Robles Gil acknowledges that some
members may still feel close to the
founder. “Someone can have a father who
committed sins, who abandoned his
mother, and continue loving his father,” he
said. “Someone can read the books of
Oscar Wilde and enjoy the books of Oscar
Wilde without worrying whether he was a
sinner or not.”That God chose to found the
congregation through an instrument as
flawed as Maciel is an example of the
“mystery of human liberty,” he said. “But
tell me what good work … wasn’t made by
a sinner? … this sin may be bigger and
more incoherent, but all the good things
in the world, in history, have been made
by sinners.” Acknowledging that Maciel’s
disgrace is a serious handicap for the
congregation, Robles Gil said Maciel can
no longer serve as such a “reference point”
for members. The Legionaries no longer
assign Maciel’s published works,
considered free of doctrinal error, to their
seminarians. “If you cannot present
someone as a teacher, neither can you
present his writings for the purpose of
priestly formation,” Robles Gil said.
(Catholic News Service, 2/6/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The radical Jewish group Lev Tahor, led by
Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, allegedly exerts
strict control over members’ liberty and
finances while raising children in wretched
conditions. According to financial filings,
the group accumulated more than six
million dollars in assets while operating as
a charitable organization based in a
secluded community in Ste-Agathe-des-
Monts, north of Montreal. Lev Tahor says it
receives donations from its own charities
and from supporters in Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. An
Israeli source says community members
survive mainly on government welfare
payments that are given to the leadership,
which then rations it among the forty or so
resident families.
Fourteen children from two families who
fled Lev Tahor in November 2013 were
ordered into foster care after child-welfare
workers found evidence of neglect, poor
hygiene, and psychological abuse during
visits to the community. Arnold Markowitz,
a social worker and psychotherapist with
New York’s Jewish Board of Family and
Children’s services, says Lev Tahor
members come from the orthodox Jewish
community. (Toronto Star, 12/7/13)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Leaders and members of the ultra-
orthodox Jewish community Lev Tahor
continue to deny allegations of child
abuse after members left Quebec in
advance of the court hearing in November
2013 that resulted in the temporary
removal of 14 children from the
community. Lev Tahor continues to rebuild
in Chatham, Ontario. In February, an
Ontario court upheld the Quebec ruling
for the temporary removal of 13 of the 14
children from the sect. Lev Tahor plans to
appeal the decision. If that appeal fails,
one of the leaders, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans,
says members are prepared to leave
Canada to protect their way of life. Lev
Tahor’s particular interpretation of Judaism
permeates every aspect of their lives, from
their diet to their Yiddish language.
Curriculum for both boys and girls focuses
on religious scripture and Jewish law girls
also study some math and English, and
learn household management skills. “We
try to learn practical things, what they can
use in life. We also had a class of sewing, a
class of cooking.” Lev Tahor is similar to
other ultra-orthodox groups in some ways,
but orthodox Rabbi Reuben Poupko
believes the group takes things to an
extreme and displays strong cult-like
tendencies. Members argue they are being
persecuted for their religious beliefs, and
leader Uriel Goldman says accusations that
the group is a cult are “ridiculous.”
Denis Baraby with Quebec’s Youth
Protection has concerns about the group
beyond education. “We discovered houses
that were dirty, garbage all around. The
children, they slept 4 or 5 in each
bedroom, some [on] mattresses that were
full of urine.” He and his organization say
the children were growing up in extreme
isolation, and most had no toys or the
chance to play.
Concerns over the Lev Tahor allegations
have sparked debate in Israel, where the
group has been highly criticized (Lev Tahor
believes the Torah prohibits the existence
of a Jewish State). The Knesset (Israel’s
legislature) is holding hearings into Lev
Tahor, while family members urge their
members of Parliament in Quebec to work
with Canadian officials to intervene. Israeli
families say their loved ones have been
brainwashed into joining Lev Tahor and
are unable to escape.
