Lev Tahor leader Uriel Goldman responded to horrific reports from people who escaped the cult.
Regarding a letter which instructed mothers to kill their children in the event of a police raid, Goldman responded that its signature was a blatant forgery. According to Goldman, these accusations began when the community left Quebec. At the time, a community dissident said Lev Tahor was capable of “mass suicide” and the accusation stuck.
But, Goldman said, the dissident later admitted to a judge that he was merely comparing the community to medieval Jews who sometimes killed their children to save them from shmad.
As to Yoeli and Mendy Levy, who gave harrowing reports of life in the cult, Goldman said they were “slandering,” having never made these accusations when questioned by police.
“All who see them can recognize that they have left religion and chosen a path of porkei ol, and anyone who investigates their words can see how far they are from reality,” Goldman wrote.
Speaking to Bechadrei Chareidim, Goldman admitted that Lev Tahor children are married at 13, but said this is in accordance with the Shulchan Aruch. “The truth is that we are as far from all accusations as the distance from east to west,” Goldman said. “By us, there are no beatings, no banning, and no manipulations of anyone, great or small.”
Goldman insisted that doctors are available to take care of the group’s medical needs. Regarding an accusation of the Levy brothers that their father died when the cult prevented him from going to hospital, Goldman says the man died from a foot infection no one else was aware of.
A Dr. Dovid Rosalas, who belongs to the cult, confirmed that all its members receive medical care and that all reports of persecutions are false.
Wow. So heilig. How can I join them?
This man is emes and kosesh. Believe him or else.
L T is good.
Stop picking on the real yidden.
Yes, #Mevakesh, absolutely heilig. Maybe it’s time for us to realize that while we may not be able to be as helig as they, we should strive for a bit more heiligkeit. You know what I’m referring too.
How “tahor” are they? Someone calling themselves “tahor” must be investigated. (It’s like the sleepers claiming they’re ‘woke’ and the sickos calling themselves happy or a synonym.) When was the last time any of them used a mikvae? Where do they go for mikva?
well, their leader drowned in a river cuz he was trying to use it as a mikva…
Look at my name
This cult is to be suspected of everything. There is a huge heap of testimony about the massive rishus going on in that cult. Their claim to Yiddishkeit is baseless. Just examine what we know of them factually. Anyone associated with them should be ostracized in the Torah community.
Their leaders are not Torah learned, and I would want to see who their somchim are before I would consider them anything better than apikorsim.
Throw all the rotten tomatoes that you want at me but although I do not believe that LT got it’s reputation for nothing
I also do not believe every accusation made against them is true and if it comes to drastic steps like removing children from their parents house you need a real investigation with LT being able to present their point of view in front of unbiased judges . Not the police taking them first
A
BE NORMAL! These people are not.
They have removed themselves from the entire Klal Yisroel. They have zero transparency. They have no rov to rely on. They are mechallel Shabbos for the sake of maintaining their insulation from the rest of all Jews – not something which is docheh Shabbos. And that’s more than enough even if the allegations of abuse are false. It would be a mitzva to dismantle their group if someone has the ability to do that.