Project Inspire Part I

Project Inspire was created by the late Rosh Yeshiva R. Noach Weinberg.

Rabbi Eric Coopersmith, COO of Aish Jerusalem, and Rabbi Chaim Sampson were involved with this project from its infancy. Initially, around 2006, I was approached to set up the legal structure for this new organization and in fact I introduced them to an attorney (Boruch Gottesman) who prepared all the legal documents to apply for a 501c3 designation from the IRS on behalf of Project Inspire. From reasons I am not clear about until this day, the paperwork was never submitted. Project Inspire, which until this day is a "Project of Aish International" started operations under Aish NY - hiring dedicated staff and being funded by a specific donor - the Dan Family of Toronto - more specifically, Dr. and Mrs. Stuart Hytman.
Being that the money was coming from Toronto, and was solicited by Rabbi Boruch Rabinowitz (Exec. Director of Aish Int'l), the donation money was transferred to Aish International - another Aish branch loosely regulated by Canadian and US authorities. Aish NY would get quarterly transfers from Aish International (after Aish Int'l took the customary 20% fee for soliciting the funds and for administering the program) that sponsored the costs of Project Inspire. Project Inspire had its own directors, its own offices, its own fundraisers and its own staff. The benefit for Aish NY to have Inspire on the books was to show donors that our budget was much more than it really was and therefor allowing Rabbi Greenman to solicit potentially larger donations.
Around 2009, Project Inspire wanted to branch out and start to solicit funds on its own, because the Hytmans wanted to reduce their annual givings and because of pressure to grow the operations. The directors of Inspire wanted to start creating a brand name, Inspire, vs. Aish HaTorah. I was requested to open up a bank account that can start taking checks made out to Project Inspire. I did that. Much of the money continued to flow straight to the Aish HaTorah account as it came directly from the Hytmans thru Aish International but some amounts started to come in to the Project Inspire account.