Several leaders of the Lev Tahor Cult have just been taken into police custody, YWN has learned exclusively.
They were apprehended in Mexico, in a joint operation between Interpol and the FBI. Police raided two out of three Lev Tahor owned properties in the country in the middle of the night.
The five people in custody are:
- Nachman Helbrans
- Meyer Rosner
- Chaim Yankel Rosner
- Uriel Goldman
- (First name unknown) Malka
Additionally, as YWN has previously reported, there are a few families of Guatemalans that became Geirim through Lev Tahor but eventually left the cult after learning first hand how horrific the lifestyle was. These families remained Frum Yidden and are living in Guatemala City. When police made the arrests in Mexico, a young child from one of these families was found to be in the Lev Tahor “safe house” in Mexico. This child has now been reunited with his mother in Guatemala.
The five suspects are in custody and in the process of being brought to the United States.
Charges may include: Kidnapping, sexual abuse, running a cult, extortion, intimidation, child abuse and many other charges.
YWN is unable to report at this time why these Lev Tahor cult leaders were in Mexico when they were arrested. Additional information will be reported when it is made available.
As reported last week on YWN, authorities have been searching for two children who escaped the cult but were kidnapped from their family in Fallsburg, New York.
YWN has been at the forefront for more than 10 years fighting the Lev Tahor cult – with dozens of articles over the years.
Lev Tahor practices include women and girls wearing black head-to-toe coverings day and night, arranged marriages between teenagers, and a violent form of Malkos. Lev Tahor only permits certain fruits and vegetables to be eaten, as well as whole wheat flour made into bread with a stone press.
[LEV TAHOR HORROR: Tales of Beatings and Torture Emerge From Excommunicated Cult Members]
Former members of Lev Tahor (who either escaped or were otherwise expelled) do not recall learning Mishnayos or Gemara, nor any Mitzvos Bein Adam LeChaveiro. They spend the majority of the day in deep prayer and are only allowed to study certain sections of the Chumash, with Lev Tahor commentary.
Reports indicate cult leaders have suggested death as better alternative than life outside the cult.
Lev Tahor was founded and led by Shlomo Helbrans, from the 1980s until his drowning death in Mexico in 2017. Since then, the leadership has moved into the hands of his son Nachman Helbrans, along with Mayer Rosner, Yankel and Yoel Weingarten, who are even more radical and aggressive than the late founder.
Internal documents of Lev Tahor show that Shlomo Helbrans made his followers swear and sign to uphold the following principles among others.
(1) Everyone must negate his or her mind and mind thoroughly and completely, to the leader of Lev Tahor.
2) They must subjugate soul, spirit, and will.
3) Each man accepts upon his descendants and descendant’s descendants until the end of all generations to be subjugated under the will of Lev Tahor’s leader.. this should be said openly to the leader himself.
4) Everyone must be ready at any time and moment of 24 hours of the day, whether on the Shabbath and Yom Tov, summer and winter, healthy or sick, to do the will of the leader.
5) Whether the person is a young man or an old man, virgins and women they must accept to do the will of the leader.
6) They must agree to throw away all his physical needs, including eating sleep and rest until he fulfills the desires the leader.
7) It is the obligation of each of them at the beginning of the morning prayers to recite and accept upon themselves all of the above with full mouth and supreme joy.
Some observers have written that these are signs of a cult. Indeed, this was the position of an author of an article that appeared in Mishpacha Magazine. Others, however, claim that there is nothing cult-like about the movement. Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter of Ami Magazine met with Helbrans and assured his readership that it was not a cult, even though a previous Ami article stated that it was.
In 2014 YWN ran an article titled “Cults and the War of the Jewish Magazines” in response to Mishpacha and Ami magazines running articles on Lev Tahor. Mishpacha Magzaine had run a fifteen page “expose” on the group, essentially describing Lev Tahor as a cult that has some serious issues involving medicating children, and behaviors that resemble child abuse. Ami Magazine claimed the exact opposite – and ran the following sentence below their headline “The unjust persecution of a group of pious Jews, and the unsettling silence of the Jewish community.”
Originally a citizen of Israel, cult leader Shlomo Helbrans went to the United States where he was convicted for kidnapping in 1994 and served a two-year prison term before being deported to Israel in 2000. He then settled in Canada.
