Encouraging Our Greatness: Empowering Torah Scholars
Encouraging Our Greatness: Empowering Torah Scholars
Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, Israel
In the heart of Neve Yaakov, a group of devoted Torah scholars—Avrechim—dedicate their entire days to studying Torah, teaching, and sharing its wisdom with the community. Yet, despite their immense spiritual contribution, many of these families face severe financial struggles. Large families, mounting debts, and the daily challenges of providing for basic needs prevent these scholars from fully flourishing and realizing their potential as influential leaders in the Jewish world.
Encouraging Our Greatness is a vital neighborhood initiative designed to support these Torah scholars and their families. Each month, we collect donations to help cover essential needs: nutritious food including fish, chicken, and meat; proper clothing and shoes; warm winter clothing; holiday necessities; schooling expenses for their children; utility bills; and basic home repairs.
Your monthly support allows these scholars to focus on their Torah study with peace and calmness, without the constant worry about providing for their families. By supporting them, you are not just helping individual families—you are investing in the spiritual growth and leadership of the entire Jewish community.
Every contribution matters. By joining this program, especially through regular monthly donations, you provide these Torah scholars with the stability they need to continue learning, teaching, and inspiring Am Yisrael.
Help us ensure that those who dedicate their lives to Torah can thrive, not just survive. Together, we can empower our scholars to reach their full potential and strengthen the Jewish community as a whole.
Encouraging Our Greatness is a program of Rekonect, a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Nonprofit Organization.
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Frequently Asked Questions
A Community Support Fund (CSF) is a grassroots fundraising program hosted by Rekonect. Each CSF is run by an independent organizer raising money for a specific cause they care about, with Rekonect providing the legal, financial, and technical infrastructure to make it possible. Donations to a CSF go to Rekonect, which then disburses the funds to support the cause according to the program’s purpose. This model lets organizers focus on the work itself rather than the overhead of starting and running a nonprofit from scratch.
Rekonect is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit that sponsors grassroots fundraising programs. You can read more about us in our mission and manifesto. Every CSF goes through a vetting process before going live: we verify the organizer’s identity, review the cause description for legitimacy and alignment with our mission, and conduct a post-approval onboarding call to confirm the program’s scope and operations. Causes that pass vetting are hosted on our platform; those that don’t, aren’t.
Yes, for US taxpayers. Rekonect is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit (EIN 82-4750961), and donations are deductible to the extent allowed by US law. Tax deductibility applies to US donors only — we do not currently offer Israeli or other foreign tax-deductible giving. You will receive a tax receipt by email immediately after your donation, and all your receipts are also available in your donor account.
Rekonect retains a 2% administrative fee, and our platform partner BrightLeaf Giving retains 4.5%, for a combined 6.5% that supports the infrastructure making CSFs possible. Credit card processing fees are 3.5% and donors have the option to cover these fees at checkout. We keep these costs as low as we can while still operating responsibly, and every fee is disclosed transparently rather than hidden in the math.
Donations are held by Rekonect and disbursed against documented requests from the CSF organizer. Vendor payments require invoices, stipends require electronically signed agreements, and direct grants require an attestation of need from the recipient. Every disbursement is capped at $10,000 and requires approval from both Rekonect and our platform partner before funds are released. This structure ensures that money moves only against verified requests for purposes consistent with the CSF’s stated mission.
We accept Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) grants and wire transfers in addition to credit card and ACH donations. Stock and check donations are not currently supported. Full instructions for each accepted donation method are available directly on the donation form — select your preferred method and the form will guide you through the next steps.
Yes. Recurring donations are available on a monthly basis — select the recurring option on the donation form when you give. To change the amount, pause, or cancel a recurring donation, email us at the address listed on our contact page and we’ll handle it promptly. Self-service management of recurring donations through the donor account is on our roadmap.
Yes to both. The donation form includes a dedication field where you can mark your gift in honor of, in memory of, or in celebration of someone, with an optional message. You can also choose to send the honoree an e-card acknowledging your gift. To give anonymously, select the anonymous option on the donation form — your information will still reach the program for receipt purposes, but your name won’t appear in public donor listings.
Yes. All donations are processed through a PCI-compliant payment processor that handles card data according to industry security standards. Rekonect itself does not store any card information on its servers — payment details are tokenized through the processor and never touch our systems. Your financial information is protected by the same standards used by major financial institutions.
A donor account is optional but useful. It gives you faster checkout on future gifts, access to your full giving history and tax receipts in one place, and a record of any dedications you’ve made. Additional features — including saved payment methods and self-service management of recurring donations — are on our roadmap. Account creation is free and takes about a minute.