Fearing a backlash from Lev Tahor, former
members interviewed by Global News’ 16x9
refused to go on camera with their
comments. (Global News, 2/20/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
An investigation by the Canadian
Broadcast Corporation’s (CBC’s) the fifth
estate raises concerns with the refugee
claim of Lev Tahor’s Rabbi Shlomo
Helbrans, including worries with the
testimony of a former member and an
allegation that testimony from a former
kidnapping victim, Shai Fima, was bought
for $5,000.
The decision to grant refugee status to
Helbrans, leader of the controversial ultra-
orthodox sect, was based in part on
testimony the sect paid for, according to
what Fima told investigators. In the
investigative report, the boy says he was
paid $5,000 in 2003 to appear on the
videotape, in which he denied he had
been kidnapped and said the leader was
being unfairly persecuted. The 2003 video
was part of Helbrans’ successful refugee
application that claimed he was being
targeted in Israel for his anti-Zionist beliefs.
Fima, who did not want to appear on
camera, now says it was a lie and that he
was indeed kidnapped.
The documentary supports other
allegations reported previously that
include “underage marriage, the use of
physical discipline, and forced medication,”
which Quebec social workers also have
detailed in court. (Toronto Star, 2/28/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
On March 8, six of the 14 children included
in the 2013 Ontario, Canada court order
(upheld in February) for removal to foster
care from the controversial Lev Tahor sect
to foster care were apprehended
peacefully from a hotel on the outskirts of
Panajachel, Guatemala. In this latest
action, the children and their parents were
taken to a court in Panajachel for a hearing
with a Guatemala judge. An official from
the country’s attorney general’s office said
it is up to Canada to file the appropriate
paperwork for the children’s return.
In early March, three adults and six
children from the sect had fled to Trinidad
and Tobago, while a second group
travelled to Guatemala. The February
ruling in which a Provincial Court judge
upheld the Ontario court order had
prompted the latest departure of those
members, who were under strict
conditions not to leave the Chatham Kent
area.
Yoil Weingarten, a member of the Jewish
sect who travelled with the family from
Canada, expressed sadness at the fact that
police apprehended the family on Friday
evening, the beginning of Sabbath, a
sacred day in the Jewish faith. And the
father of the children also spoke to the
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 33
members may still feel close to the
founder. “Someone can have a father who
committed sins, who abandoned his
mother, and continue loving his father,” he
said. “Someone can read the books of
Oscar Wilde and enjoy the books of Oscar
Wilde without worrying whether he was a
sinner or not.”That God chose to found the
congregation through an instrument as
flawed as Maciel is an example of the
“mystery of human liberty,” he said. “But
tell me what good work … wasn’t made by
a sinner? … this sin may be bigger and
more incoherent, but all the good things
in the world, in history, have been made
by sinners.” Acknowledging that Maciel’s
disgrace is a serious handicap for the
congregation, Robles Gil said Maciel can
no longer serve as such a “reference point”
for members. The Legionaries no longer
assign Maciel’s published works,
considered free of doctrinal error, to their
seminarians. “If you cannot present
someone as a teacher, neither can you
present his writings for the purpose of
priestly formation,” Robles Gil said.
(Catholic News Service, 2/6/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The radical Jewish group Lev Tahor, led by
Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, allegedly exerts
strict control over members’ liberty and
finances while raising children in wretched
conditions. According to financial filings,
the group accumulated more than six
million dollars in assets while operating as
a charitable organization based in a
secluded community in Ste-Agathe-des-
Monts, north of Montreal. Lev Tahor says it
receives donations from its own charities
and from supporters in Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. An
Israeli source says community members
survive mainly on government welfare
payments that are given to the leadership,
which then rations it among the forty or so
resident families.
Fourteen children from two families who
fled Lev Tahor in November 2013 were
ordered into foster care after child-welfare
workers found evidence of neglect, poor
hygiene, and psychological abuse during
visits to the community. Arnold Markowitz,
a social worker and psychotherapist with
New York’s Jewish Board of Family and
Children’s services, says Lev Tahor
members come from the orthodox Jewish
community. (Toronto Star, 12/7/13)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Leaders and members of the ultra-
orthodox Jewish community Lev Tahor
continue to deny allegations of child
abuse after members left Quebec in
advance of the court hearing in November
2013 that resulted in the temporary
removal of 14 children from the
community. Lev Tahor continues to rebuild
in Chatham, Ontario. In February, an
Ontario court upheld the Quebec ruling
for the temporary removal of 13 of the 14
children from the sect. Lev Tahor plans to
appeal the decision. If that appeal fails,
one of the leaders, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans,
says members are prepared to leave
Canada to protect their way of life. Lev
Tahor’s particular interpretation of Judaism
permeates every aspect of their lives, from
their diet to their Yiddish language.