In 1994 he was convicted in Brooklyn for the 1992 kidnapping of 13-year-old Shai Fhima Reuven, a Bar Mitzvah boy he was tutoring, and served a two-year prison term in the U.S. He was originally sentenced to four to 12 years in prison, but in June 1996 an appeals court reduced the sentence to two to six years. Three days later, he was placed in the work release program for prisoners less than two years away from the possibility of parole, where inmates are freed from prison if they have a job. After protests, he was moved back to prison.
The high-profile case drew much attention in the U.S., and gained further attention when Helbrans successfully convinced New York prison authorities to waive their requirement that all prisoners be shaved for a photograph upon entering prison, and to accept a computer-generated image of what he would have looked like clean-shaven instead. After the State Parole Board decided in November 1996 to release Helbrans after two years in prison, the case rose to near scandal with suspicions that the Pataki administration was providing him special treatment.
After his release from prison, Helbrans ran a yeshiva in Monsey, N.Y., and was deported to Israel in 2000. He then settled in Canada, where in 2003 he was granted refugee status, claiming his life was being threatened in Israel.
Helbrans and his followers had arrived in Mexico’s southern Chiapas province after spending three years in Guatemala. They had travelled to Guatemala from Canada, where child-protection authorities were moving to seize children allegedly suffering from neglect.
The group had been established on the outskirts of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, north of Montreal, for more than a decade before Quebec authorities began paying close attention. As they prepared to move in to protect children in the sect in late 2013, community members left en masse overnight for Chatham, Ontario. Before the next summer, they had moved on to Guatemala.
Court documents used by Quebec police to obtain warrants alleged that Lev Tahor girls as young as 13 and 14 in the community were routinely married off to much older men. The allegations in the documents, which became public after the sect had fled and were never proven in court, included sexual and physical abuse of children.
(Charles Gross – YWN)
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89 Responses
what happened to the teller kids that got into a car on shabbos no update?
Burach Hashem! Thanks YWN for making the public aware of the true nature of this cult so hopefully some well meaning askanim don’t go running to bail them out.
The public must be aware that more than the explaining the physical difficulties and abuse of the members of this cult, the biggest issue is the mind twisting of these individuals to such an extent that they can’t think or feel clearly and are mentally and emotionally effected, sometimes for life. This is the nature of a cult, that individuals cannot develop themselves normally, their will and thoughts are subjugated to their leaders.
b”H. Hopefully they’ll get the other leaders as well.
Baruch Hashem!!!!
This week, AMI Magazine will have an article on Pidyon Shvuyim to help out Helbrans.
Yes WHERE are those two children ???
Mazel Tov! May Klal Yisroel continue to receive great news like this. Our tefilos that we recite three times every week day were answered. We must continue to daven that all cults that masquerade as holy but are really the epitome of rish’us should be detected, and dismantled. Victims given all the resources and help they need, and the perpetrators should be imprisoned for life if not otherwise eliminated. The same way we must include a mention of the churban Beis Hamikdosh in our simchos, we must also include the expressions of gratitude for the yeshuos of the shutting down of these movements that grab away innocent children into the kinds of abuse and avodah zarah that Lev Tahor inflicted on innocent children.
BH!! WE WISH THOSE ASKONIM INVOLVED TO SAVE ALL THOSE CAPTIVE SHEVUYIM MUCH CONTINUED HATZLACHA
I dont beleve story of beatings.
ahavas_yisroel , good going!
MAy they recover soon, but we need to respect them once they are in our society and let the people involved do theirs. they need people specialized in cullts directing them. its not for you and me, like no unsolicited favors from well meaning nice people
Stay tuned for Frankfurter on Ami front page doubling down how these “innocent yidden are being prosecuted”.
Not even joking. 100% will do it.
@Yeshivishrockstar – Totally true.
While I sincerely hope this will be the end of this evil cult, rather than celebrate the demise of those leaders we should daven that them too should come to their senses and do teshuvoh.
If it is true, this Avodah Zara Memish!
They weren’t always as wacky as they are now. They used to be much more normal.
DavidtheK:
There is no beis din (or court) that can allow their basis for a psak or ruling to consider teshuvah. It is clear as day that their cult rules are avodah zarah, and we need to see to it that they are put out of business forever. If HKB”H wishes to accept teshuvah from them, that is Heavenly business, but never ours. We are obligated to protect our communities from these influences, not any less than unfiltered smartphones, or predators seeking to abuse or molest our children. And davening for teshuvah for them, is a tefilas shov – it is dependent on their own free will, not our influence. Lastly, we are observing a dynamic where there are criminals and victims. We need to focus on the victims, not the perps. Are you the one that pleads for clemency from the court for a convicted armed bank robber because he has a wife and kids?
