Oorah The Bad Neighbor

You buy a retirement home across the street from a camp. For 10 years, everything is fine, no problems.

Then the camp is sold to Orthodox Jews. Now even neighbors one mile away from the camp complain about noise and huge banks of bright lights on all night, with loudspeakers blaring at 3 AM.

Who owns and runs the Orthodox camp?

Oorah, the same people who are behind the deceptive Kars4Kids organization. Capital News 9 reports:

GILBOA, N.Y. -- When Dave Lewis bought his hilltop hideout 11 years ago, he planned to spend his time there in peace and quite.

He said, "I had it going good. I had it, past tense...no longer."

Since 2006 when the Oorah Catskill Retreat bought the camp that had been there for 50 years, Lewis has faced loudspeakers blasting and stadium lights shining right into his kitchen window at all hours of the day and night.

"I've taken pictures of myself in various places in the yard at two o'clock in the morning. It's like day light," he said.

Residents filing lawsuit against camp
A group of Gilboa residents is suing a summer camp that they say isn't being a good neighbor. They claim the Oorah Catskill Retreat is trying to push them out of their homes -- and there's nothing the village or county can do. Our Mark Repasky explains.

Joe Kraus said, "It is a nightmare. There are 97 of those high intensity lights."

Across the street, Barbra and Joseph Kraus are having the same problem. So are Dennis and Delores Byrnes who live almost a mile away.

Kraus said, "You know when the noise is because it's so loud the siding on the house vibrates."

The owners of Oorah are no strangers to complaints. Last June, the county Health Department shut it down for two days, and in July immigration authorities arrested 31 undocumented workers.

Mrs. Kraus said, "The value of our property has been destroyed."

Lewis and his neighbors have tried going to the camp but that hasn't worked. They've tried going to the Village of Gilboa and Schoharie County, but there's not much they can do there either because there's no ordinance on the books. Now, they're filing a $10 million class action lawsuit to see if that gets any results.

Mr. Kraus said, "Gilboa still functions like it's in the 17th century. We have no laws that protect the people from anything."

Mrs. Byrnes said, "The town lawyer had said if there was zoning in the town this wouldn't have been allowed."

Lewis said the camp is trying to force him out. But he's not packing up yet. This is the place where he planned to retire, even if it that means leaving during the best months of the year.

He said, "I'm just going to disappear for that six weeks. I have plenty of family that I can go visit."

We left several messages for the owners of Oorah. None of them were returned.

And then we have Oorah's deceptive fundraising tactics that have drawn the attention of news media in New York, New Jersey, Saint Louis and beyond. And they're percentage of dollars raised used for charitable purposes is quite low – only 38% last time I checked.

The camp also houses Oorah's "U Discover," a summer seminar for women 18 to 28 years old.

UPDATE 8 PM CDT – Here is Oorah's 2006 990 as a pdf download:

Download oorah_2006_irs_990.pdf

Here's the key excerpt (please click to enlarge):

Even removing the massive amount of cash on hand (more than $7 million dollars), Oorah spent just over 50% of it's expenditures on programs. The rest, about 49%, went to fundraisinf expenses and the like.

If the calculation is done with the cash reserves counted, Oorah's expenditure for programs drops dramatically, down to about 30%.

It is worthwhile noting that Oorah had a $3 million surplus at the beginning of 2006 (i.e., money raised in 2005 or earlier but not spent or assets). It added $4.3 million dollars in value to that surplus in 2006, for a total surplus of $7,336,955.

UPDATE 2:20 AM 4/30/08 – Here is Oorah's 2005 990 so you can compare the two years:

Download oorah_2005_990_irs.pdf

Here's the key excerpt (please click to enlarge):

UPDATE 3:40 AM 4/30/08 – Here's another section from Oorah's 2006 990 (please click images to enlarge):

Comments

[yidandahalf]

Yeah, maybe if Oorah is lucky after they push all the old-timers out of their houses, they can get them for nothing like old man rubash-in and the golem are doing in Postville.

[Norm]

It's time for all Jews who don't live in the 18th century to insist that their contributions to Federations don't go to Haredi schools or organizations. I for one will start reducing my federation ocntrituion in St. Louis for every percent the Federation give to Torah Prep or Bais Yaakov-which are nothing more than Jewish Marassas

[big deal]

when you did it for gan izzy it was ok, because it was for the cause. i.e. chabad. when others do it you shout TREIF TRIEF!

