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When two kidnapped teenagers in the United States were found with members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community Lev Tahor, many looks turned to the cult, until now little known outside of Japan. Israel and Guatemala, where its members are currently based.
Recently, four members of the sect were arrested and charged with kidnapping children by a New York court.
The four men were found in a Mexican village with 12-year-old Chaim Teller and his 14-year-old sister, Yante Teller, missing in Woodridge, New York City on December 8.
According to the complaint, the accused abducted the two children to take them to the Lev Tahor camp in Guatemala. Chaim and Yante had left the sect a little over a month ago with their mother, who had denounced the "extremism" of the community.
Nachman Helbrans, group leader and uncle for children, is among those accused of kidnapping.
In Israel, where it was created, Lev Tahor has also been surrounded by controversy for many years.
Some of the national press came to call them "Jewish Taliban". However, even critics feel that this type of etiquette is inappropriate.
"Lev Tahor is a fervent, even excessive, group of Jews," wrote Elon Gilad, a contributor to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in 2014. "The Taliban are badociated with the use of extreme violence and destruction for impose their point of view on the people under their control. " The only reason the Israeli press calls the Tahor Tahor of "Jewish Taliban" is because The sect wears a black outfit from head to toe that looks like the burqa that the Taliban forces women to wear. "
Ultra-Orthodox and Anti-Zionists
The Lev Tahor, which means in Hebrew" pure heart ", was founded in Jerusalem in the 1980s by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans.
It is estimated that he counts today between 250 and 500. The group practices many of the customs of Hasidism, current of ultra-orthodox and mystical Judaism, but its application is more rigid.
The women of Lev Tahor wear a black dress from head to toe, with only visible face, men wear black, cover their heads with a hat and never shave.
The community's diet follows the laws of Cashrut, a set of biblical norms who establish which kosher foods Judaism practitioners can eat, however, the group also follows a more rigid version of these laws.
Most of your food is prepared at home, from ingredients natural and They do not eat chicken or chicken eggs because they consider it to be genetically modified foods. But they eat geese and their eggs.
They do not eat rice, onions or leafy vegetables either. Before eating fruits and vegetables, they always remove the bark.
They only drink milk from cows milked by themselves and make their own wine.
Their relationship with technology is also quite limited: they avoid the use of electronic devices such as television, cell phones and computers.
They oppose Zionism, fearing that the Jewish faith will be replaced by secular nationalism in the state of Israel.
Despite their rigid lifestyle, members of the sect consider that they function fully within the bounds of Jewish tradition and religious norms. And that there is nothing new or different in what they do.
"They see themselves as the only ones to follow the true path, as defenders of the last flame of the Jewish world," wrote Haaretz journalist Shay Fogelman, who in 2012 had the rare opportunity to live with the world. members of the community of Lev Tahor. "They have contempt for the other branches of Hbadidism, which they consider very permissive and degenerate."
"Members must venerate and serve God at all times, their libraries have only Jewish books and there is no television, radio or computer at home, such as free time, the broadening their horizons or their personal search. " their western sense does not exist in the community, "explained Fogelman.
" The walls of the houses do not have any decoration, there are no pictures, amulets, of rabbi photographs and, in most houses, only candelabra, menorahs and silver religious objects, all preserved in glbad boxes, are decorated. "
Controversies and expulsions
In recent years, many charges were brought against Lev Tahor for using extreme and violent forms of control over his limbs, including corporal punishment in children and forced marriage of underage men the elderly. [19659025] The denunciations were made by former members of the group and their families.
In 1990, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans transferred the group to the United States, where he established a Jewish school in the United States. Yorkshire, Brooklyn.
In 1993, Helbrans was arrested in New York for kidnapping a teenage student at school to prepare for his bar mitzvah, an important religious ritual of Judaism.
The young man's parents accused the rabbi of attempting to brainwash his son, while the latter accused his parents of abusive behavior with the child.
The US court finally sentenced Helbrans to the kidnapping. He spent three years in prison until he was released on parole in 1996.
Four years later, he was deported to Israel, where he did not stay long. community in Quebec, Canada.
However, charges were also laid against the group, accused of neglect of a child in 2013 by the social service.
Canadian authorities were concerned about the health, hygiene and education of children, which, according to the press at the time, did not receive the necessary care.
Shortly after, sect members leave Canada to go to San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, a city mostly inhabited by Mayans.
They were not welcome either. After several months of disagreements, the San Juan Alumni Council decided to expel the group, believing that its members did not respect the local population.
To force their exit, local authorities threatened to cut off their access to public services.
The community then moved to Guatemala, where it was visited by prosecutors who investigated cases of child abuse.
In 2016, the group changed their city again and went to El Amatillo, in the municipality of Oratorio, 80 km from the capital.
A year later, in 2017, the Israeli press published information about the death of Helbrans, allegedly taking place while he was performing a religious ritual in Chiapas, Mexico. The press also published on alleged plans of the group to move again from the city.
With the death of the founder and the charges of kidnapping against the new leader, it is unclear what will be the next steps of Lev Tahor.
With regard to the Chaim and Yante cases, the two children kidnapped in December, the minutes of the New York trial reproduced by the American press indicate that their mother, Sara Helbrans (who is also the daughter of founder Shlomo ), had abandoned the sect after making criticisms. And she said that she was "very afraid of the sect and what its members can do to us now that we are not under its power and manipulation".
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