.
ברוך… שהחיינו וקיימנו לזמן הזה
אמן ואמן!
Throw away the keys after being jailed. They do not deserve to live in freedom. Lock up these guys til they …
Are they all for sure Jewish? I’m not asking as a veiled insult, I actually don’t know their history. If they drive on Shabbos and stuff, then is there any possibility this is just a weird cult of people dressed as Jews?
I’ve heard conspiracy theorists say that the original founder isn’t really dead. Anyone buy into this? Could be true cuz saying he’s dead is great way to hide him.
IUseBrains – no you don’t.
Are you really Frankfurter?
Lev Tahor is from Canada, Gutamala and Mexico. If they’re going to be extradited it would be to those countries, not the US where they never lived.
Hopefully this will be the end of them. Do, nobody knows what happened to the children that were kidnapped?
Horrific.
Nobody joined this cult willingly.
They were all born into this via
their teenage parents.
The leaders should be hung.
So that no one abuses kids in this way.
For shame that they consider themselves Jewish and stain our Jewish Heritage
Joseph the know-it-all dead wrong again.
They are UNITED STATES CITIZENS and are wanted for crimes IN THE UNITED STATES.
Just ignore Joseph the real-life-stalker.
Just lashon hara. Don’t believe it.Don’t engage in it. Says the Torah.
Let them live how they want. Its not a cult!!!
refiah shleima…
Hope no crazy guy opening up soon a go fund me for these רוצחים לב טמא
Curious.
Why when someone commits fraud or abuse people rally around saying a Jew shouldn’t go to prison & need to help, but here people are ok with it. What’s the difference?
Personally, I’d let them rot for a very long time.
I think its absolutely appalling that people (however they feel about lev tahor, which is not my point) feel it’s ok to MAKE FUN and scorn and talk loshon hora and ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME of a heimish magazine and a frum torah yid who directs it. Just absolutely zero excuse. My recollection then, and I followed it in detail, was with the Information they had, they felt the responsibiilty to see the other side. EVEN IF MISGUIDED NO EXCUSE FOR LOSHON HORA. seriously answer this question. wd each of you denigrating the mag and rabbi do it if it was erev rosh hashana
The 1 thing I’ll give N. Helbrans is his english was surprisingly pretty decent.
What’s the source to this news.
To the people who don’t believe this due to lashon hara: Hypothetically, if it were true, what should be done if one cannot speak of it?
we must keep praying that the leaders do teshuva and don’t get out and redo this mess,
mostly that all cult members may im”h get the hjelp they need and realize who they can be, that they should be able to integrate in society and be good g-d fearing jews the right way-none of them should get lost to our nation out of confusion etc.
may hashem end this nightmare of a cult and keep all those invovled safe phisically, emotionally and spiritually.
Now watch how the that other Israel hating cult in Williamsburg,will make a gigantic PIDYON SHEVUIM party for their fellow crazy Israel haters,just like they made one for their own child raping monster Nechemia Weberman
I would interview the children. And then take every one of these mamzer “leaders” that hit or abused the kids,
and give them the beating of their lives. Then find good homes for these poor kids.
I am truly amazed by the stupidity of some of the posters here!
@kavod habriot: Not a cult? Really??
@Joseph: stam an am haaretz; chasid shoiteh. How do you when Joseph says something idiotic? When he posts messages! Never fails.
Ready now,
It appears you do not know Halchos Lashon haRav. After you have learned it with your rav a few times, you will see have these people are a danger for woman, children and all of K’Hal Yisrael, which these people have separated themselves from, i.e. Da’as Torah and Da’as Yisrael.
Kavod Habrios,
Why do say it is not a cult when they have left Da’as Torah and Da’as Yisrael, cut off all communication with their families, FORCE their members to stay and FORCE them into action they do not want to do. That is the definition of the a cult? Please read the book on jewish cult busting (by Shea Hecht) and then rethink you statement.
let the dust settle , in mexico you can get arrested for nothing and be let out for a few bucks, these mamzers are very skilled at their sickness
in could just be a way to pressure them to say where the teller kids are
sounds like they were setup to meet w a potential smuggler and then arrested
my guess they not coming to us so fast
As usual the problem is in the headline.