[big deal]

since when is the media so honest as to be taken by their word?

btw, the percentage of their money that goes to programs is a lot higher than %38 if only you knew how to read...

since when is the media so honest as to be taken by their word?

btw, the percentage of their money that goes to programs is a lot higher than %38 if only you knew how to read...

Posted by: big deal | April 29, 2008 at 05:28 PM
========================================
Being that you are cabable of reading better then us why dont you give us the correct numbers and dont for get to back it up with a reliable OUTSIDE source

Well, even 38% is better than say, oh, Sha'arei Dayah foundation, which had program expenses of only 23.5% for 2005. In fact it is almost 62% more.

[state of the Jews]

Who actually owns this camp?
Who signed the purchase agreement?
Are they on municipal water, sewage, etc?
There are always ways...
These people do great harm to Judaism, in their violation of derech eretz.

[Shmarya]

Well, even 38% is better than say, oh, Sha'arei Dayah foundation, which had program expenses of only 23.5% for 2005. In fact it is almost 62% more.

Not really. The entire revenue of SDF (minus a couple of hundred dollars) is tied to a specific project. The funds were raised for that project.

Thousands have already been spent on it but the work is not yet finished. That money you incorrectly mention is for that unfinished work.

Now compare that to Oorah with its massive overhead.

Shmarya,

I was just doing the math as you outlined it. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. if you are going to calculate the program percentage that way for Oorah, be consistent with Sha'arie Dayah.

Do not try give excuses.

[Shmarya]

Perhaps this will help you understand.

In late 2007, an org took a donation for a $20,000 ark for a synagogue renovation.

The synagogue renovation will begin in November 2008.

Donations for the renovation come in early to mid 2008.

The org holds the $20,000 until the renovation is almost complete. Then it buys and instals the new ark.

The 2007 IRS 990 would show that $20,000 in reserves.

Oorah, on the other hand, has extremely high overhead, along with large reserves. Check the available 990s.

Send lots of beautiful and scantily clad young women to walk around in the bright illumination provided by the floodlights.

Send more and more there until the tzniut-meters of those in charge of the camp can't take it any more.

Barring that, why can't the town just pass some noise and light pollution ordinances?

There are no laws on the books now? Well, then put them on the books. I'm sure that there were no laws on their books regarding automobiles and parking at one time. I'll bet they have them now.

They shouldn't dilly dally about this, either.

Oh, and Oorah - thanks SO much for giving these people such a GREAT impression of Jews. I really can't thank you enough. Morons.

Schmuck,

I know how to read a 990. You do not. In addition you lie about facts. As you are trying to do here.

DO not ask for a line by line critique of your 990, you will not pay for it. But there are numerous errors and probably, knowing you, falasies included, which in fact are obvious to a trained reader of these documents.

You are just lucky that your silly little organization is so small that it does not register as a blip on the IRS radar screen.

[Shmarya]

First of all, I don't fill out the 990s.

Secondly, there is nothing illegal or wrong in our filings. I can't pay a man for a job until the job is finished. When he does finish, he gets paid.

Now, as for Oorah, perhaps you should try rereading its 990s. Then you might try apologizing to me, and to SDF.

I have read Oorah's and SDF's. I have absolutely nothing to apologize for. I stand behind what I say.

You call your self the chair of SDF. You cannot hide saying you do not prepare the return.

[Shmarya]

Really?

Last time I checked, financial officers do the finances.

Anyway, since (anonymously, of course) you hold yourself out to be an expert, please explain exactly why Oorah is correct and my assessment of Oorah is not.

As you do so, remember that oorah was aware of what I wrote in 2005, and oorah made no attempt to correct it.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

Anyone else notice the employment ads in the Yated Neeman this week? Oorah is looking for help on its web site. Unfortunately, you have to be female -- EEOC be damned.

I do not have to. It is obvious to any one who knows how to read a 990.

It not only myself who holds me as an expert. My firm bills large hourly rates for me to do so.

You are wrong about the "fiancial oficer" also.

I suspect Oorah could not give two hoots about what you wrote. Certainly if they arre doing the right thing. Why should they change.

[Shmarya]

I do not have to. It is obvious to any one who knows how to read a 990.

It not only myself who holds me as an expert. My firm bills large hourly rates for me to do so.

You might want to take a gander at the update to this post.

You might also note that, as an anonymous blog commenter, you don't exactly have a presumption of expertise.

If you want this hezkat kashrut, post with your real name and the name of your firm.

Otherwise, explain in detail why Oorah is correct.

