The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on Tuesday called on Israeli members of the extremist ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor, or “Pure Heart” cult to “come home,” offering each family unprecedented absorption benefits.
In the aftermath of the drowning of Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, leader of the “Jewish Taliban” cult Lev Tahor in Mexico, the ultra-Orthodox press in Israel has been rife with reports regarding the location of his funeral and burial, and speculation as to which member of the cult will succeed him as leader of the reclusive…
To the roughly 200 Lev Tahor adherents who followed their charismatic rabbi from country to country, Shlomo Helbrans knew the path to eternal truth.
The saga of a cult of ultra-Orthodox fundamentalist Jews whose controversial practices have led them to wander the world from Israel to the U.S., Canada, Guatemala and finally to Mexico could be heading into a dramatic final chapter.
Rabbi Shlomo Erez Helbrans, 55, leader of the “Lev Tahor” (“Pure Heart”) ultra-Orthodox sect, was found drowned in a river in the Mexican state of Chiapas on Friday, according to local media.
The former mayor of a town in western Guatemala has been sentenced to a year in prison for forcing out a community of ultra-Orthodox Jews in 2014, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Oratorio, Guatemala – A community of Orthodox Jews living outside Guatemala’s capital moved out Sunday, claiming persecution because of their faith.