This is not a YWN EXCLUSIVE.
see todays ny post for more info
@Hine Eid Sheker Hoeid – ywn had this for 13 hours before any other news source… not to mention that every news source including the ny post quoting ywn.
but yea. it’s not exclusive.
I just don’t get how naive (I’m trying not to be mean here so I’m using a mild term…) some people are to be talking about Loshen hora or that it’s not a cult…Are people so stupid? ( Sorry I couldn’t contain myself) This CULT has very classic cult characteristics:
1. Their members have to cut off from their families and friends and communities. Besides for this being a basic cult characteristic, it is against what we religious Jews have lived and live like- seclusion was rare in history- Yidden have always lived within communities or at least communicated with larger communities and distant Rabbis. No Jewish community has ever intentionally and completely cut themselves off from the rest of klal Yisroel besides for the group that later formed the Christian religion.
2. Cult members must negate their own wants and desires, not to serve Hashem, only to serve the leaders of the cult. This is complete total avoda zora worship. And the way to serve Hashem is with the personality Hashem endowed a person, but in cults like these they completely squash the members personalities and humanity to become a non-thinking, non-feeling servant of the cult leaders
3. To keep those who have a more independent personalities from rebelling, the leaders squash every small behavior they view as an infraction to their rules by employing corporal, emotional and phsychological punishment.
This is an idol worshipping cult and if left to it’s own devices will become even worse to the extent that a new religion will arise supposedly based upon Judaism as we have seen happen before. And not only could it become a new religion, and not only will multiply quickly with pre-teen and teen marriages, they also threaten other families with naive family members who may want to join this “very derhoibene” group. It has the potential to destroy more frum families that are already broken over their family members who have joined this cult.
Ashreichem to all who are involved in destroying this idol worshipping cult. And IT’S NOT LOSHEN HORA TO TALK ABOUT THIS!
This is ALL PURE MOTZI SHEM RA, THERE IS NO PROOOF THAT THE STORY WITH THE BEATINGS ARE TRUE, IN FACT IT IS NOT TRUE.
HOW DO I KNOW ??
RAV HELBRANS SAID SO.
If this story is true it is a reason for great celebration. There is one man on that list that I personally know to be a liar and a cheat. He came collecting charity from me for several years and showed me photos and letters that led me to believe that he was collecting to distribute Pesach packages to Jews in Israel. It was a fraud. As I later learned, and after having given him thousands of dollars, that it was all going to this insane cult.
Hashem should rescue all of the innocent people that were entrapped in this vicious cult and bring them back to us.
LAmother , I agree with you
Actually, YWN broke the news, so yes, it was their exclusive.
LAMother – must be Ruchy Frankfurter. Nobody else will defend AMI.
(In case your wondering why everybody makes fun of AMI, it’s because he thinks he’s daas torah, while he posesses neither daas nor torah, as a cursory reading of his magazine will reveal. He’s also guilty of bringing in National Enquirer-style reporting into the frum world, with hefty liberal hashkafois on the side.
AMI has no Rabbanic adviser, they mere have a columnist (taub)who masquerades as one when they got crtiticized for it. Mishpacha does.
I would be interested to know what the status of the gerim is that they made. They became gerim through a beis din put together by Lev Tahor? Would they have to do a Gerus leChumra?
In the mishpacha article on lev tahor story it stated that the geirim that left the group redid the geirus process with a beis din in monsey.
la mother
when all else fails pull out the lashan hora card
its interesting thta the three aveiros thta you need to get killed for is irrelevant only lashon hara is important
perhaps we need to make organizations and worldwide events and weekends etc for the three yeharag val yavoir averahs
Now the daily mail picked it up.
Is this the first time YWN broke a huge news story?
@Yeshivishrockstar – no lol See this link at the bottom of the homepage? http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/in-the-news
yossie4731 wrote: la mother when all else fails pull out the lashan hora card
In case you didnt read what i wrote its nothing to do with lev tahor its the making fun of frum magazines.
Yeshivishrockstar wrote: (In case your wondering why everybody makes fun of AMI.
case closed. no need to EVER make fun of any frum yidden NEVER. don’t you have better things to do with your time?
I agree with LAmother
Even if Ami got it wrong it isn’t the first time a news agency got it wrong. I am sure YWN had been wrong on occasion and it takes away from the story is everytime Lev Tahor is mentioned the need to bash a competitor has to be implemented. It takes away from the integrity of the article. It probably is at least Lashon Hara.
🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Brains..
“HOW DO I KNOW ??
RAV HELBRANS SAID SO.”
You remind me of the following tale of the Chasidd who claimed his Rebbe has Gilue Eliyahu, when asked by an opponent misnagid how he knows?
The chassid replied: “Why, the Rebbe himself told him so”!
Misagid replies: and how do you know he wasn’t lying?
Chaasid replied: Shotah! Someone who was zocha to see Eliyahu Hanvi would be lying?!
“IN FACT IT IS NOT TRUE. HOW DO I KNOW ??”
You MUST be correct, after all you wrote in caps.
LEV TAHOR = JEWISH ARABS
Elsewhere in the pages of YWN chilonim are decried, but here emunim are decried!
Torah says to keep away from bad people.
You who are posting here against keeping to Torah precepts are obviously chilonim, but we cannot check on you, right?
So your mouths are working overtime. Yes, you do not know the situation as it really is!
You you are spreading lashom hara!
There are many families who experience disagreements, but you would not dare intervene, but here you feel entitled, emboldened!
Poor children.
Abused
Neglected
filthy dirty
no happiness
just black black black
The big question is, who is going to lead the deprogramming of these pathetic victims? Because I guarantee you, one of two things will happen: they will either fall apart mentally & physically, or from the remaining nutcases a new leader will emerge – probably even more vicious. I know, because in my younger days I was somewhat involved in deprogramming.
Just as ZAKA runs to every Jewish crisis worldwide, aren’t there any cult deprogramers willing & able to head to Mexico? These victims are in serious danger – mass suicide is not out of the question. They can’t think for themselves any more and they have nowhere to go and nobody to turn to. They need help TODAY. As in erev Shabbos.
Knowing that the many people in the cult were fooled, why should one be surprised that Ami was fooled as well?
Yes, they’re called Lev Lachim and they have extensive experience with deprogramming
Lamother you would be right, if Ami would have a front cover story apologizing for the article .
THEY SHOULD JOIN ISIS
ATTENTION YWN
I HOPE YOUR SOURCES TO VERIFY THIS STORY ARE ACCURATE. AS OF NOW YWN IS THE ONLY MEDIA OUTLET THAT HAS REPORTED ON THIS INCIDENT. THE OTHERS WHICH HAVE PICKED UP THE STORY MATZAV , JPOST, TIMES OF ISRAEL & THE FORWARD ARE ALL CITING YWN AS THE PRIMARY SOURCE TO THIS STORY.
IN ADDITION CANADA NEWS OUTLETS ARE REPORTING THAT IN THE LAST FEW DAYS SOME OF THE LEV TAHOR CHILDREN HAVE RETURNED TO QUEBEC
Kaltekave; Press the cap lock button before you type.
Is there any updated info of what is happening to those left behind?
The rosner brothers are American . Goldman is israely. Helbrants ( erez) is probably both
Rebopy, I’m referring to the definitely non ltoeles extra stuff, the fun making and calling out the editor and his wife. In sarcastic “humorous” comments.
@yeshivarockstar wow and which department of the mishpacha do you work for? I buy and will continue to buy AMI on a weekly basis AMD the reason why? because they will not be silenced by the likes of YOU hiding behind a rabbinical board. finally, there is a voice in our community that is unafraid of bullies…… the AMI cannot be compared to any other Frum magazine and it is the only one that does not put me to sleep from boredom. fact is they have a great reader following and will NOT be silenced by the likes of you now go bury your head back into your mishpacha magazine… AMD ps. I doubt their rabbinical board would approve you wasting your precious time on the internet
KK:
There are news outlets in Israel reporting on this, without reference to YWN. I have seen other times where these same outlets do mention YWN, so it appears they have another source.
I’m not sure why this has to sit on a website for a week. This whole parsha is an embarrassment for us, and I don’t think we have to take responsibility or even associate ourselves with this, as if they are one of ours (If you don’t believe me check out secular sites). Some things are a problem in Klal Yisroel and some things are someone’s personal sickness. I think this is the latter. I’m starting to get the feeling that there is some other agenda here.
Moderators Note: This story is “sitting” here because this just happens to be the top trending story. YWN does not control how many people click on a story. But since hundreds of thousands have clicked on this story, and you want it off because it’s an “embarrassment”, tell us all what you are doing to save the lives of all those children. Or are they also an “embarrassment” and you think they should be ignored?
