The Cult Dossier · No. 098 · Jewish / Islamic-Derived

Lev Tahor

Pure Heart

1988 – present · Israel; Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec; Chatham-Kent, Ontario; Guatemala; Mexico; Colombia

XI. THERAPY, POLITICS AND THE SMALL GROUPS

Fully religious — extreme Haredi Jewish sect (rejected by mainstream Haredi authorities)

Who led it

SHLOMO HELBRANS (died 2017), who drowned in Mexico during a ritual immersion; succeeded by his son NACHMAN HELBRANS and by Mayer Rosner.

What it worshipped and taught

An extreme anti-Zionist Haredi Judaism. Women and girls from the age of three wear a full black covering (the jalabiya) leaving only the face; girls are married at 13 or younger to much older men; secular education is prohibited; and the community of some 200 to 300 relocates constantly to evade child welfare authorities. Israeli and Canadian court findings document beatings, confinement, forced fasting and the administration of melatonin and antipsychotics to children.

Who was in it

Shlomo Helbrans; Nachman Helbrans; Mayer Rosner; Yakov Weingarten; the mother who escaped in 2018 and whose two children were then abducted back (the children are minors and are not named here); JACOB ROSNER, to whom the girl had been 'married' at 13; the Guatemalan, Mexican and US authorities.

How it ended, or where it stands

Leadership imprisoned in the US; nine people convicted over the 2018 abduction. The remnant keeps moving and keeps being stopped — in Guatemala in 2024 and in Colombia in 2025.

The dead

—

Of note

Mainstream Haredi and Satmar authorities have publicly disavowed Lev Tahor. FILED UNDER JEWISH / ISLAMIC-DERIVED FROM SEPTEMBER 2026; it sat under SYNCRETIC / OTHER before, which was wrong — the tradition it comes out of is not in doubt. Included to make the point that extremist splinters exist in every tradition, and that the mainstream body of a faith is not implicated by them.

Its timeline

1988 Founded in Israel by Shlomo Helbrans.
1994 Helbrans convicted in New York of kidnapping a 13-year-old Israeli boy sent to study with him before his bar mitzvah; serves two years.
JANUARY 2003 Granted refugee status in Canada, possibly on false evidence.
NOVEMBER 2013 Under child protection investigation, the community flees Quebec for Ontario.
MARCH 2014 A court orders children into foster care. Nine members trying to reach Guatemala are intercepted in Trinidad and Tobago; the community moves on to Guatemala.
2014–2016 Expelled from San Juan La Laguna; relocates repeatedly within Guatemala.
2017 Shlomo Helbrans drowns in Mexico during a ritual immersion; his son NACHMAN takes over.
2018 A mother escapes the group and reaches New York with her children. In December her 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are ABDUCTED at night from Woodridge, New York, and smuggled to Mexico using disguises and false papers — the girl to be returned to her 'husband'.
NOVEMBER 2021 NACHMAN HELBRANS and MAYER ROSNER are convicted of child sexual exploitation and kidnapping; in MARCH 2022 each is sentenced to 12 years.
2021–2022 Leaders try to reach Iran via Iraqi Kurdistan, are detained and turned back, then move through Turkey and Romania to Bosnia, surfacing there in January 2022 and leaving for Montenegro in early February. In September 2022, 26 members are arrested in Mexico.
MARCH 2024 The last three defendants in the abduction case are convicted; ALL NINE have now been convicted, and the last receive more than ten years.
DECEMBER 2024 Guatemalan authorities RESCUE 160 MINORS from the group's farm compound at Oratorio, Santa Rosa.
NOVEMBER 2025 COLOMBIA shuts down an attempted new settlement in NINE DAYS: after Interpol yellow notices for five of the children, 17 children and 9 adults are detained at a hotel in Yarumal on 22 November and flown to New York, where the children are placed with child protective services.

Its people

Shlomo Helbrans

Erez Shlomo Elbarnes

Founder, Lev Tahor · 1962 – 6 July 2017 · active 1988–2017

Founded an extreme anti-Zionist Haredi sect in Jerusalem in 1988, disavowed by mainstream Haredi and Satmar authorities. Women and girls from age three wear full black coverings; girls are married at 13 or younger to much older men; secular education is forbidden; and the community relocates constantly to escape child welfare authorities — Israel, Canada, Guatemala, Mexico. Israeli and Canadian courts have documented beatings, confinement, forced fasting and the drugging of children. He was convicted of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy in New York in 1994 and drowned in Mexico in 2017 during a ritual immersion.

Before the law. CONVICTED of kidnapping in New York, 1994.

Where things stand. Deceased 2017. His son Nachman was convicted in the US in November 2021 of child sexual exploitation and kidnapping and sentenced in March 2022 to 12 years.

1988 Founds Lev Tahor in Jerusalem.
1994 Convicted in New York of kidnapping a 13-year-old; serves two years, deported.
2013 The entire community flees Quebec overnight to evade a youth protection order, then leaves Canada.
2014 Expelled from San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, by the indigenous community.
6 July 2017 Drowns in Mexico during a ritual immersion.

Checked 2026-09-17

Nachman Helbrans

—

Leader, Lev Tahor · born 1985 · active 2017–2021

Shlomo Helbrans's son, who took over after his father drowned in 2017 and drove the sect further into confrontation with authorities. In December 2018 he directed the abduction of two of his late father's grandchildren, a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, from Woodridge, New York, smuggling them to Mexico with disguises and false papers, after their mother escaped the group with them. The girl had been 'married' at 13 to Jacob Rosner. The children were recovered by US authorities. He was convicted in federal court in 2021 and sentenced to twelve years.

Before the law. CONVICTED in US federal court (SDNY) November 2021 and SENTENCED IN 2022 TO 12 YEARS plus FIVE YEARS OF SUPERVISED RELEASE, for kidnapping and transporting minors for sexual purposes. NOTE: an earlier version of this file stated he was subsequently extradited to Mexico on human trafficking charges. THAT IS NOT CLEARLY CORROBORATED — recent reporting on Mexican extradition concerns OTHER Lev Tahor members, and the claim is withdrawn pending a reliable source.

Where things stand. Incarcerated. The remnant keeps moving: a 2021–22 attempt to reach Iran through Iraqi Kurdistan failed; Guatemalan authorities removed 160 children in December 2024; Colombia removed 17 children and 9 adults to the US in November 2025.

2017 Takes over after his father's death in Mexico.
December 2018 Weeks after their mother escapes to the US with them, the two children are abducted and taken to Mexico.
2019 Arrested and brought to the United States for trial.
November 2021 CONVICTED after a four-week jury trial on six counts including child sexual exploitation and kidnapping, alongside Mayer Rosner.
MARCH 2022 SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS plus five years of supervised release.
2024 The last three defendants in the abduction case are convicted in March and later sentenced to more than 10 years each, closing the US prosecution with all nine convicted.
20 DECEMBER 2024 Guatemalan prosecutors raid the sect headquarters in Santa Rosa, about 60km southeast of Guatemala City, RESCUING 160 CHILDREN.

Checked 2026-09-17 · living: health details are kept at home

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