A report commissioned by the Registrar of Associations at the Ministry of Justice states that there is cause for the dissolution of the association 'Or Zohar HaKedosh and the Salvation of the Rashbi', whose income in 2014 reached approximately 19 million shekels. This was revealed by journalist Itzik Wolf. On the news1 website.
That year, expenses totaled approximately 15.5 million shekels - with the bulk of the declared expenses being for salaries, scholarships, and 'Meron events and the distribution of Jewish materials to disseminate the teachings of the Rashbi.'
However, the report states that 57% of the expenses were for 'administration and general' in a way that raises concerns about the use of the association's funds contrary to its goals.
A sample inspection conducted on 10 employees - including the association's CEO, Haim Ziwald - revealed that three of them, including Ziwald, operated without an employment agreement and two more operated without having an employment agreement signed by the association.
In half of the cases, the association paid its employees wages for a number of hours that was different from the number of hours indicated on the attendance report.
In 2013, Ziwold himself provided services to the association he heads, at a cost of 375,000 shekels, without a contract being drawn up with him and without the association's institutions approving it. All of this, in a manner that raises concerns about prohibited profit sharing.
These are image and advertising services received from the company 'Voice Image' for publications in 'Israel Hayom' and 'Kol-Hai'. That year, Ziwald's salary was 580,000 shekels - 205,000 shekels gross for his work at the association, and about 375,000 shekels he received for the company he owned.
The association claimed in its response that it did not keep the contract agreements with the company owned by Zewald and the documentation of the discussions to approve the contract, and insisted that such discussions took place.
This claim was rejected.
The in-depth audit reveals how the organization's donation system works: Most employees are fundraising workers, who earn a base salary of between 25 and 35 shekels per hour, plus monthly bonuses of between 1,000 and 10,000 shekels.
According to the report, in 2012, the fundraising hotline received 303,934 calls and the total number of donors was 24,363 people. The average donation was 80 shekels.
The association claimed that if the call center were engaged in fundraising, most of the calls would be outgoing rather than incoming, while in reality the volume of incoming calls increased, which, according to the association, were used for encouragement and support and for submitting names for prayer.
The reviewers rejected this claim outright: "Calls to potential donors are one method of fundraising, but the organization uses a different fundraising method... carries out nationwide advertising on a huge scale... along with a call to call the organization and provide names for prayer. This is the reason for the number of incoming calls compared to outgoing calls. In other words, the fundraising model adopted by the organization is that instead of contacting the public by phone, the public is the one making the call, and of course, from that moment on, it is a 'client in the database.'"
The in-depth audit also examined the support provided by the association to those in need: In 2013, the association provided support of 423,000 shekels, without any criteria and in a manner that raises concerns about prohibited profit sharing. The association also distributes shopping vouchers and food products without binding criteria.
The audit report also found connections between 'Or Zohar HaKedosh and Yeshuat Rashbi' and 'Yeshuat Be'muka Associations' and 'Rachel Amano Institutions', and revealed financial transfers between the associations amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels, without any contractual agreements being signed between the associations.
However, in a normal procedure in such a case, it is stated that to the extent that the association agrees to implement a plan to correct the deficiencies, within the framework of which a supporting entity will be appointed to the association, within the scope to be determined by the Registrar of Associations, in order to ensure the correction of the deficiencies and the implementation of the recommendations of the in-depth examination - it is recommended to implement such a plan. "To the extent that the association does not agree to implement such a plan, it is recommended to consider submitting a request to dissolve the association," the report said.
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