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Religious Trusts: Jewish Hekdesh - Chapter 24 - Trusts and Estate Planning in Israel - Second Edition
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This chapter is from Trusts and Estate Planning in Israel, Second Edition
PAGE PREVIEW The meaning of hekdesh in Jewish law is property that has been set aside or dedicated for the needs of the Temple (in Jerusalem). In post-Talmudic times, although the Temple no longer stood, the original meaning was borrowed to describe property dedicated for charity, religious or public purposes, or for any other good deed. During the Temple Period, property would be dedicated for the upkeep and maintenance of the Temple or for the animal and food offerings that were brought to the Temple. Property could be consecrated with different degrees of sanctity, ranging from intrinsic sanctity, which included all objects fit for sacrifices such as animals, doves and flour; to monetary sanctity, which covered donations to the Temple treasury. In general, transfer of property under Jewish law typically requires a symbolic act such as physically transferring or taking possession of the object, or performing an act that implies exchange. For the purposes of hekdesh, however, property could be consecrated to the Temple by means of an oral declaration. This was usually done by taking a vow to donate to the Temple a certain sum or object (such as a goat), or by a statement of intent dedicating a specific object (such as a goat owned by the donor) to the Temple service. The legal status of hekdesh property was that it was considered as property of the Temple. It was no longer owned by the ordinary person, and as such fell outside of ordinary legal relationships. For example, laws of usury did not apply to hekdesh property, nor could there be a tort claim against it. If a person stole hekdesh property, he was not liable to pay double compensation, and if someone slaughtered or sold a stolen hekdesh animal, he was required to pay only the value of the animal, and was released from the further penalty which would have otherwise applied. It was considered a good deed for a person to donate part of his assets for hekdesh purposes. It was, however, forbidden for a person to consecrate all of his property, as he would then become poor and have to rely on the community to support him. It was also considered a good deed to make the donation to the Temple by no later than the first festival after making an undertaking, and a delay of three festivals was considered a transgression.
Dr. Alon Kaplan, Advocate & Notary, is a member of the Israel Bar and was admitted as a member of the New York and Frankfurt Bars. He is the President and founder of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners “STEP Israel”. Academically speaking, he has a Ph.D. from Zurich University in Switzerland and an LL.B. and LL.M. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Kaplan maintains a direct and close relationship with academia, and he was a lecturer on trusts in the Academic Management College, Reichman University, and the Law Faculty of Tel Aviv University, where he taught trust courses for LL.M. students. Dr. Kaplan is a popular lecturer on trusts in Israel and abroad. He constructed the academic program for the Trusts Diploma of STEP in Israel. Throughout his professional career, he has written numerous professional articles in legal journals, on matters of trusts, intergenerational asset transfers and selected commercial law topics such as agent and distributor laws, a topic which he researched for his LL.M. thesis. Dr. Kaplan has been a regular contributor of articles to Trusts & Trustees by Oxford University Press. He has written and edited numerous professional books, among these on doing business in Israel, on trusts in Israel, and on international trusts laws. His book, Trusts and Estate Planning in Israel, is a professional and comprehensive guidebook for practitioners in this area in Israel. Another important book in English is Trusts in Prime Jurisdictions, fifth edition, 2020 which reviews trusts in various jurisdictions by 19 authors from various jurisdictions. In December 2020 he was the co-editor of the book, Life Cycle of a Family Business, published in London. Meytal Liberman, Advocate and Notary, TEP, advises private clients in Israel and internationally on trusts and estate planning. Her services include legal structuring for the long-term holding, ownership, and management of assets, addressing legal incapacity, division of marital property, wills, and trusts. She has practiced in this field since 2012, combining legal work, academic study, and active participation in professional organizations, publications, lectures, and continuing legal education.
Ms. Liberman was admitted to the Israel Bar in 2013 and licensed as a notary in 2024. She holds an LL.B. from Bar Ilan University (2012) and an LL.M. in Commercial Law from Tel Aviv University (2015). She is a full member of STEP, having earned a Diploma in International Trust Management following two years of study. Since 2018, she has been authorized by the Administrator General and the Israel Bar Association to draft and execute legal instruments for future incapacity planning, including the Enduring Power of Attorney, Expression of Wishes Document, and Preliminary Instructions for the Appointment of a Guardian. Her writing includes chapters in Asia-Pacific Trusts Law, Volume 2 (Bloomsbury, 2022), Trusts in Prime Jurisdictions (5th ed., Globe Law and Business, 2019), and Trust in Israel: Theory and Practice (2017, in Hebrew). Her work has also appeared in Trusts & Trustees, The International Family Office Journal, and STEP Journal. She lectures regularly at seminars and conferences, including events hosted by the Israel Bar Association and STEP.
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