By BERNIE BELLAN Elsewhere on this website you can read our story about the sale of the Etz Chayim Synagogue to an Eritrean Church and the move south of Etz Chayim Congregation (https://jewishpostandnews.ca/faqs/rokmicronews-fp-1/former-congregation-etz-chayim-synagogue-building-to-become-eritrean-orthodox-church/).
In that story we noted that, according to the land title for 123 Matheson Avenue, Etz Chayim Congregation had taken out a mortgage for $6 million in June 2023.

We wondered why, if the purchase price for the congregation’s new building at 1155 Wilkes was $4.75 million and the sale price of the building at 123 Matheson was $2.75 million, the congregation needed a $6 million mortgage?

We posed that question in the form of an email to congregation president Avrom Charach back in November.
Charach responded: “I am checking into that with our legal counsel.  I know that we attached 123 Matheson to the mortgage for Wilkes and that we definitely never received anything close to $6 million in cash/loaned funds from anyone for either or both, I wish we did.  (emphasis ours) There is  no way that 123 Matheson by itself is worth that much”.
We never did hear back from Avrom about that $6 million mortgage. Last week, we again contacted the company that administers land titles for the Province of Manitoba, a company known as Teranet Manitoba, to ascertain whether that $6 million mortgage has been discharged.
We were told that it has not. We further asked whether, if the amount of the mortgage has been reduced, that information would be known to Teranet. We were told that it wouldn’t.

In his message to Etz Chayim Congregants, which was part of the most recent Etz Chayim bulletin, Charach wrote, in part: “I want to take a moment to address some inaccuracies in recent editions of the JPN reporting on some of the details of our move.  It was reported that our mortgage stands at $6 million.  In fact, as I had told them directly, it was much less, and as of this week it is $2.25 million.  And to be sure, we are working to reduce that further.”

We sent an email to Avrom Charach in response to what he had written in the bulletin: “…with reference to a $6 million mortgage taken out on 123 Matheson Avenue, what I wrote in our Nov. 22 issue (also published on our website) was that Etz Chayim Congregation had taken out a $6 million mortgage. I never wrote that you still have a $6 million mortgage because I have no way of ascertaining whether that is correct or not. (emphasis ours)
“I have checked again with the Land Titles Office regarding that mortgage, which appears on the land title for Etz Chayim at 123 Matheson Avenue. (I’m attaching a jpeg showing the land title.)
“Here’s what I was told by someone from Teranet Manitoba, which handles all land titles – in the form of an email: “I have spoke to the Assistant District Registrar and he has reviewed the mortgage. It was executed by the President of the Corporation on May 29, 2023.”
“I had never heard back from you re your speaking to legal counsel about that mortgage and, under the circumstances, I thought it important to publish what is on the land title. I suppose – if one were to parse your words in the bulletin, then the amount of the mortgage might have been reduced but, are you continuing to insist that there never was a $6 million mortgage? If so, then how do you explain what is written on the land title?
“Regards,
“Bernie”

In our earlier story we also noted that, in a post on the Etz Chayim website dated October 11, Avrom Charach had written: “In round numbers, we purchased Wilkes for $4.75 million and the final sale price for 123 Matheson was $2.75 million.  As such, when factoring in certain items like taxes, commissions, and legal fees, we require $2 – 2.5 million to be mortgage-free.
“On Kol Nidre, many of you saw the case for support brochures for our building campaign on your seats. It spoke of a $3.8 million campaign … You may ask ‘why do we need another $1.3 million?’ I will not address all of the details of that today, but this does include funds for renovations to the new building, financing costs on the mortgage, moving costs and other administrative costs.”

Add $3.8 million (the amount Avrom wrote the congregation would like to raise) to the $2 million more that the Wilkes Avenue building cost than the amount Etz Chayim received for the 123 Matheson Avenue building – and you come up with $5.8 million, which is close to the amount of that $6 million mortgage.
And , we can well understand why the congregation would have taken out a $6 million mortgage – partly to provide bridge financing until the money was received for the sale of 123 Matheson and partly to cover costs for renovations and other costs, but why insist that there never was $6 million received from a mortgage taken out in June 2023?

The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg held a rally in support of Israel on Saturday evening, November 25.

A number of speakers addressed the crowd of 800, including Rabbi Yosef Benarroch of Adas Yeshurun-Herzlia Congregation; Members of Parliament Ben Carr & Marty Morantz; Yolanda Papini-Pollock of Winnipeg Friends of Israel; Paula McPherson, former Brock Corydon teacher; and Gustavo Zentner, President of the Jewish Federation.

Click here to watch Ben Carr’s remarks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfREGNRKfg

Click here to watch a video of Marty Morantz’s remarks: https://studio.youtube.com/video/zHzC-iaqivg/ed

Click here to watch a video of Gustavo Zentner’s remarks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3M_cCYuLgs

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