Ish:
History (if anyone learned it in high school) is replete with the most vicious of wars being based on religion. Must we review the crusades? The belief is that G-d approves war, and that conducting it, with its murders and other atrocities is somehow a mitzvah. Well, not really that much has changed.
The most primitive of taavos are being protected and legitimized by the radical left, claiming it has moral undertones of identity, freedoms, and the rest of the PC garbage. Within our own community, we can observe the grossest of violations of dinim that are interpersonal being committed in the name of Yiddishkeit. I include here the various camps that are in a state of machlokes with each other, the hideous and disgusting of public damage by protesters, and the mass mental illness of NK and Peleg, all being attributed to a calling from G-d himself. You might also investigate some of the horrific things being done within the tragic breakups of marriages, where the nastiest actions are taken in the name of G-d.
Well, Lev Tahor has edged out many of its competitors here, and occupies the the top spot for committing the worst of the 3 cardinal sins, proclaiming all the while that it does so in the name of holiness. I wish to see all the criminal abusers who lead this cult arrested and prevented from ever seeing the light of day, and all their victims rescued and given all the help they need. And all the rest of us need to be much more clear and honest about what HKB”H really wants from us. The deification of a leader is NOT the derech of Torah. Loyalty is earned, not legislated. Committing murder, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual cannot be legitimately done in the name of G-d. The string of crimes as have been perpetrated by Lev Tahor is atrocious, and should be recognized and stopped by anyone with a heart, who has a neshomoh that is a G-dly spark. These extreme “chumros” are a decoy for the vilest of immoral behaviors. We need to call a spade a spade. And looking introspectively would also be helpful to see where we fall into such a trap.
any update on the arrest motza shabbos ?
UPDATE: Aron Rosner — the brother of a top official in the Jewish sect Lev Tahor — was arrested by the FBI and State Police at about 1 a.m. in Williamsburg on Sunday, according to sources and police officials.
Ish:
The best way for it not to be an embarrassment to K’Hal Yisrael for the world to know that this group is beyond the parameters of normal Judaism and are just sick individuals that have made their own cult.
y should innocent lives have to suffer for this none sense cult
This story is “sitting” here because this just happens to be the top trending story. YWN does not control how many people click on a story. But since hundreds of thousands have clicked on this story, and you want it off because it’s an “embarrassment”, tell us all what you are doing to save the lives of all those children. Or are they also an “embarrassment” and you think they should be ignored?
BRAVO, Moderators!
To Sakmer Bakmer
I highly doubt AMI will go near this story again. It is a reputable magazine but these cult leaders are very clever & manipulative, & the publisher was clearly fooled. I am sure he doesn’t see things the same way.
This cult has always interested me. I think the leaders of the cult – Nachman Helbrans, Meir Rosner – are victims themselves. They were indoctrinated by Erez himself… They must be arrested because they are harmful and every person is responsible for their own actions. But before you get mad and start cursing, remember, they were raised in a sick society – it’s not their own doing. Running away from a cult is really difficult.
BTW, for whoever’s interested. One of the Teller girls was at my cousin’s house for one night. The police needed a temporary home for her and being that he’s a known askan they brought her to him. She’s 12 years old and engaged… She refused to eat anything but lettuce and tried running away. My relative had to stay up with her all night to keep her inside the house. She was very intelligent; spoke Yiddish, English, Spanish and French. She had a cell phone and kept on talking to those Helbrans leaders… then she called the police on my relative that he’s holding her hostage…
I saw someone commenting above that Satmar is cult and will side with them -… As a matter of fact, Satmar does not side with them. Satmar involved the police in this matter. My above mentioned relative who kept the girl for one night is a Satmar yungerman. So think before you speak…
The Little I Know:
Your comment made me real weary – I have to tell you. While everything you say about Lev Tahor is true, please do not use words like “mental illness” on ehrliche yidden. Unlike Lev Tahor, they are not a cult. They were guided by their manhig to fight against the draft through war. Rav Shmuel Auerbach zatzal was a great leader and manhig and one must not contradict him so disrespectfully.
