Religion and Politics

Dogged By Controversy, A Jewish Sect Is On The Move Again

At NPR, Ted Robbins reports on the struggle of a small Jewish sect, Lev Tahor, or “pure heart” in Hebrew, to find a permanent home. Led by Shlomo Helbrans, a rabbi who spent time in prison for kidnapping, the group fled Canada after being accused of child abuse and are now considering leaving their latest home outside Guatemala City. Uriel Goldman, spokesman for Lev Tahor, said, “Leave us alone. This is minimum request.”  David Ouellette, spokesman for the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada, told Robbins: “It’s clearly a cult, and certainly not anything that resembles or is representative of any stream of Judaism.”

Read at NPR

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