According to multiple media reports, Shlomo Helbrans, the leader of the Lev Tahor sect, drowned on Friday in Mexico while toiveling in a river before Shabbos. He was 55 years old.
According to local media reports, Helbrans’ body was pulled from the river by rescue forces on Friday afternoon after he was swept away by strong currents.
Lev Tahor, the ultra-religious sect he led, has been dogged by controversy for decades.
Rabbi Shlomo Erez Helbrans, 55, leader of the "Lev Tahor" ("Pure Heart") ultra-Orthodox sect, was found drowned in a river in the Mexican state of Chiapas on Friday, according to local media.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying the reports were being looked into by the Israeli embassy in Mexico.
Continue reading: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4986474,00.html
A fringe haredi Orthodox sect that has been living on the outskirts of Guatemala City for the past two years has relocated after saying it was harassed by local authorities.
The group, Lev Tahor, told the French news agency AFP that it moved Sunday to Oratorio, a village 30 miles east of Guatemala City. Members will live in tents on land that the sect purchased to build housing.
Earlier this month, authorities in Guatemala City raided the sect’s compound, separating children from their parents, amid allegations of physical and mental abuse. The crackdown came at the request of Israel’s Justice Ministry, the Orthodox news website Kikar Hashabbat reported at the time of the raid. Many members of the sect are Israeli.
Continue reading at https://thecjn.ca/news/international/lev-tahor-relocates-guatemala-police-raid/