School for Orthodox boys works out deal with Minnesota Baptist Conference
By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor
Yeshiva High School of the Twin Cities has secured a loan to purchase its building in Cottage Grove.
“With thanks to Hashem and with the help of all those who have supported our campus rescue campaign… I am thrilled beyond measure to announce that we have officially closed on the loan to purchase our campus,” Rabbi Moshe Weiss, the school’s director, said in a statement e-mailed to the AJW. “The boys of MyYeshiva can rest assured that they have a campus, a place of G-d, a place of learning a place of growth, a place of belonging and a place they can call a home away from home to return to this upcoming school year.”
MyYeshiva, the Orthodox boarding school for boys, is housed in what was once the Eagle Grove Baptist Church. The school purchased the building on a contract for deed from the Minnesota Baptist Conference (MBC), but last year MBC decided to cash out the deal.
After working with MBC to negotiate a new contract and extend fundraising deadlines, MyYeshiva sought to secure a bank loan for the entire purchase price. But at the last moment, the bank withdrew their offer of financing, citing more stringent regulations as a reason for not moving forward (7-9-10 AJW).
Relying on more than $470,000 in donations and one- to five-year pledges as proof and promise of repayment, MBC agreed to finance MyYeshiva’s purchase of the building. The terms of the deal included a cash down payment of $65,000 at closing, a set monthly mortgage payment and principal reduction payments due as pledges are fulfilled and collected throughout the year.
Weiss said the school is accepting applications for the upcoming school year, and classes will start after the High Holidays. He continues to collect pledges and is moving into “sustainability mode.”
MyYeshiva is also in the running for a grant from Kohl’s Cares for Kids, which is offering $500,000 to the 20 schools that receive the most votes in its online campaign. Instructions on how to cast your votes are available online at: www.myyeshiva.org/vote; Weiss can also be contacted at 651-398-4850 with questions.
“Every single person can make a difference in some way, because that’s how this got done,” said Weiss, during a visit to the AJW offices last week. “Everyone should feel and realize, for themselves, how powerful their act is, and should feel happy and amazing that they’re giving, whatever it is — whether it’s monetary, whether it’s a prayer, whether it’s mentioning it to someone else… No one should minimize, God forbid, their own abilities to help somebody in need. And that’s a huge lesson that’s come from this, it’s the only way we could have made it.”
(American Jewish World, 8.20.10)
