Guatemalan Authorities Nab Hasidic Group’s Children
Guatemalan authorities have swooped in on a compound in Guatemala City housing members of the Lev Tahor Hasidic sect and took all the children living there away from their parents and into custody, local news sources are reporting.
The reclusive group of about 130 people has been living in Guatemala since 2013, when they fled Canada after Quebec child welfare authorities confiscated all their children and tried to place them in foster homes, alleging that the children were not being educated and cared for according to Quebec mandates.
After fleeing from Canada, the group first settled in the small Guatemalan town of San Juan La Laguna, but in 2014 they were forced out of the village by its mayor and the local council of Catholic elders and resettled in Guatemala City.
Recently, a Guatemalan court indicted the ex-mayor of San Juan La Laguna and charged him with “participating in the expulsion of a religious community” for his role in the incident.
It is yet unclear if the raid on Lev Tahor is in response to the mayor’s indictment, but the professed reason for the raid is accusations of child abuse.
It is worth noting that allegations of child abuse were the given cause for the confiscation of the group’s children in Quebec, though a subsequent investigation found these accusations to be false. Quebec authorities then changed the allegations to “inadequate secular education, nourishment and hygiene,” and continued to pursue the children’s seizure despite acknowledging that they were never in any danger.
In March of 2014, CrownHeights.info published a lengthy op-ed on why the Orthodox-Jewish community must rally to the defense of this persecuted Hasidic group and their right to religious freedom, which can be read here.
Cultbusters!
Best news today (inc BR restructure.) this cult is nothing but abuse.
TJ
One good way to measure a person’s intelligence is their ability to empathize and put themselves in others’ shoes.
The idea that you shouldn’t do to others what you wouldn’t want others done to you requires a certain level of higher intelligence.
This is why children and lehavdil animals are very selfish. Because their intellect is underdeveloped. The reverse is also true: violent criminals and thieves tend to have very low IQ scores.
It amazes me how you can cheer on the kidnapping of the children of your fellow Jews to be “properly educated,” yet you would scream to high heavens if the same thing were done to you.
May G-d have mercy on your soul.
Bar SaaS Re: Cultbusters!
So you celebrate that these Jewish children are now in the Guatemalan orphanage? Either you are a bad person or just someone with a very low IQ.
This is sad
As much as I don’t agree with their lifestyle, taking their children is very wrong
B"H
We need to save our children
Pedant
Thank you for recalling that op-ed.
It’s all there is to say on this. Sad.
to tj
why government are putting so much effort to pursue this group?
they are running from place to place why?
are they criminal?
are they in line with Shulchan A ? since when small girls cover their head and women taking showers with socks? etc etc?
TJ
“why government are putting so much effort to pursue this group?”
Why did anti-Semites put so much effort into persecuting the Jews for the last 2,000 years? Are you insinuating that everything a government does is kosher, because they wouldn’t put in the effort otherwise?
“they are running from place to place why?”
Because of the aforementioned persecution.
“are they criminal?”
Are YOU criminal? There’s a little something called presumption of innocence unless proven beyond reasonable doubt. There is no group of people in the world who have been more scrutinized than this group of families, trying to find the tiniest iota of an excuse of criminal behavior. I think it’s safe to say that statistically it’s more likely that you are a criminal than they are.
“are they in line with Shulchan A ? since when small girls cover their head and women taking showers with socks? etc etc?”
How on earth could this possibly be any of your business? Do Satmar people come to Crown Heights and steal your children because they don’t wear stockings?
to tj
This is a TRAGEDY of immense proportions! Taking a child away from parents is the worst pain imaginable.
But what if the kids are suffering physically and mentally?? Is it right to leave them there??
to #4
our children are NOT in danger their children are abuse mentally and physically and sexually
their shita is not according to our mesorah
believe me if YOU were one the children you’ll want to be taken to a foster home!!
Member
“believe me if YOU were one the children you’ll want to be taken to a foster home!!”
Some would say the same about kids in Ch or Willie (brainwashed, deprived of education, kept in Dark Ages, stocking in the summer, and let’s not forget the occasional abuse).
“Their shita is not according to our mesorah” –
But maybe their shita IS according to THEIR mesorah.
YMSP
Why don’t you just write that they cook their children’s blood in with matzos while you’re at it. Quebec’s allegations were proven so false that they asked for a judge to issue a gag order to “protect the integrity” of the lying, slandering social services (who’ve targeted other schools since).
And even they didn’t allege what you have in your fine post here. Congratulations on winning the gold, I guess.
Umm hello
You may think this is good news, but if these children are placed in foster care in GUATEMALA, they will be raised as goyim r”l!!
Canadian Friend
As someone who has actually had to deal with of this cults members and kids. Its a huge rachmanus but you are not dealing with rational or normal people. The system is also at fault in Canada (which was noted by the various courts) to have failed on many levels and allowed for these kids to leave Canada and Satmar who support Helbrans
YMSP
First they came for some fringe sect (which, btw, I don’t support – but they’ve been checked out more than a piece of lettuce by group of farfrumte false snags and found to be decent people – taking their kids is beyond the pale), but I did not speak up because they were weird.
Then they came for Satmar and I did not speak up because I was not Satmar and because Satmar didn’t believe in persecuting the fringe group’s kids.
Then they came for the kids in a school in Montreal that teaches English and French, but not the government mandated “humanities course” that brainwashes against the Torah (happened a few months ago and was reported at the time on CH), but I did not speak up because I’m not from Mtl.
