The Haredi College of Jerusalem, founded and run by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s daughter Adina Bar-Shalom, is reportedly more than $1.7 million in debt and is expected to close.
Above: Adina Bar-Shalom
Another Haredi College On Edge Of Bankruptcy, Closure
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The Haredi College of Jerusalem, founded and run by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s daughter Adina Bar-Shalom, is more than $1.7 million in debt and is expected to close, Yeshiva World reported based on a report in Yediot Yerushalayim.
Another predominantly haredi college, Lander College, is also deeply in debt and recently filed for bankruptcy.
A third haredi college, Makor HaMayanot, is also in serious financial trouble, although reportedly not as bad as Lander and Bar-Shalom’s institution.
The enrollment at Bar-Shalom’s college is reportedly down significantly since last year, and a large advertising firm has decided to stop doing business with the college because it owes it so much money.
Israel’s Ministry of Education has reportedly assigned an accounting firm to oversee the school’s finances.
Bar-Shalom, who won the Israel Prize last year, is reportedly out of the country raising money and was unavailable for comment.
But in a statement college officials reportedly claimed the report is inaccurate and that the college “planned strategic change intended to permit the college to face today’s new challenges and achieve new goals” and cut operating costs. “At times a more professional CEO is required, or a different advertisement firm with more expansive experience. There is no ‘giant debt’ as indicated in the article but due to a change in budgeting regulations an accounting firm is required to assist administrators in making the transition…,” the college reportedly claimed.