Leaders of anti-Zionist cult Lev Tahor to stand trial in New York

To get from Guatemala City to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, travelers can’t exactly catch a direct flight.

But that’s the route taken in recent weeks by some 70 members of a small Orthodox sect that has been trotting the globe for more than 40 years in search of a safe haven to practice a fundamentalist version of Judaism — one that has led the Israeli press to dub it the “Jewish Taliban.”

From Erbil, the group, whose sect is formally called Lev Tahor, had planned to cross a border into Iran and settle there, according to a group of activists who have been monitoring Lev Tahor’s activities. The activists include former Lev Tahor members who escaped, estranged relatives of the group and Hasidic businessmen concerned by allegations of child abuse in the sect. The activists asked to remain anonymous out of concern for their safety and privacy.

Continue reading at https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/leaders-of-anti-zionist-cult-lev-tahor-to-stand-trial-in-new-york-684185

Moldova Refuses Entry To Lev Tahor, Chief Rabbi Writes Urgent Letter

A group of Lev Tahor members tried to enter Moldova on Thursday but were refused entry into the country.

As YWN reported last week, 72 Lev Tahor members who traveled from Guatemala to Iraq were forced by local authorities to board a flight to Turkey, where they were held by Turkish authorities in a building near the Istanbul Aiport for several days. At least 30 members of the group then entered Romania, with other reports saying that all 72 members entered Romania.

The Romanian authorities apparently later changed their mind about allowing the cult members to stay in the country and they continued to Moldova, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported on Friday. However, the authorities in Moldova also refused to allow them to stay in the country and told them to return where they came from. According to the report, some of the members returned to Turkey and others are still searching for a country that will allow them entry.

Continue reading at https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/2025397/moldova-refuses-entry-to-lev-tahor-chief-rabbi-writes-urgent-letter.html

As ‘Jewish Taliban’ sect is tossed out of Iraq, its leaders stand trial in New York

To get from Guatemala City to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, travelers can’t exactly catch a direct flight.

But that’s the route taken in recent weeks by some 70 members of a small Orthodox sect that has been trotting the globe for more than 40 years in search of a safe haven to practice a fundamentalist version of Judaism — one that has led the Israeli press to dub it the “Jewish Taliban.”

From Erbil, the group, whose sect is formally called Lev Tahor, had planned to cross a border into Iran and settle there, according to a group of activists who have been monitoring Lev Tahor’s activities. The activists include former Lev Tahor members who escaped, estranged relatives of the group and Hasidic businessmen concerned by allegations of child abuse in the sect. The activists asked to remain anonymous out of concern for their safety and privacy.

Continue reading at https://www.jta.org/2021/11/05/global/as-jewish-taliban-sect-is-tossed-out-of-iraq-its-leaders-stand-trial-in-new-york