Recently reported by Charlotte Ritz-Jack at Jewish Currents
Ohr Somayach is a yeshiva (traditional Jewish educational institution) founded in East Jerusalem in 1972 by a group of American educators. It received significant financial and technical support from Joseph Tanenbaum of Toronto. (Learn more about the Tanenbaum family). It is located in the illegal settlement of Ma’alot Dafna (the same settlement where Israel recently razed UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters). The associated Canadian charity — The Canadian Friends of Ohr Somayach – Tannenbaum Centre – College of Judaic Studies — was established almost immediately, in 1974.
For the last 19+ years, Ohr Somayach has been attempting to expand into Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. (Learn more about Sheikh Jarrah). The forcible displacement of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah has been ongoing, especially since the early 2000’s (for instance in 2008-2010, 2021). In 2010, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled 30 Palestinian homes belonged to Jewish owners which resulted in forced displacements for the Palestinian families.
“The ruling ostensibly removed the final obstacle preventing Jewish owners from taking over the land and houses…” (Learn more about the legal context).
As early as 2010, the UN reported on Ohr Somayach’s plan to expand into Sheikh Jarrah with the establishment of “The Glassman Campus.” The UN specifically exposed the Canadian financing behind the project. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Canadian Friends of Ohr Somayach started sending millions of dollars to Ohr Somayach Jerusalem beginning in 2010. (See full data).
A Timeline of The Glassman Campus Project (Plan No. 68858)
The project appears to have been initiated as early as 2007. The Jerusalem Municipality gave up the plot (originally designated for public buildings) to allow the Israel Land Authority to allocate it “for the construction of an ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva.” Over the following years, the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee (“The Committee”) would approve construction / the project for public deposit (e.g., 2013, 2014, 2019). They also considered (and often rejected) objections (e.g., 2020). The Israel Land Authority also allotted the land to Ohr Somayach (without a transparent tender process). The building has been described between 9 and 12 stories that includes student and faculty accommodations.
After the project was revived in 2025, in April 2026, The Committee approved the plan. More objections from Ir Amim and Sheikh Jarrah Community Association were dismissed.
“The resumed advancement of this plan should be seen in the larger context of heightened efforts to expand Israeli settlement in the neighborhood and displace its Palestinian residents. This includes ongoing eviction threats against Palestinian families and advancement of new settlement plans under the guise of “urban renewal” for Umm Haroun and the Menachem Begin complex in northern Sheikh Jarrah. Urban renewal plans entail the demolition of existing structures and the construction of new buildings in their place. This mechanism is being exploited by the state and settler groups to circumvent the protections afforded to Palestinian residents under protected tenancy and evict entire families in one fell swoop for the establishment of Jewish settlements.” – Ir Amim
The Committee’s approval is for a 11-story building on five dunams of land. The approval was immediately condemned by the Palestinian government and international organizations.
“The parcel of land is in close proximity to settler enclaves in the neighborhood where dozens of Palestinian families are threatened with eviction and settler takeovers of their homes.” — Ir Amim
Every act of settlement expansion and activity is illegal under international law. It is illegal for Canadian entities to aid or assist Israel’s unlawful occupation. It is also against Canadian Global Affairs policy. Since charities are required to follow Canadian public policy, they must not recognize the legitimacy of or support illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory or the occupied Syrian Golan. Canada has a legal responsibility to examine charities and ensure they do not “give support to these organizations, for example through allowing the organization to have tax-exempt status or providing tax deductibility for donations to the organization and must ensure that financial contributions to support the unlawful occupation, including settlements and settlers, cease.” These international legal obligations do not simply apply to the State; they also implicate individual charitable organizations and their leadership. This is of course beyond the bare minimum of revoking these organizations registered charitable status under the Income Tax Act (s 149.1(2) and s 168(1)(b) and (e)).
The CRA must immediately investigate the Canadian Friends of Ohr Somayach, and more broadly, the Canadian government must hold the organization accountable for its support for illegal settlement projects.
Full Data
Donations from Canadian Friends of Ohr Somayach to other qualified donees (2000-2023)
Donations to Canadian Friends of Ohr Somayach (2000-2025)
Schedule 2 (2011-2024)
Donations to Ohr Somayach Jerusalem (2013-2024)
Background Info
Tanenbaum Family Background
Joseph Tanenbaum was the son of Abraham who immigrated to Toronto from Poland. The Tanenbaum Family is part of the Big Gifters network. Dr. Miles Howe has identified nine related charities including the Canadian Friends of Ohr Somayach. All nine are related to the Runnymede Development Corporation Ltd, a consulting firm which supports landowners with development approvals. We have also investigated a separate Tanenbaum Family charity, the Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (TanenbaumCHAT). Evidence shows TanenbaumCHAT’s ongoing support for the Israeli military.
Sheikh Jarrah Background
In the early 1900s, Sheikh Jarrah was a majority Muslim area. Many Palestinians moved to Sheikh Jarrah in 1956 as part of an agreement between Jordan and UNRWA. The agreement required the Jordanian government to provide land to 28 Palestinian families, and UNRWA would sponsor the construction of housing units. The agreement also stipulated that these families would receive legal title to the land after 3 years. This never happened because “since Israel occupied and illegally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, all Palestinian Jerusalemites have been subjected to a coercive environment designed to transform Jerusalem’s demographic composition to secure Israeli Jewish control over Jerusalem and drive out Palestinians.”
Legal Background
“Occupying and illegally annexing East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel unlawfully extended the application of its own domestic legislation to the territory it occupies, further displacing Palestinians and appropriating their property. To cement Palestinian dispossession and displacement in East Jerusalem, Israel enacted the Legal and Administrative Matters Law in 1970, which exclusively allows Jews to pursue claims to land and property allegedly owned by Jews in East Jerusalem before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.” – Al-Haq
