Rabbi Shea Hecht, a longtime activist anti-cult activist, gave an update on the goings-on surrounding the Lev Tahor group, praising Guatemalan authorities for taking action.

In a video message, Rabbi Hecht emphasized that the primary reason 180 Jewish children remain in Guatemalan foster care is the refusal of Lev Tahor members to leave the cult or distance themselves from its leadership. He urged accountability, stressing that the group’s intransigence has directly contributed to the children’s prolonged separation from their families.

Beyond the ongoing custody crisis, Rabbi Hecht noted Lev Tahor’s troubling history, citing multiple disappearances under suspicious circumstances and a series of unexplained deaths within the community. These disturbing patterns, he argued, underscore the urgent need for continued scrutiny of Lev Tahor’s activities.

Rabbi Hecht, who has spent decades assisting individuals trapped in extremist groups, reaffirmed his commitment to exposing the dangers posed by such organizations. He commended Guatemalan officials for their firm stance, describing their intervention as a necessary step in safeguarding vulnerable children from further harm.

Over the years, YWN has spoken to dozens of victims of the Lev Tahor cult who managed to escape. To say they were terribly abused sexually, suffering constant violent beatings, forced starvation and other horrific abuse, would be an understatement. The mothers have been told to “shecht” their children if authorities were to take them away.

Lev Tahor was founded and led by Shlomo Helbrans, from the 1980s until his drowning death in Mexico in 2017. The leadership then moved into the hands of his son Nachman Helbrans, along with Mayer Rosner, and Yankel and Yoel Weingarten – who were even more radical and aggressive than the late founder. (Interesting note that Helbrans’ daughter died two weeks after his drowning from an “allergic reaction”.)

A federal judge has sentenced Lev Tahor cult leaders Nachman Helbrans (a son of Shlomo) and Mayer Rosner to 144 months (12 years) in prison followed by 5 years of supervised released for the 2018 Shabbos kidnapping of two children who escaped the cult.

Back in November of 2021, Helbrans and Rosner were found guilty on all six charges they faced, including conspiracy to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping.

U.S. District Judge Nelson Roman handed down sentences of 14 years for Shmiel and Yakov Weingarten, and 12 years for Yoil Weingarten – another three cult leaders who assumed leadership after Helbrans senior drowned to death.

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 Magazine 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. Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter of 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.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)