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Rabbi of the Pure Hearts : Inside Lev Tahor - the fifth estate — Transcript

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0:00( ♪♪ )
0:01>> Gillian: Their story has been
0:02the stuff of headlines.
0:04>> Members of the Lev Tahor
0:05sect fled to Ontario.
0:07>> Gillian: An endless curiosity
0:09in a modern age of people
0:11seemingly desperate to embrace
0:13the past.
0:14>> We want to go backwards,
0:16exactly like original Judaism.
0:19>> Gillian: A run from Quebec
0:20in the middle of the night kept
0:22them ahead of authorities there.
0:23Now the investigation is
0:25criminal.
0:26>> I'm a police officer.
0:27>> I am still saying shame on
0:28you for involving the children
0:29in a political --
0:30>> Mr. Goldman, take care
0:31of this person, please.
0:32>> The allegation?
0:33Child abuse.
0:34>> It's not discipline.
0:35It's physical abuse.
0:37>> Gillian: tonight on "The
0:38Fifth Estate," the story of
0:39Lev Tahor, pure heart, and the
0:42rabbi who got into Canada as
0:44a refugee.
0:45>> Gillian: Did you lie to get
0:47into this country?
0:48>> I didn't lie to refugee
0:48board,
0:49>> Look, it's bullshit.
0:56(traffic sounds)
1:00(crows cawing)
1:02>> Gillian: It was the isolation
1:04of the place that appealed to
1:05them.
1:06(singing in Hebrew)
1:11>> Gillian: For months, the
1:12families of Lev Tahor had been
1:13under the scrutiny of Quebec's
1:15youth protection authorities.
1:20In rural southern Ontario in
1:22the town of Chatham, they had
1:23hoped they found a more
1:25accepting place.
1:26(singing in Hebrew)
1:30>> Gillian: To practise their
1:31Judaism in their own way.
1:37To raise their families
1:38according to their
1:39interpretation of ancient laws.
1:43>> We want to go backwards,
1:45exactly like original Judaism
1:47is, we think that they was
1:50much, much more clever than us.
1:54Even the lifestyle was better.
1:56People were more happy.
2:01>> Gillian: The 35 families
2:02were still settling in.
2:04When it became clear that even
2:06having run all this way, they
2:08hadn't escaped the authorities
2:09after all.
2:12(speaking in Hebrew)
2:18>> Gillian: With our cameras
2:19rolling, Lev Tahor spokesman
2:21Uriel Goldman discovers the
2:22police are back in his
2:23community,
2:25This time with a search warrant.
2:32>> Gillian: Goldman is rattled
2:33and for a moment forgets the
2:34cameras as he whispers
2:35urgent orders.
2:48>> Gillian: The late January
2:49day is bitterly cold.
2:51For the community, it's just
2:52further evidence the
2:53authorities are out to get them.
2:57>> Sweet revenge from Quebec.
2:58The punishment.
2:59We left Quebec, we not
3:00received the punishment.
3:02So this is the punishment.
3:04>> Shame on you.
3:05Shame on you.
3:06>> Sir, I'm doing my job now.
3:08I'm a police officer.
3:09>> I'm still saying shame on you
3:11for involving children.
3:12>> Mr. Goldman, take your men
3:13please.
3:16>> Gillian: It will later be
3:17revealed the police are
3:18investigating allegations
3:19of abuse.
3:21Beatings, confinements,
3:23marriages between underage
3:25girls and older men.
3:29But on this afternoon, no
3:30one's telling the community or
3:31their lawyer that.
3:33>> What specifically are you
3:34looking for?
3:36>> Computers and hardware.
3:38>> Okay.
3:39And why?
3:41>> We're doing an investigation.
3:44>> Gillian: A Quebec court has
3:45already ruled 14 of the
3:46children should be removed
3:48from the families.
3:50Lev Tahor is fighting it.
3:52>> I don't know what's going on.
3:53I know something very
3:54abnormal happening.
3:57It's terrorizing our community.
4:00(♪♪)
4:04>> Gillian: It was just the
4:05day before the police search
4:06that the community was putting
4:07its best face forward.
4:10>> They start with a prayer
4:11every day.
4:12>> Gillian: With "The Fifth
4:13Estate" in town, they were
4:14anxious to counter the
4:15allegations coming out
4:16of Quebec.
4:18>> Who can tell me how many
4:19provinces are there in Canada?
4:21>> Ten.
4:23>> Ten, good.
4:24What is the name of the first
4:25province here where we
4:26just lived?
4:27Quebec.
4:29>> Gillian: So we were invited
4:30to a geography lesson, proof
4:32their children did learn about
4:33the secular world, they said.
4:36>> Who remembers what is the
4:37capital city of Ontario.
4:40>> Ottawa.
4:41>> Ottawa, good.
4:43>> Gillian: Even if some of
4:43the details were a little off.
4:48>> There have to be two things
4:50that make the fish kosher.
