[Sources: Jerusalem Post, BBC, al Jazeera, Times of Israel, Wikipedia. See sources following.]

Recently mentioned here was an Israeli cult practicing child abuse and many other atrocities, evidenced by testimony of victims.

A Jerusalem Post article is the primary source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-856407.

This is such a convoluted and salacious story that it’s hard to keep up. I’m sure I’ve left some out.

The anti-Zionist cult is called Lev Tahor—Hebrew for Pure Heart—claims to be a fundamentalist Judaism. Founded by Shlomo Helbrans, a Kurdish Jew, in Jerusalem in 1980.

The self-styled “rabbi” served two years in prison in the US for kidnapping after being convicted in 1994. He was sentenced to four to 12 years but that was reduced on appeal to two to six years and released to a work program. He was stripped of his green card status and returned to prison.

On Lev Tahor’s migration to Canada, they claimed refugee status and set the cult up as a non-profit charity, netting six million dollars in assets.

After charges of child abuse were laid, three LevTahorians fled to Trinidad and Tobago with six children. They were deported back to Canada.

Timeline. Israel: 1988-1990. USA: 1990-2000. Israel again: 2000-2003. Canada: 2003-2013. Guatemala: 2013-2017. México: 2017. North Macedonia: 2021-2022. Bosnia 2022. Deported from Romania, Turkiye, Albania and Moldova.

In 2025, Colombia rescued 17 minors, including five with Interpol notices. Instead of forming a planned colony, nine LevTahorians were deported to the US.

Lev Tahor is also a doomsday cult, preparing for mass slaughter if authorities intervened.

Forced child marriages are the least of Lev Tahor. Children can be punished by being forbidden to speak—anything—for a year…and never regain their ability to speak.

“One of the hallmarks of the group is its requirement for females from the age of three to wear a full-body cloak, which it argues is for modesty.

In public, females are seen to also cover their faces apart from their eyes. The practice has earned Lev Tahor the nickname the Jewish Taliban.”

Lev Tahor practices equal opportunity child rape, both boys and girls. The public rules are that men and women cannot touch each other before marriage—children are apparently enough for satisfaction. No education, not even the Torah or Talmud, only “Rabbi” Shlemiel’s writings.

Helbrans claimed to be a messiah come from heaven to “mend” the Jews. In other words, a consummate conman. And, you know, people will believe anything.

Crazy vegetarians which victims believe was intended to keep them weak. Meanwhile, the “rabbi” feasted on everything.

Heibrans drowned in a river in México in 2017 under mysterious circumstances, said to be a ritual immersion. (Yeah, right.) The line of succession elevated his even-more-extreme son.

Nachmann became the cult leader.  Nachmann, along with another senior leader, Mayer Rosner, gets busted by Interpol and the FBI in 2018, charged with kidnapping dead dad’s two grandchildren after their mother had fled Lev Tahor.

They were convicted of white slavery, trafficking for purposes of prostitution. The two were sentenced to 12 years. Three accomplices were also convicted, in addition, of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Part of the group moved to Huixtla, Chiapas in México, where they adopted drug running for fun.

“An order from a leader of the group, instructed mothers to kill their children - apparently with poison - if welfare services came to take them away…it then instructs the women to kill themselves after they have killed the children.”

Meanwhile, in New York, two Lev Tahor leaders were convicted for kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a minor—a 14-year old girl.

“Some members of the anti-Zionist group applied for political asylum in Iran in 2018, claiming religious persecution in Israel. Documents presented to a US federal court in 2019 showed that leaders of the cult swore allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”

They only got as far as Kurdistan in Iraq and were deported to Turkiye.

In 2022, the Lev Tahor compound was found by a four-man team of ex-Mossad agents in ironic justice. While in custody of the Mexican la migra, the 30 LevTahorians forced their way past guards and escaped.

Here’s the escape. Some great disguises! Must be Hallowe'en...

Both leaders and members fled back to their farm in Guatemala. However, police took 160 children from their compound. Lev Tahor members broke into the shelter where the children were held and managed to grab several children. They were repelled by police and all children returned.

This is in no way any practice of Judaism or any other religion. There are malicious nutjobs everywhere preying on people who are empty and need something, anything, to give purpose to their lives. It appalls me that Lev Tahor is called ultra-Orthodox or a sect  or fundamentalist or even Jewish.

They are nothing more than a fringe cult with no basis is any religion. Accused of child abuse, drug use and forced marriages of teenaged girls to men 20 years older as well as psychological and physical abuse of girls and child rape. “A pregnant 17-year-old girl said she was beaten by her brother, sexually abused by her father and married by force to a 30-year-old man when she was 15.”

Victims have formed the Lev Tahor Survivors support group. They estimate 350 cult members.

Sources.

Post, ASEANnow.

Overview.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-856407

https://www.haaretz.com/haaretz-explains/2024-12-24/ty-article-magazine/.premium/what-is-lev-tahor-and-why-is-it-classified-as-a-cult/

Helbrans

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/12/nyregion/rabbi-is-deported-5-years-after-conviction-lawyer-says.html

Canada

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lev-tahor-leader-shlomo-helbrans-refugee-case-questioned-1.2553308

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lev-tahor-families-in-trinidad-to-be-returned-to-canada-1.2562275

Colombia

https://apnews.com/article/colombia-lev-tahor-ultra-orthodox-jewish-sect-161c2367da894ef5ca45ccbc618283af

Child marriage

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63942615

Guatemal

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/world/americas/guatemala-raid-ultra-orthodox-jewish-sect.html

Jewish Taliban

https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-12-06/lev-tahor-a-sect-on-the-run-tracking-the-jewish-taliban-from-israel-to-colombia.html

Diet

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/former-victim-who-escaped-jungle-29131595

Leader drowned

https://www.timesofisrael.com/leader-of-lev-tahor-cult-drowns-in-mexico-report/

Leader #2

https://www.timesofisrael.com/lev-tahor-cult-leader-sentenced-to-12-years-for-kidnapping-child-exploitation/

Drugs!

https://montrealgazette.com/news/true-crime/true-crime-byline/true-crime-byline-reporting-on-lev-tahor-with-jason-madger

Kill your children!

