A group of avreichim has organized to build Kiryat Bnei
Torah in Modi'in Ilit (also known as "Brachfeld"). The new
housing project, which has received the blessings of
gedolei Yisroel, will constitute a Torah solution for
the chareidi community's serious lack of housing and will
guarantee maximum economic stability. The new project will
result in a significant lowering of the prices of apartments,
since it will bring together a large group of buyers to
secure especially low, final and secure prices.
The basic goal of the new project is to guarantee that the
project's neighborhoods will be Torah-true and that no
unwelcome families get into the project. Potential buyers
will be scrutinized by a committee which is not linked to any
sect or group and which will function in accordance with the
guidelines of rabbonim, who will approve each prospective
occupant.
Rav K., one of the initiators of the idea as well as its
chairman, told Yated Ne'eman that the project was
founded in order to correct the painful situation which has
often occurred when avreichim purchase apartments, only
to discover later that the neighbors do not maintain the
lifestyle of the community within which they had hoped to
live.
"Avreichim who invested their money and energy in
finding housing are sometimes severely disappointed. These
facts are well known. Those who bought such apartments have
undergone much suffering," Rav K. notes.
In Kiryat Bnei Torah the hope is that the large group can
assure the qualitative makeup of its residents and guarantee
that the educational institutions suit the Torah-true
character of the residents.
The new group has the blessings of HaRav Shlomo Zalman
Ullman, rav of the Kehillos Yaakov neighborhood of Bnei Brak
and a member of the beis din of HaRav Nissim Karelitz;
HaRav Tzvi Friedman, rav of the Or Hachaim neighborhood of
Bnei Brak and a member of HaRav Karelitz's beis din,
and HaRav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein, one of the roshei
yeshiva of Yeshivas Hevron, Geula.
Kiryat Bnei Torah's coordinators have learned from many
previous projects. Initiators of the nonprofit project say
that they have seen that other chareidi groups have focused
on completely different aspects of the community. "Chassidic
groups which joined together worked on the atmosphere of the
project and the types of schools, synagogues, etc. built
there. In addition, they worked to secure preferred material
conditions."
In addition to the advantages in ruchniyus says Rabbi
K., the group will work to ensure that prices quoted are
final to the purchaser, as well as that the fixtures are of
high quality, that there are no bad apartment locations, that
expansion options are promised which in the end are not
approved by the authorities, and more. Similarly, payment
terms in other projects are often difficult, with buyers
sometimes having to pay large portions of the purchase price
even before building begins, while occupancy is two to three
years later. Reportedly, purchasers pay 10% of the price upon
signing and another 10% is a final payment upon getting the
key. The balance is spread out in even installments over 18
months.
The apartments will hopefully be ready for occupancy within
18 months, but the signing of the contracts will take place
immediately so that buyers will still be eligible for grants,
which may soon no longer be available.
As a consolidated group, group members will benefit from
significant discounts (at least 3-4%, more if there are more
buyers); spacious apartments with an expansion option which
has been approved in advance; the setting of a final price
and most important of all, a qualitative lifestyle and a
Torah community whose residents have been carefully
scrutinized.
