Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Page 14
The Rabbi and the Sex Cult: Power Expansion in the Formation of a
Cult
Richard Ofshe, Ph. D.
University of California, Berkeley
Abstract
Two central problems in the study of the development and operation of both
religious and secular high-control organizations (cults) are how such groups
become established initially and how individuals are induced to cede
substantial personal autonomy to the leader or to the group‘s normative
order. Little is known about the early period in the formation of most cults or
about the tactics leaders use to establish sufficient authority to build their
organizations. Often, this early history is rewritten as the organization
develops and the historical record is lost. Similarly, there are few studies that
report on the induction process when the target is recruited directly by the
leader. The typical study of cult induction practices follows a recruit through a
system that processes large numbers of people and treats the leader as a
nearly, if not completely, superhuman figure, rarely glimpsed and distant.
This paper reports on the study of a small organization in which the leader
was directly involved in the recruitment of new members. It concentrates on
techniques used by the leader to get potential followers to cede their
decision-making autonomy to him, and on the tactics he developed to effect
dominance over them.
Introduction
This paper analyzes one aspect of the social organization of a small, nameless cult that
existed for over a decade in a United States city. It reports on how the effects of certain
social-structural conditions, combined with a set of social influence techniques, allowed a
cleric to extend the limits of his traditional authority in order to build a cult. The cleric, a
rabbi, developed a method for the recruitment of followers for the nascent cult, established
a high degree of control over those he recruited, and exploited diem. This report will
describe and analyze the tactics he used to induct and exploit one woman, Eve.1
The principle, if not the singular, activity for female members of the cult was to participate
in the acting-out of the rabbi‘s sexual fantasies. Viewed from the outside, the cult seemed
to be little more than a vehicle for the expression of these fantasies. In order to create the
vehicle, the cleric had to induce his female followers to renounce or suspend their prior
values and commitments. This report will describe and analyze the methods that the cleric
used to expand the scope of his normal authority. The rabbi‘s personal authority allowed his
dictates to supersede traditional teachings, caused his followers to redefine moral rules, and
induced behavior completely at odds with the moral precepts from which the cleric‘s original
authority was derived.
Although high-control cult organizations typically start through an expansion of the
founder‘s established expertise or authority, the literature lacks detailed studies of the first
steps of this process. In some cases, the expansion is accomplished by the assertion of a
claim to expertise on a new subject by someone who has prestige based on other
accomplishments. For example, Scientology‘s development was based on science fiction
writer L. Ron Hubbard‘s claim to have discovered a new therapeutic system (Wallis, 1977),
and Synanon was built on Charles Diederich‘s addition of group psychotherapy techniques to
The Rabbi and the Sex Cult: Power Expansion in the Formation of a
Cult
Richard Ofshe, Ph. D.
University of California, Berkeley
Abstract
Two central problems in the study of the development and operation of both
religious and secular high-control organizations (cults) are how such groups
become established initially and how individuals are induced to cede
substantial personal autonomy to the leader or to the group‘s normative
order. Little is known about the early period in the formation of most cults or
about the tactics leaders use to establish sufficient authority to build their
organizations. Often, this early history is rewritten as the organization
develops and the historical record is lost. Similarly, there are few studies that
report on the induction process when the target is recruited directly by the
leader. The typical study of cult induction practices follows a recruit through a
system that processes large numbers of people and treats the leader as a
nearly, if not completely, superhuman figure, rarely glimpsed and distant.
This paper reports on the study of a small organization in which the leader
was directly involved in the recruitment of new members. It concentrates on
techniques used by the leader to get potential followers to cede their
decision-making autonomy to him, and on the tactics he developed to effect
dominance over them.
Introduction
This paper analyzes one aspect of the social organization of a small, nameless cult that
existed for over a decade in a United States city. It reports on how the effects of certain
social-structural conditions, combined with a set of social influence techniques, allowed a
cleric to extend the limits of his traditional authority in order to build a cult. The cleric, a
rabbi, developed a method for the recruitment of followers for the nascent cult, established
a high degree of control over those he recruited, and exploited diem. This report will
describe and analyze the tactics he used to induct and exploit one woman, Eve.1
The principle, if not the singular, activity for female members of the cult was to participate
in the acting-out of the rabbi‘s sexual fantasies. Viewed from the outside, the cult seemed
to be little more than a vehicle for the expression of these fantasies. In order to create the
vehicle, the cleric had to induce his female followers to renounce or suspend their prior
values and commitments. This report will describe and analyze the methods that the cleric
used to expand the scope of his normal authority. The rabbi‘s personal authority allowed his
dictates to supersede traditional teachings, caused his followers to redefine moral rules, and
induced behavior completely at odds with the moral precepts from which the cleric‘s original
authority was derived.
Although high-control cult organizations typically start through an expansion of the
founder‘s established expertise or authority, the literature lacks detailed studies of the first
steps of this process. In some cases, the expansion is accomplished by the assertion of a
claim to expertise on a new subject by someone who has prestige based on other
accomplishments. For example, Scientology‘s development was based on science fiction
writer L. Ron Hubbard‘s claim to have discovered a new therapeutic system (Wallis, 1977),
and Synanon was built on Charles Diederich‘s addition of group psychotherapy techniques to