Curriculum for both boys and girls focuses
on religious scripture and Jewish law girls
also study some math and English, and
learn household management skills. “We
try to learn practical things, what they can
use in life. We also had a class of sewing, a
class of cooking.” Lev Tahor is similar to
other ultra-orthodox groups in some ways,
but orthodox Rabbi Reuben Poupko
believes the group takes things to an
extreme and displays strong cult-like
tendencies. Members argue they are being
persecuted for their religious beliefs, and
leader Uriel Goldman says accusations that
the group is a cult are “ridiculous.”
Denis Baraby with Quebec’s Youth
Protection has concerns about the group
beyond education. “We discovered houses
that were dirty, garbage all around. The
children, they slept 4 or 5 in each
bedroom, some [on] mattresses that were
full of urine.” He and his organization say
the children were growing up in extreme
isolation, and most had no toys or the
chance to play.
Concerns over the Lev Tahor allegations
have sparked debate in Israel, where the
group has been highly criticized (Lev Tahor
believes the Torah prohibits the existence
of a Jewish State). The Knesset (Israel’s
legislature) is holding hearings into Lev
Tahor, while family members urge their
members of Parliament in Quebec to work
with Canadian officials to intervene. Israeli
families say their loved ones have been
brainwashed into joining Lev Tahor and
are unable to escape.
Fearing a backlash from Lev Tahor, former
members interviewed by Global News’ 16x9
refused to go on camera with their
comments. (Global News, 2/20/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
An investigation by the Canadian
Broadcast Corporation’s (CBC’s) the fifth
estate raises concerns with the refugee
claim of Lev Tahor’s Rabbi Shlomo
Helbrans, including worries with the
testimony of a former member and an
allegation that testimony from a former
kidnapping victim, Shai Fima, was bought
for $5,000.
The decision to grant refugee status to
Helbrans, leader of the controversial ultra-
orthodox sect, was based in part on
testimony the sect paid for, according to
what Fima told investigators. In the
investigative report, the boy says he was
paid $5,000 in 2003 to appear on the
videotape, in which he denied he had
been kidnapped and said the leader was
being unfairly persecuted. The 2003 video
was part of Helbrans’ successful refugee
application that claimed he was being
targeted in Israel for his anti-Zionist beliefs.
Fima, who did not want to appear on
camera, now says it was a lie and that he
was indeed kidnapped.
The documentary supports other
allegations reported previously that
include “underage marriage, the use of
physical discipline, and forced medication,”
which Quebec social workers also have
detailed in court. (Toronto Star, 2/28/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
On March 8, six of the 14 children included
in the 2013 Ontario, Canada court order
(upheld in February) for removal to foster
care from the controversial Lev Tahor sect
to foster care were apprehended
peacefully from a hotel on the outskirts of
Panajachel, Guatemala. In this latest
action, the children and their parents were
taken to a court in Panajachel for a hearing
with a Guatemala judge. An official from
the country’s attorney general’s office said
it is up to Canada to file the appropriate
paperwork for the children’s return.
In early March, three adults and six
children from the sect had fled to Trinidad
and Tobago, while a second group
travelled to Guatemala. The February
ruling in which a Provincial Court judge
upheld the Ontario court order had
prompted the latest departure of those
members, who were under strict
conditions not to leave the Chatham Kent
area.
Yoil Weingarten, a member of the Jewish
sect who travelled with the family from
Canada, expressed sadness at the fact that
police apprehended the family on Friday
evening, the beginning of Sabbath, a
sacred day in the Jewish faith. And the
father of the children also spoke to the
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 33
