The Jewish Taliban

Religion allied with a patriarchal tradition that has become custom make for a pretty miserable combination in framing the lives of women as chattels to be controlled, and abused or misused in a manner seen to be compatible with the tradition and the religion interpreted to reflect the tradition, with orthodoxy meeting congenially with fundamentalism.

There are cultish religious groups and there are religions whose writings lend themselves to modern interpretations of ancient instructions that play into the hands of men wishing to control the lives of women and their offspring, and women willing enough to become victimized by controlling social mores that bear little relation to modern issues of equality and independence for women.

From multiple wives for single men who portray themselves as power figures in historical societies that claimed this was for the protection of women, not the libidinous satisfaction of men, to current communes like breakaway Mormon sects, fundamentalist Muslims and Jewish ultra-orthodox, these cults preferring to refer to themselves as religious cultures, represent the dark, dingy and nasty side of human nature.

Members of Lev Tahor have left their community in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Quebec, for Chatham, Ontario. Alain Roberge/LaPresse

"We gathered evidence that there was important child neglect within the community and there was also psychological violence made toward the children in many ways. The basic needs of the children were not necessarily well provided for. For sure we are worried by the fact that they fled Quebec to go to Ontario", explained Denis Baraby, director of youth protection for the Laurentians region.

Quebec's Youth Protection Act was called into play when families in the cult commune called Lev Tahor headed by its leader Shlomo Helbrans, a man with a criminal record for kidnapping a young boy in Brooklyn, and who had been deported to Israel after his prison sentence was served, was brought to the attention of the youth protection authorities.

The cult is known in Israel, and referred to as the Jewish Taliban for insisting that women belonging to the commune wear black robes covering their bodies and their heads, similar to the Muslim burqa. Similarly, they, like Muslim women in countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, are expected to remain in the home, performing household tasks, and not seen out and about in public. The faces are uncovered, but the women are shrouded in black.

Mr. Helbrans had been granted refugee status in Canada in 2004, on the grounds he could face persecution in Israel as a backlash for his anti-Zionist viewpoint. Despite an appeal by the federal Minister of Citizenship to refuse refugee status. The judge in that case noted that Mr. Helbrans believes the existence of Israel insults the Torah, for Israel cannot exist until the Messiah appears.

Therefore Israel should vanish, and Jews accept Arab domination. This is a creed dearly held by some ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups.

In 2011, authorities intercepted two young girls travelling from Israel to join Lev Tahor. They had been alerted by an uncle in Israel who had obtained a court order that the girls be returned for fear they would be forced into early marriage, as teens. It was a Jewish community social services agency in Montreal, however, that brought about intervention in the cult this past summer.

An investigation ensued revealing that children in the group were suffering from poor dental health and skin problems; hygiene appears to have been overlooked, baths were rare events. Nor were the children being exposed to a regular school curriculum, speaking only Yiddish and Hebrew. Concerns relating to forced marriages and teen pregnancies were channelled to provincial police.

Six children had been removed from the community when their father moved to Israel, abandoning the sect, and reporting that the children were suffering from neglect. Some of the commune families were facing court dates. On the cusp of their court appearances, overnight the entire community, including all of the 120 children within the community had disappeared in the night.

Three chartered buses had arrived in the wee  hours to take them all overnight to Chatham Ontario.

The director of Lev Tahor in a telephone conversation from Chatham claimed they were being persecuted by child protection authorities. Travelling at night, he claimed, made it more comfortable for the children who slept during the long journey. "To learn the full curriculum in Quebec exactly like in the public school is a problem for religious people", he explained.

Whereas in Ontario "they are respecting freedom of religion". There, he is confident, their own system of schooling will be accepted. "We didn't run away, Three or four months ago we checked out a property in Chatham, because we were planning to leave anyway", he said, denying that girls were being forced into marriage.

David Ouellette, public affairs director at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs advised that Jewish community services in Montreal had been involved in exposing concerns to authorities respecting Lev Tahor. "They are a sect. They are not reflective of Judaic values or any stream of Judaism. They are completely out of the norm."

And now Quebec's headache has been solved; their loss is Ontario's gain. Tylenol, anyone?