December 30, 2024

WORLD: Jewish Cult Led By Rabbi Who Entered Canada As A Refugee Has Been Kicked Out Of US, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala For Child Trafficking, Child Rape And Child Marriage.

I put this together for you while trying to get more information about this Jewish cult I had never heard of before today. This at least gives us an idea of their history and where they have been moving around in this world. (emphasis mine)
CBC News published August 12, 2014: Rabbi of the Pure Hearts : Inside Lev Tahor - the fifth estate.

Life in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of Lev Tahor is supposed to be simple: the rules for dress, diet, schooling, marriage and worship are clearly defined and closely followed. But last November, in the middle of the night, about 200 members of the sect fled their homes in Quebec to start a new community in Chatham, Ontario, amid allegations of child neglect. Now the sect is fighting to keep more than a dozen children that a Quebec court ordered removed from their families. Recently released search warrants show Quebec provincial police have been investigating allegations of unlawful confinement and physical abuse of children within the sect, as well as marriage of underage girls to much older men.

Their ongoing legal battles are raising an old dilemma: when does a group’s right to religious freedom get trumped by society’s obligation to protect children? It’s also prompted a lot of questions about life inside the secluded community - and the past of its charismatic leader, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans. The fifth estate’s team travelled from New York to Israel to investigate his murky history, and host Gillian Findlay spoke to people with an intimate knowledge of his past. With unprecedented access to the community in Chatham, including first-hand footage of a police raid there and an extensive interview with Helbrans, ‘Rabbi of the Pure Hearts: Inside Lev Tahor’ reveals the challenges of life in the Jewish sect.

A joint investigation with Radio Canada's Enquete program.

***Lev Tahor Jewish Cult in MEXICO***
AP Archive published September 28, 2022: Members of Jewish sect protest at Mexican govt shelter.
Imagen Noticias published September 28, 2022: Niños judíos en Chiapas piden a gritos no ser deportados a Israel. #CiroEnImagen Con gritos de desesperación, estos niños #judíos protestaron en el DIF de Tapachula, en Chiapas, para no ser deportados a Israel, luego de la detención de 26 integrantes del culto extremista #LevTahor acusados de delincuencia organizada, trata de personas y violación, entre otros delitos.

BBC News, UK
written by Raffi Berg
September 20, 2022

About 20 members of a Jewish sect held at a facility in Mexico after a police raid on their jungle base have fled.

Footage showed men, women, and children streaming out of the site in Huixtla, in the west, on Wednesday night.

They had been there since the raid last Friday when two members were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and serious sexual offences.

The sect, Lev Tahor, is known for extremist practices and imposing a strict regime on its followers.

It advocates child marriage, inflicts harsh punishments even for minor transgressions and requires women and girls as young as three years old to completely cover up with robes.

Local media said members of the group had been protesting against their detention since their arrival, including rioting and assaulting personnel.

Video from Reuters news agency shows the detainees, dressed in gold, grey and white robes, forcing their way past two guards at a gate as one of their members holds it open.

One of the guards trying to hold them back falls down and the group climb over him as they make their escape. A youth is seen turning and kicking the guard as he lies on the ground.

It is unclear where the group has gone. Associated Press said they were collected by a lorry and headed towards the border with Guatemala, while news site El Heraldo de México said they went by foot for several miles before disappearing into the night.

Their compound, 11 miles (17.5km) north of Tapachula in Chiapas state, was raided by an elite police unit after a months-long investigation and surveillance operation involving Mexican and Guatemalan authorities and a private four-man team from Israel including former Mossad and domestic intelligence agents.

Twenty-six members were found at the site, among them Israelis with dual citizenships including Canada, the US and Guatemala, Israel's foreign ministry said.

It said a Canadian and an Israeli citizen were arrested, while two other wanted members reportedly left the compound two days before the raid and are being sought. Five more were detained for allegedly breaking immigration rules.

The operation stemmed from an appeal to a former member of Israel's domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, by a former member of the sect, Yisrael Amir.

Mr Amir fled the group's base in Guatemala in 2020, having to leave his then one-year-old son there.

His son was released in the raid last week and flown back to Israel with his father.

The group had lived in Guatemala since 2014, but in January members illegally crossed into Mexico, settling in the jungle.

The leadership in Guatemala has been at the centre of a kidnapping case since 2018. Nine of the sect's members have been charged, four of whom have so far been convicted.

Lev Tahor - Hebrew for Pure of Heart - was formed in Israel in 1988 and is thought to number up to 350 members, according to an ex-members group.

It has been forced to move from country to country in recent years after coming under scrutiny from local authorities. It is currently spread between Israel, the US, North Macedonia, Morocco, Mexico and Guatemala. Between 70 and 80 members are still in Guatemala.

While the group is often described as ultra-Orthodox, it follows its own sets of rules and has been declared a "dangerous cult" by an Israeli court.

Its leaders have denied breaking local laws and say the group is being targeted because of its beliefs.

***Lev Tahor Jewish Cult in GUATEMALA***
BBC News Mundo published January 19, 2019: Lev Tahor, la secta ultraortodoxa judía en Guatemala habló en exclusiva con BBC Mundo. BBC Mundo logró hablar con la secta judía ultraortodoxa Lev Tahor en Guatemala tras la detención de algunos de sus líderes en Estados Unidos, acusados de secuestrar a dos menores. El grupo accedió a responder las preguntas de la enviada especial de BBC Mundo al país, Ana Gabriela Rojas, como una excepción. "La comunidad se muestra muy reticente a hablar", explicó Rojas. "Primero, porque hay un proceso abierto contra ellos, y segundo, porque aseguran que siempre han sido abiertos con los medios pero éstos siempre les han perjudicado". En sus declaraciones, el grupo asegura que son víctima de una "persecución política".

Producción: Ana Gabriela Rojas Camarógrafo: Josue Decavele.

******
BBC News, UK
written by Staff
August 30, 2014

Some 230 members of an Orthodox Jewish group have begun leaving a village in western Guatemala after a bitter row with the local indigenous community.

The Lev Tahor members were asked to leave San Juan La Laguna after meetings with elders of the Mayan community.

The elders accused the Jews of shunning the villagers and imposing their religion and customs.

The Lev Tahor had settled in the village six years ago as the group searched for religious freedom.

'Self-defence'

Over the last several days they were seen packing their belongings on lorries in preparations for the departure from the village, about 150km (90 miles) west of the capital Guatemala City.

"We are a people of peace and in order to avoid an incident we've already begun to leave," Lev Tahor member Misael Santos told the AFP news agency.

"We have a right to be there, but they threatened us with lynching if we don't leave," he added.

Lev Tahor members, who practice an austere form of Judaism, also complained that they received threats that water and electricity would be cut if they stayed on.

Meanwhile, the village elders said the Jewish members "wanted to impose their religion" and were undermining the Catholic faith that was predominant in San Juan La Laguna.

"We act in self-defence and to respect our rights as indigenous people. The (Guatemalan) constitution protects us because we need to conserve and preserve our culture," Miguel Vasquez, a spokesman for the elders council, said.

The Lev Tahor said it hoped to settle elsewhere in Guatemala.

Many of the Jewish group members had been living in the village for six years but some had arrived earlier this year from Canada after a row with the authorities.

UPDATE 12/30/24 at 10:39pm: Added info below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 10:32 PM

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