday, Lubavitch UK’s Rabbi Shlomo Levin admitted that the Foundation had been “unable to meet its monthly commitments, amassing large debts in unpaid teachers’ salaries, bank loans and unpaid PAYE” as “almost all of the £750,000 raised by Friends of Lubavitch was applied to the Gaon Club’s salaries and activities”.

However, pledging to get the Foundation’s finances back on track, he added: “I, together with the management group, am working intensively with a group of community leaders to restructure the organisation, put in place robust financial controls and reporting, clear the debts amassed and develop a business plan for the future.”


Read the latest copy of The Jewish News Online by clicking here.