Shlomo Helbrans

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by asoapymessromances

by asoapymessromances

Shlomo Erez Helbrans (Hebrew:שלמה הלברנץ; 5 November 1962 –7 July 2017) was an Israeli-born anti-Zionist religious leader. Hewas the founder and Rebbe of the Lev Tahor Jewish sect.

Originally having established hiscommunity in Israel, which he claimed to have modeled after theSatmar Hasidic movement, Helbrans moved his non-Zionist community tothe United States, where he was convicted in 1994 for kidnapping, forwhich he served two years in prison. During this time he was accusedby a few former community members of child abuse, serving medicineand psychological pills, and using various punishments on hisfollowers. He was deported back to Israel, but in 2001 he fled toCanada, where he reestablished his community inSainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, applying for and attaining refugeestatus for himself two years later. In November 2013, amid clasheswith the education authorities, most members of the group left forOntario, again claiming religious persecution.

On 7 July 2017, Helbrans drowned whileperforming a ritual immersion in a river in Mexico at the age of 54.

Life

A native of Jerusalem′s KiryatHaYovel neighborhood, Helbrans was born as Erez Shlomo Elbarnes toPinhas and Yocheved Elbarnes, secular Kurdish Jews. Around his 13thbirthday he became religious, and then studied at a yeshiva inJerusalem.

In 1988 he was part of the 'Arachim'movement, who preach and advocate Jewish religious studies forsecular Jews. After several years, he established an independentyeshiva named Lev Tahor.

In 1990, Helbrans moved his communityto the United States, which he claimed was due to his anti-Zionistviews, and opened a small Lev Tahor yeshiva in Brooklyn where he gaveJewish study lessons to young students.

In 1994, Helbrans was accused ofassisting a 13-year-old boy named Shay Fima (or Shay Reuven) to gointo hiding from his mother, a secular woman who had brought him tostudy at the yeshiva for his bar mitzvah. The subsequent religiousconflict that ensued led to Fima's becoming emotionally attached toHelbrans, who denied any involvement in the boy's disappearance. Hewas arrested but released, allegedly due to political reasons, withthe district attorney wishing not to clash with the ultra-Orthodoxcommunity of New York before the elections. Two years later he wasarrested again, after being implicated during a wired interview withthe father, in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.During the trial, Shay Fima Reuven took the stand as a witness,described his running and hiding, and completely denied theinvolvement of Helbrans, but rather claimed that he had run from hismother who beat him. Helbrans was found guilty, convicted, andimprisoned for two years. He was originally sentenced to four to 12years in prison, but in June 1996 an appeals court, while notaccepting his innocence, reduced the sentence to two to six years dueto good faith. Three days later, he was placed in a work releaseprogram. After protests, since Rabbi Helbrans lost his permanentresident status and was not allowed to work in the US, he was movedback to prison until the end of his two-year term.

Accusations of child abuse and otheratrocities committed inside his community with "cult-like"features, were prevalent in the media dealing with the story. Thehigh-profile case drew much attention in Israel and in the U.S., andgained further attention when Helbrans successfully convinced NewYork prison authorities to waive their requirement that all prisonersbe shaved for a photograph upon entering prison, a violation ofstrict Jewish law in his opinion, and to accept a computer-generatedimage of what he would have looked like clean-shaven instead.

In November 1996, following the StateParole Board decision to release Helbrans after two years in prison,the case rose to near scandal with suspicions that the Patakiadministration was providing him special treatment.

After his release from prison, Helbransran a yeshiva in Monsey, New York. Following the loss of status in2000[further explanation needed] Helbrans was deported to Israel,where he was to be sentenced for various accusations by people whosefamily members had joined the community Lev Tahor.

Helbrans subsequently fled to Canada,where in 2003 he was granted refugee status, claiming that he wouldbe persecuted in Israel due to his religious and political beliefs.Some members of his community fled to Guatemala.

Marriage and children

Much about Shlomo's married life andchildren is shrouded in mystery. Helbrans married his wife MalkaAzulai also a baalas teshuva from Kiryat Ata in an arranged match,when he was 17 years old. Years later Malka left the cult and escapedto Israel after she was severely beaten by community members afterspeaking out against rampant child abuse within the community. Theirdaughter Sarah Feige Teller also escaped the community with her twodaughters after she had been excommunicated for two years. SarahFeige is the wife of Aron Aryeh Teller, a radical and head of theyeshiva in Lev Tahor. Miriam Helbrans, Shlomo's second daughterdied when she was 24 years old after suffering from a severe allergicreaction to sesame. Her brother and the current leader of Lev TahorNachman allegedly forced her to consume bread containing sesame.

Lev Tahor

Helbrans' 200-person community, LevTahor, is considered extreme and radical by other Jewish groups. InIsrael, it is nicknamed "Jewish Taliban" and "theTaliban sect." The group has followers in Israel,particularly in the city of Bet Shemesh, in addition to Europe, theU.S., Canada, and Guatemala.

Another convicted rabbi, Eliur Chen,had found refuge in the Lev Tahor community while fleeing theauthorities.

During November 2013, Quebecauthorities summoned Lev Tahor members to court on allegations thattheir homeschooling was not compliant with Quebec's educationstandards. The court case also called for the community to releasethe 14 children of one of Helbrans' sons due to his previously havingleft the community. A few days later, community members fled toOntario, settling in the municipality of Chatham-Kent. On 27 November2013, a youth court judge in Quebec ordered that 14 children from thecommunity be placed temporarily in foster care, undergo medicalexams, and receive psychological support. The hearing in the St.Jérôme courthouse, took place in the absence of the Lev Tahorparents, who sent a lawyer instead. The order was not immediatelyenforced because the parents, one of whom was Helbrans' son who hadpreviously left the community, were residents of Ontario, triggeringa long legal battle. However, on 3 February 2014, an Ontario Judgedecided to send back the 14 children to Quebec. While pending anappeal, the parents and children left Canada to Guatemala and otherlocations. Some were returned, triggering another legal battle, stillpending.

Death

On Friday 7 July 2017, Helbrans wasfound drowned in a river in the Mexican state of Chiapas. His bodywas pulled from the river by rescue forces on Friday afternoon afterhe was swept away by strong currents while performing the MikveMitzva before Shabbat. He was 54 years old. Insiders believe that hecommitted suicide as evidence of his abuse became more evident andwere close to being published. In a letter he wrote to his followersshortly before his death he writes that he has no reason to liveanymore since they had rejected him from serving as their Rebbe.

Successor

Nachman Helbrans succeeded his fatheras the leader of Lev Tahor. Escapees from Lev Tahor describe Nachmanas ruling with an iron fist espousing views even more extreme thanhis father. Nachman put a ban on the consumption of fish, meat oreggs, allowing his followers to eat only bread, fruits andvegetables. Nachman also instituted marriage arrangements for twelveyear old boys and girls. Allegedly Nachman was also directly involvedin his sister Miriam's death, as he forced her to eat bread thatcontains sesame although she was known to have a severe allergicreaction to sesames. Nachman attributed her death to a lack of faithin him. His motives for causing her death remain unknown.