4:52>> Gillian: As for concerns
4:53their children are neglected
4:54and malnourished, we were
4:56treated to a lavish lunch
4:58while everyone got to play
4:59with what looked to be very
5:01new toys.
5:04In fairness, the community has
5:06never denied its educational
5:07priorities are different.
5:11Boys are raised to be
5:12scholars, long days of prayer
5:14and Bible study.
5:19Girls are allowed only one
5:20ambition: To become wives
5:22and mothers.
5:25>> We also have a sewing class.
5:29All the girls be with it twice
5:30a week.
5:32We have a cooking class.
5:34We use practical things so
5:38when the girls reach the age
5:39of 15, 16, they feel confident.
5:45>> Gillian: Confident to be
5:46married, says Malka Rosner,
5:48teacher and mother of nine, in
5:50weddings arranged by Lev
5:51Tahor's leader himself.
5:54>> We have a commandment in
5:55the Torah that you marry the
5:58earliest you can but at the
6:00same time, we also have a
6:02commandment to respect the
6:04laws and regulations of the
6:06nation where you live.
6:07>> Gillian: And when those two
6:08are in conflict which one --
6:09>> They're actually, yes,
6:11we first must respect the laws.
6:13My eldest daughter turned 16
6:15last year and she married two
6:17months later after she turned
6:1816, she got engaged at 15.
6:21Okay, this we do.
6:23>> Gillian: More than anything,
6:24it's the issue of marriages that
6:25has made the community a
6:26target.
6:28And again raised the thorny
6:29question: When does their
6:31right to practise their religion
6:32freely get trumped by society's
6:35obligation to protect children?
6:39>> If we do believe that the
6:42Torah is the truth for us and
6:44it's the God's words, why
6:46should we compromise
6:47about that?
6:48It doesn't make any sense.
6:55>> Gillian: Seven time zones
6:56away, just outside Tel Aviv,
6:59Oded Twik is the other side of
7:01the debate.
7:02Eight of his nieces and
7:03nephews are in Lev Tahor, some
7:05in their teens, and he's
7:07desperate to get them out
7:09before they, too, are
7:10married off.
7:15Oded's sister Sima has been
7:16with Lev Tahor 18 years,
7:19joined in New York when she
7:20was little more than a
7:21teenager herself.
7:23>> Voice of Translator: This
7:24is the first day in the army,
7:27this is the day that she
7:28signed up to the army.
7:32And here you can see her in a
7:34family celebration, you can see
7:36that she was completely secular.
7:41I used to go out dancing
7:42with her.
7:43She was a young, beautiful and
7:44charming young woman.
7:48She had nice life here.
7:51Two years after she had gone to
7:52New York, she sent a photo of
7:55a long bearded person and told
7:57us this is her future husband.
7:59We were quite surprised.
8:02>> Gillian: Her husband was
8:03nearly ten years her senior.
8:06The children followed in
8:07rapid succession.
8:08It wasn't the lifestyle Oded
8:10had hoped for his sister, but
8:12for years, he believed Sima
8:13was happy.
8:15Until 2011 when he travelled
8:17to Quebec for a visit.
8:22>> Voice of Translator: I kind
8:22of felt that something is not
8:24right about her situation.
8:26We had some arguments.
8:28One of her sons died in 2009,
8:31and she never visited
8:32the grave.
8:34She insisted that it is
8:35against the rabbi's orders.
8:38>> Gillian: Back in Israel,
8:39his suspicions turned to worry.
8:42Oded started researching,
8:44reading everything he could
8:45about Lev Tahor, comparing
8:47notes with other members'
8:48families.
8:49Tracking down members who
8:51had left.
8:53What he came to understand is
8:54that the family he'd
8:55photographed in Quebec wasn't
8:57so happy after all.
8:59He says he was told that for
9:00three years, his sister lost
9:02her children, they were placed
9:04with other Lev Tahor families
9:06who were ordered not to let
9:07her near.
9:09Internal banishment, he was
9:10told, is common punishment in
9:12the community but not the
9:13only one.
9:17>> Voice of Translator: Former
9:18members told me that people
9:20are being punished, they were
9:21fasting, not eating three days
9:23a week.
9:24All these punishments like not
9:25allowing people to sleep
9:26at night.
9:27They're like zombies.
9:29>> Gillian: People use the
9:31word cult.
9:32Do you think this is a cult?
9:33>> Voice of Translator: It is
9:35a cult, hundred per cent
9:36a cult.
9:37Very cruel and most
9:38destructive cult.
9:42>> Gillian: When we visited
9:43Chatham, we asked to meet with
9:45Oded's sister repeatedly.
9:47They told us she didn't want
9:48to meet with us.
9:51Years before Oded started
9:53compiling his information in
9:55Israel, Canadian authorities
9:56were getting hints of problems
9:58at Lev Tahor.
9:59In 2007, Quebec social workers
10:01flagged a young mother who was
10:03discovered to be on
10:04anti-psychotic drugs.