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402408

Asylum in Iran

https://www.timesofisrael.com/leaders-of-fringe-ultra-orthodox-cult-lev-tahor-requested-asylum-in-iran/

Mossad

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/1664443548-ex-mossad-agent-describes-lev-tahor-raid

Preggers at 17

https://forward.com/fast-forward/192869/police-allege-physical-and-psychological-abuse-amo/

Lev Tahor Survivors

https://www.dryveup.com/mission/118

They're Jews regardless as Jewish means both a religion and a people.

Why exactly did you post this? I have a theory but you can say.

In any case, this bizarre group of Jews represents a tiny portion of one percent of the global population of Jewish people who are in themselves a tiny minortty compared to Christians. Muslims. Buddhists, Hindus. etc.

Also of course very much unlike the Taliban this group has ZERO CHANCE of ever becoming even remotely popular with Jewish people or ever being any kind of significant political force in the world.

So again -- why did you post this?!?

In New York City, the hassid Jews were always getting busted in gay bath, houses and stuff. And tons of underage stuff too.

It’s just not that great to ever be completely orthodox and then some within a major faith group.

religion is toxic above a medium dose.

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

They're Jews regardless as Jewish means both a religion and a people.

Why exactly did you post this? I have a theory but you can say.

In any case, this bizarre group of Jews represents a tiny portion of one percent of the global population of Jewish people who are in themselves a tiny minortty compared to Christians. Muslims. Buddhists, Hindus. etc.

Also of course very much unlike the Taliban this group has ZERO CHANCE of ever becoming even remotely popular with Jewish people or ever being any kind of significant political force in the world.

So again -- why did you post this?!?

Honestly, as you can see from my two paragraphs of disclaimers, of course I know this cult has nothing to do with genuine, historical Judaism.

Why did I post this? Simple reason, I'm fascinated by weirdness and Lev Tahor is far out there.

I would not have known about them at all if another poster didn't point to the Jerusalem Times article. Fed my research instincts.

They're NOT Jews! No one can defend or tolerate this kind of behaviour.

Stop it already.

How hard is it to learn?

I think in your case that you DO know but stubbornly cling to cringe-worthy willful ignorance.

You don't need to follow the religion of Judaism in any way to be a Jew!

40 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Stop it already.

How hard is it to learn?

I think in your case that you DO know but stubbornly cling to cringe-worthy willful ignorance.

You don't need to follow the religion of Judaism in any way to be a Jew!

Nonsense! That isn't true of any other religion, why Judaism? Do you really want this particular lost tribe?!?

4 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Nonsense! That isn't true of any other religion, why Judaism? Do you really want this particular lost tribe?!?

Nothing to do with that group specifically. It's about the definition of what is a Jew. For someone who is so obviously obsessed with Jewish topics (with questionable motivation), your ignorance about this BASIC FACT of how Jewish is an ETHNORELIGOUS group and DIFFERNT from other major religions in that way is BIZARRE (and very annoying).

Sorry to annoy you! Enthnoreligious? I should say not! Eastern European Jewry and Ethiopian Jewry and Middle Eastern Jewry. They're as different as Catholics in different country.

I have already explained why I am "obsessed" with Israel. Because I know, from personal experience, that Jews can shine in the world instead of being murderous warmongers. So much of the world could benefit from Jewish influence & knowledge. Instead, here we are, Jing.

(And I don't find you even mildly annoying!)

1 hour ago, unblocktheplanet said:

I have already explained why I am "obsessed" with Israel. Because I know, from personal experience, that Jews can shine in the world instead of being murderous warmongers. So much of the world could benefit from Jewish influence & knowledge. Instead, here we are, Jing.

Israel would prosper/shine to much higher degree if other Countries would stop attacking Israel .

Iranian backed militias were chucking rockets into Israel on a near daily basis prior to Oct 7 th .

Israel is defending itself from groups that continually attack Israel .

Jews would "shine" more brightly if the attacks stopped

11 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

In New York City, the hassid Jews were always getting busted in gay bath, houses and stuff. And tons of underage stuff too.

It’s just not that great to ever be completely orthodox and then some within a major faith group.

religion is toxic above a medium dose.

Are gay bath houses illegal in New York ?

A.I check :

"Based on search results, there is no evidence to support the claim that Hasidic Jews in New York City were frequently arrested in gay bathhouses."

Oh look the Stormfront corner of this Forum.

During the 80s AIDS era, there was a funny story in New York Post about how I see were Picketing a gay bath house and a bunch of them came running out

It’s a running joke in the New York area, but they’re all perverts

5 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

During the 80s AIDS era, there was a funny story in New York Post about how I see were Picketing a gay bath house and a bunch of them came running out

It’s a running joke in the New York area, but they’re all perverts

Like Catholic Priests. And the goofy Hasids arent even mainstream