They speak openly of their disdain for all religious (I’ve personally heard one using the term “deprive of cheeseburgers” when speaking of religious homes when discussing adoption options.) but I did not speak up because I could care less.
See how special you are my fine Canadian friend. Martin Niemoller (google him if you must – something tells me you’ll need to) wrote a poem just for you.
To TJ
My soul is just fine, thank you. I have reported terrible cases of abuse, including incest, to the relevant authorities. And yes, some involved CH families. So since you are so certain that Jews do not molest (been on CHW lately??) or otherwise abuse their kids, I suggest you pay closer attention to the world around you. Parents like these wackos do not deserve to have custody. Where the kids end up is a totally different battle.
TJ
What on earth are you talking about? Should every child in Crown Heights be taken away from their parents because there are abusers in the community? Is that what you are saying? Otherwise your comment is nonsensical.
Sholom Dovber
if the group have nothing to hide and their conduct is legal and consistent with Halocho, why did they run to a country which has no Jewish infrastructure.
Something does not make sense.
zalman
They ran away because the anti-religious anti-Semitic Quebec child “welfare” authorities kidnapped their children under false allegations of abuse and tried to put them all in foster homes.
Would you not do the same?
to member
if you think their mesorah is al pi SA?
the reform would also tell you we have a mesorah from even before these wackos
by the way do you know who is their leader ? is a BT (?if you can call as such) when was this mesorah from?????
before talking get a LITTLE info!!
member
no such thing THEIR mesorah either is our (Moshe Rabbenu) or is avoda zarah
Bonnie
I am a NLP Therapist and a Master Hypnotherapist. I have raised or helped raise seven children. I lived in Lev Tahor for two and a half years. I taught mathematics and English writing there (according to the book) and being the oldest in the community….I was honored with the title of “Bubby”. I know the people and the Rebbe well. These people do not just study Torah….they do their very best to practice it. When my visitors or I had a question the Rebbe would be generous with his time and teach us the answers directly from the Torah. The Rebbe was like a proud father of everyone and wanted the best for us all.
Were the children abused, is the main question. I can say that it sometimes is difficult to be there for all of your children all of the time….especially if you suffer from fatigue or are ill. That is why a community like this is so wonderful. Family is just around the corner… to help… and everyone is very close. I personally never saw any abuse. Most parents disciplined their children appropriately and went the extra mile to make all food healthy and by hand. I never ever questioned how much these people loved their children. I knew the women the best and most of them were like me…kind, caring, respectful and loving. (hahaha) Now, there was probably some abuse…there normally is…but I never saw it. Not everyone did everything perfect…according to me….however I was amazed that everyone was so sincere. Yes, even their interpretation of the dress laws are different than most. They just want to get it right… for Hashem. I would never put them down for that. Yes, other Jews seemed afraid of me when I spoke to them…even in yiddish….and all the Arabs would nod and smile.
One young girl (who I know very well) had two beautifully kept…very mature delightful children. She left her son at school and her daughter with a friend while she went to get some groceries. When she got back from the store she found her children gone…taken away from the community by the child protective services. She was 9 months pregnant at the time. A women from the child protective agency, that was visiting a different lady, saw that there was a very little sore on her daughters face and a dark spot….so she took the children…into the cold ..without coats etc.. She sent a picture of it …on the computer…to see what a doctor thought. He said it possibly could be abuse. The young Mother immediately went to the child protective agency and explained that it was “magic!” Her English was actually pretty good, however, she meant, “magic marker.” She had tried to remove it but stopped when she saw that she couldn’t without hurting her daughter. The agency would not listen to her and with her heart crying out in pain, she fell to the floor weeping. They had two officers carry her out and said that she was mentally unstable. You be the judge of that one!
I often asked myself if this was a cult. Well, perhaps Judaism is a cult…and this is a sect
of it. I will say that, if, the Rebbe said,”we are not having Shabbose this week!”…nobody would listen and would leave immediately.
I know if you didn’t like it there, the Rebbe would simply tell you to leave. People were not locked up or anything. I can prove it. I left! I am still welcome and I still love them and I feel extremely sad for what they are having to go through.
Pedant
Not sure whether what the goyim are doing to these yidden or whether the extent to which callous and frankly not-too-bright fellow yidden are just okay with it — is more disturbing, probably the former, because evil is evil and you can’t cure stupid, but it’s something to ponder.
Thank you for your words, but this thread is about to evaporate and you really shouldn’t stop here.
to bonnie
so if everything is so rosie why would canadian and other foreign government put so much effort to persecute DAVKA these individuals
i live in montreal and the authorities NEVER NEVER came to our neighborhood
Pedant
It’s not rosie. They are weird. And different. They do things that don’t make any sense and they deprive their children of all things good in the world. (hmm) The authorities could not find any evidence of actual abuse but they do not need to. For such weird people. Even other Jews think their children should be taken away, shame on you.
The children need to be taken away from them.
That’s what Governments are for. Government are there to take children away from their parents. It makes no difference whether the children want that or not. The government knows best, they always do and they always will.
What’s shocking is that people like you — who know words like ‘DAVKA’– are totally OK with this based on nothing but specious and mendacious approximations of rational arguments such as the claptrap you should have been embarrassed to write but were not. They are taking children away from their parents because the upbringing is strange.
We’re next, but that’s not the point. You are a slave – you believe we need obtain permission to parent our children from some nebulous state organ who abides by no definable philosophy but acts on instinct and base prejudice.