Another Lev Tahor Member Speaks

Yoel Levy, aged 20, told Bechadrei Chareidim more about the Lev Tahor cult, following revelations from his brother Mendy a week earlier.

Levy fled the cult four years ago after he was forcibly engaged to a 16-year-old, leaving behind his mother and seven brothers.

“They hit children in Lev Tahor from the age of two,” he said. “Since I remember anything, I was getting hit. Nor only myself, but anyone who diverted the slightest from the cult’s rules was beaten from the age of two.”

Asked who was crueler, leader Nachman Helbrans or his deputy Meir Rosner, Yoel replied, “That’s like asking who’s worse, a mafia boss or his hitman.”

The cult forces relatives to inform on each other, Levy said, adding “It’s forbidden to show affection to a parent or child. It’s forbidden to hug or kiss children, and children cannot hug their parents. They simply cause everyone to hate everyone.”

A woman who fled the cult claims that members were instructed to give up their lives rather than their beliefs. In the event of an army raid, the leaders deemed it preferable for the group’s children to be killed rather than be coerced to a different way of life, she said.

The cult’s members are currently scattered in Turkey, Moldova, Mexico, Kurdistan and Guatemala. Attempts to reach Iran have been blocked.

{Matzav.com}