I do not need your "hezkat kashrut" and I will not post my personal info.

To quote you earlier, "an org took a donation for a $20,000 ark for a synagogue renovation"

Well look at part IV line 57.

Your comments show that you do not know basic accounting (Hint, look at box F, see if you know what that means). Expenditures for capital items such as purchasing a camp would not show as expenses yet are clearly related to the purpose and the programs of the organization. Showing a snippet of the first page with just those three lines further proves my point about either your capabilites in reading 990's or your tendency to skew facts, take your pick.

For the record, you keep talking about reserves, well where are they, Oorah has very little cash and no investments per the 990, this line of yours "Even removing the massive amount of cash on hand " is an out and out lie, there is fact, very little cash on hand.

And I can go on and on.

Would you like the same done for SDF? I could do it easily and quickly, but I wont since you wouldn't pay. (You would not even donate $13.99 of supplies to an organoization where you are called the "chair").

[Shmarya]

You are mistaken. The snippet I posted is the SUMMARY of the entire 990.

And that summary shows exactly what I said it does.

As for your credentials, it is not my hezkat kasrut you need, it is the public's.

Until you can show you are a skilled accountant with the vast experience you claim, you're nothing but another guy who comments anonymously on blogs.

Expenditures for capital items such as purchasing a camp would not show as expenses yet are clearly related to the purpose and the programs of the organization.

Are you claiming the camp purchase is on that 990?

[Urijah]

Hmm...the 990 seems to indicate almost no cash on hand (line 45)but that doesn't mean anything--it's just what's in their checking account I think. Line 67 OTOH indicates a rather large amount of assets, which is $7,336,995 (which increased over $4.3 million from the previous year.)

I'm not sure whether those assets include the big jump in basis (Line 57) for land, buildings, and equipment (over $5.3 million increase in one year.)

If unrestricted assets don't refer to buildings or land, then it means that they have millions socked away in investments that they are not reporting in lines 54-56 I think, or I don't know what I'm talking about.

The most plausible reading is that all the extra money went to buy non-investment property (camp?)

[Urijah]

Line 57 is explained on page 19, they bought some offices and the camp that year. (Page 20 seems to say that they didn't take out any loans that year.) I don't think there's anything nefarious going on and the anonymous commenter seems to be correct.

[Shmarya]

It shows $10 million in revenue. They purchased the camp, but the camp itself has value.

On p. 19 it says that value is $3 million. Their office building somehow gained more than $1 million in value that year, as well.

The point is not whether this si nefarious or not.

In this unusual year including the purchase of a camp, their expenditures on programing is as I stated. Keep the camp out of the equation if you want – it still works out ot about 50% spent on programming and the other half on raising the money and on management.

In years without a camp purchase, you can see the same pattern.

[Shmarya]

And you must add to this equation the deceptive nature of Oorah's fundraising and its remarkable insensitivity to neighbors who have lived in the are for many more years than Oorah's summer camp has been there.

[Urijah]

I think your analysis is not "charitable" enough (hehe). They bought or built (property "going up in value" would not be reflected there-they must have bought or built $1 million more in office space) more than $4 million dollars of property. That property is needed for their future programing (unless you have information that suggests otherwise.)

It's like if a school had a building campaign and raised $4 million, and then bought a school. They might have only spent $3 million on teacher's salaries, built so what? Where would the teachers teach?

So there is no surplus ("no massive amounts of cash on hand"), just (capital)assets increasing.

Personally my fraction would be either (money spent on programming + capital expenditures)/(money raised), or (money spent on programming)/(money raised - money raised for capital expenditures).

[Urijah]

The deceptive aspects of their fund raising and unneighborly practices may be true, but are not related to your suggested cash hoarding and low program expenditures, which is a misleading accusation.

[Shmarya]

It doesn't account for the other years with similar behavior and no camp or land purchase. And, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure it accounts for this particular year, either.

[Urijah]

I don't see anything in 2005 1090 to warrant concern either--their increasing is assets was not cash (that actually went down) but some sort of real estate down payment they were holding and a grant that was receivable. I'm not sure why you seem to think a charity's assets increasing is bad.

[Shmarya]

Because they get much that money deceptively and they really don't spend as much on programing as you seem to think.

Oorah's stated purpose is "Oorah Kiruv Rechokim enables children to enroll in Jewish day schools or yeshivos, where they receive a full religious and secular education straight through high school. While the children learn and grow, Oorah brings adult education opportunities to the parents, as well as all the ritual objects and support they need to live a full Jewish life."