Sorry about my continuous rant… Just remembered, about a year ago. I stumbled across a little notice in a local heimishe newspaper. The title said something about learning the truth about Lev Tahor, along with an email address – [email protected]
I grew interested and sent an email – expecting to receive lengthy articles and photos about the horrific situation of the cult and how they abuse children. Instead, I received an intense and long brochure, with all kinds of “sources” as for their behavior, and how they are being slandered, bullied and persecuted by “rashaim”. It was real boring stuff. I wish I could’ve shown it to you – but somewhere in the middle of it I grew scared that I’ll get brainwashed too, so I deleted the entire email along with all attachments, and then cleaned my trash…
Now, when Lev Tahor was once again brought to light, I remember the story and was interested in contacting them again to receive more information… I tried the above mentioned email address but received back an email from Gmail saying “Address not found”… Hmph.
I notice now, cheshekshlomo – might refer to Shlomo Helbrans.
To all that think that this is the place to get your true torah values:
This is been going on for over 25 years. As matter of fact I have known of these wackos for over 25 years, and they were never normal. We have had many gedolim over these years that NEVER held back speaking about issues in Klal Yisroel, NOT ONCE did they discuss this disgrace. They definitely didn’t think they were normal, or were misguided, one never knows the outcome of all this publicity. Lets leave these decisions to gedolim.
“@chugibugi December 20, 2018 6:22 am at 6:22 am
Now watch how the that other Israel hating cult in Williamsburg, will make a gigantic PIDYON SHEVUIM party for their fellow crazy Israel haters,just like they made one for their own child raping monster Nechemia Weberman”
Actually, this “other cult” you are talking about is now leading the fight against “lev tuher”
But I guess when it comes to satmar no matter what they do, its wrong
welcome to the “Jew-hating cult…”
For those defending AMI magazine, first of all AMI had an agenda not to clarify the truth, only to protect that cult from supposed “loshen hora”, their intent with their visit to Lev Tahor and write-up was to write about them in a positive light when the writing was on wall; the pointers to any knowledgable journalists was clearly that it was a cult. It was imperative of AMI to learn how a cult operates so they can have a reference and not just write from their warm feelings towards these innocent looking cult members and their leaders.
I have written and spoken about this cult for years to whoever would to listen to me, ( which was not too many people…) that LT is a cult and as these things go, will just get worse. The warning bells rang in my head from the crazy things they did while they were still based in Monsey years ago and their subsequent exclusion from frum communities, first by individual Rabbonim and then of their own wishes which is extremely abnormal in either case. When did you last see a Chassidus running from Rabbonim, running from frum communities, running from family members?! Obviously the leaders had something to hide…
When I was STILL A KID I went only once to Helbranz’s house through our school’s chesed program to help out the then Mrs. Helbrans. It was before all the stories came out and I just KNEW AND FELT that something was off. I still remember the weird feeling I had from the watching the behavior of the Helbrans family member I dealt with ( I won’t mention who she was) who looked and acted like a humanoid robot, an empty shell with empty eyes, very slow moving, without any energy, while downstairs men were learning or davening with great hasmoda and later I could see why people were attracted to the “spirituality” while becoming devoid of their humanity. So I as a kid felt something was off and AMI, with all available material on cults, with adult minds, couldn’t figure out that Lev Tahor was a cult?!
Ok, so AMI made a mistake by having an agenda instead of trying to do some real investigations. We as humans are all entitled to make mistakes once in a while, however it is their responsibility to state the truth now.
Generally speaking, originally I found the AMI magazine had very bad hashkafos, they were trying to be “cool” and I stopped buying their magazines. However the two issues I bought around Succos time were just as good hashkafically as Mishpacha ( which I don’t always agree with their hashkofos either). I’m not giving labeling any magazine good or bad, but this was my experience with the AMI magazine.
With the hascuma of rabunim they were helping out here with the whole case
“Ish Hashalom” of course the gedoilim spoke out against helbrantz but unfortunately didn’t have the power to bring him down maybe he was a ש’ד, but now that he is dead its much easier
Ami Magazine should be ashamed of itself ; Their articles and hashkafa are copy pasted from the New York Times. Yiddishe kinder shouldn’t be preaching liberalism – It is a filthy, disgusting ideology, designed to reduce human and humanity to animals. It’s an ideology denying in the God given ability to choose between right and wrong. Any sane person should be outraged by liberal ideas – Ami has no business to publish such views for the heimishe oilem.
A writer recently told me that the outlet he works at prints many stories for the right price.
I have personally seen Mishpacha’s contract and they Do NOT allow any compensation in any which way or form from subjects of stories covered. Just saying.