Go back through those 990s and see how much is spend for various employees, overhead, fundraising, etc.

How much, exactly, goes to yeshiva or day school tuition?

[Yochanan Lavie]

The financial stuff honestly goes over my head. What bothers me is the chillul Hashem caused by lack of menschlichtkeit.

Also, whenever I buy the Jewish Press and I see an expensive, glossy, 5 or 6 color insert, I don't give a dime. I know what printing costs. Save your overhead.

[yidandahalf]

As usual I have to agree with YL. I sometime, most of the time, do not wade through miles of posts either. The bottom line is: one more chillul Hashem and more fuel for the anti-semites' fires. Humble Jews are getting a shorter end of it than the Goyim. And for the posters that recommend "Make Laws! Pass Laws!" I can only say that your naivete is not refreshing. I live in a place that is fighting incorporation. Laws wil not fix the problem, they just move it a little and refocus it and COST ALOT OF MONEY. These homeowners should not have to go to these diablolical lengths for a bunch of kikes. YES, I said kikes.

[Fred]

If OORAH is a children's camp, then why are they blaring music with powerful lights at 2 in the morning (as reported in the newspaper article)? Shouldn't everyone (especially the kids) be asleep at that hour?

[yidandahalf]

Please read the first comment; I believe this explains their behaviour. That and the fact that they are uneducated and vulgar.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Yid & 1/2: What's wrong with kikes? Isn't flyng a kike a wholesome summertime experience?

[yidandahalf]

YL, you are truly on a roll. A refreshing part of FM without fail!

[shmuel]

Forget the accounting talk. Sheesh. How boring can you get? Can we please stay on track over here?

"Send lots of beautiful and scantily clad young women to walk around in the bright illumination provided by the floodlights.
Send more and more there until the tzniut-meters of those in charge of the camp can't take it any more."

That's my idea of good commenting.

[Sephardic-Male]

only the mentally ill Haredim/orthodox types do madness like this. it's time Jews leave Judaism. I did and now embrace Shinto and before you all claim that Shinto does not allow non-Japanese read about an Australian white lady that became a shinto priestess

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/columns/0003/inroads012.htm

[yidandahalf]

You could have become a Hindu; Hindus believe in one G-d but He has many divine manifestations. Nevertheless, it is essentially a monotheistic religion. And they smile alot and don't eat meat. They also have bangin' graphics and the women are hot. Hey, it's all good.

[steve]

Hindus believe in one G-d but He has many divine manifestations

Sounds like Sokolovsky's religion.

[yidandahalf]

LOL!!! BTW, where has the old reb been? His search for concubines is doing him in.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Steve; Christianity, Lubavitchianity (not my coining), kabbalah and Hinduism are alike in that they believe in hypostatis (one God with many entities standing under his tent). So your joke is actually true.

[Yochanan Lavie]

If I ever gave up on Judaism, I think I would go for Zen. Hopefully it will never come to that for me.

[steve]

YL,

I wasn't joking. They should call him Rev Ariel (as in Reverand) instead of Reb.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Steve: Maybe Rebbe-rend Ariel.

[Dr Fred]

Lavie: The current state of rigid Orthodoxy reminds me of the photos of elaborate houses built on a bluff as the ground underneath slowly erodes.BTW, visited R' Angel's site yet?

[Yochanan Lavie]

Yes, a friend from my shul turned me on to it. It's awesome. I like the fact that both UTJ Metivta & Chovevei Torah guys contributed to it. I have always said they should merge.

I am a little bit more radical, though. Although, for the umpteenth time, I am not a real Karaite, some of their interpretations make sense. They should be brought into the conversation. Just because they said something shouldn't make it off limits.

[Dr Fred]

Lavie: Of course.If something has intrinsic worth, it's worth fighting for. I suppose , when those of us who "became religious"started on that path, we expected a smooth ride. For better or worse ( actually, it's "for better", because , perhaps. it's the only condition that forces thoughtful people to sort things out), life isn't that way.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Dr. Fred: Word.

[Carol Ann Varley]

Should the case go to court a legal defense for the Oorah could be that loudspeakers and stadium lights are permitted under the first amendment's freedom of religion.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Being a loud, obnoxious neighbor is not a part of the Jewish religion. Quite the contrary. And besides, if the state has a compelling interest (such as banning child sacrifice, or in this case, restoring public order) freedom of religion is not absolute.