10:06The same year, they seized
10:07five children, although all
10:09were later returned.
10:11By 2011, there were
10:12allegations children weren't
10:13attending school, but it
10:15wasn't until the following
10:16year that authorities were
10:18approached by an insider who
10:20wanted to show them the
10:21big picture.
10:24>> My name is Adam Brudzevski.
10:27I'm 28.
10:29Adam Brudzevski spent two years
10:31in Lev Tahor married the
10:32daughter of one of the
10:33community's founding members.
10:35His testimony in a Quebec
10:37youth protection hearing would
10:38help trigger the police
10:40investigation.
10:41We're broadcasting it here for
10:42the first time.
10:44>> As I stayed in the
10:46community, I started having
10:48more and more questions about
10:51the righteousness of what was
10:53going on.
10:54The Rabbi encouraged everybody
10:58to spy on each other, both
11:01children and the parents
11:02and friends.
11:04>> Gillian: There was spying
11:05and there was physical abuse,
11:06he said.
11:07One of Adam's jobs was to help
11:09out in the school.
11:10>> One advice that I got was
11:12whenever a boy would not do as
11:13he's supposed to, I should hit
11:15him with a wire hanger.
11:18I later discovered that this
11:20was a regular punishment in
11:21the community.
11:23>> Gillian: But his biggest
11:24revelation was about marriages.
11:27He confirmed they were
11:28arranged and sometimes
11:29involved teenagers under
11:31the legal age of 16.
11:33How old was your wife when you
11:34got married?
11:36>> She was 15, almost 16.
11:41>> Gillian: What cemented his
11:42testimony were the documents
11:43he brought.
11:44A computer hard drive that
11:46included marriage certificates,
11:48and a list he made of marriages,
11:49including his own, in which one
11:51of the partners was underage.
11:54Some girls had been married to
11:56much older men.
11:58What the documents also reveal
12:00is what happens to those who
12:01step out of line.
12:03In 2011, Adam and his wife
12:05were thinking of leaving
12:07Lev Tahor.
12:08Immediately, he was told to
12:09divorce her and to sign an
12:11oath accepting he had a
12:13serious mental illness.
12:16>> I had to subject myself to
12:17treatment for what they called
12:21borderline personality Disorder.
12:24>> Gillian: BPD as it's called
12:26was not uncommon in Lev Tahor,
12:27he said.
12:28Declared by the rabbi himself
12:30and subject to his own cures.
12:32Multivitamins, the Atkins diet.
12:35In some cases directions to
12:37take anti-psychotic drugs.
12:39When Adam and his wife did
12:41flee, they went to the police.
12:45>> I have a belief that I'm
12:47obligated to help these
12:49children that are in trouble,
12:50seriously in trouble, and I
12:52believe that the conditions
12:53that the people are living
12:56under in the community are
12:58damaging to them.
13:02>> He is mentally ill,
13:03absolutely.
13:04>> Gillian: Back in Chatham,
13:05it's all very personal for
13:07community spokesperson
13:08Uriel Goldman.
13:10Adam Brudzevski is married to
13:12his daughter.
13:15>> He is a person have no
13:16feelings at all.
13:17>> Gillian: Does it hurt you,
13:18though, that these allegations
13:20are coming from within
13:21your family?
13:23>> Yes, but if someone know
13:25the person, he doesn't take it
13:26so serious because this is the
13:28kind of person.
13:30All his life was just fighting
13:31with others.
13:34>> Gillian: Whatever the
13:35community's view, Quebec's
13:36youth protection authorities
13:37took the allegations seriously.
13:40Last August, sweeping in to
13:41Lev Tahor, looking for
13:43evidence of abuse.
13:44But how did such a tiny group
13:46become such a big target?
13:49And where was the man who
13:50leads them?
13:53When we come back, the man
13:54they call their rabbi, Shlomo
13:57Helbrans.
13:59>> The basis of community is
14:01very wonderful people,
14:02peaceful people, people that
14:03respect society and the human
14:06material and the law.
14:08( ♪♪ )
14:16( ♪♪ )
14:20>> Gillian: The man who would
14:21court such controversy in Canada
14:23grew up in Jerusalem.
14:26Shlomo Helbrans was a secular
14:28boy who discovered religion as
14:30a teenager.
14:31Became obsessed with the
14:32teachings of the Jewish
14:34mystics and at the tender age
14:36of 22, declared himself a
14:38rabbi.
14:40But a rabbi who claimed to
14:41have unique insights and who,
14:43in the late '80s, started
14:45recruiting in ultraorthodox
14:47neighbourhoods for a new
14:49religious community, Lev
14:50Tahor.
14:52Pure heart.
14:55What Helbrans preached in the
14:56early days was not so
14:57different than other
14:58ultraorthodox rabbis here,
15:01piety, modesty, especially for
15:03women, and even though they
15:04lived in Israel, strong
15:06opposition to the Israeli state.
15:08That's because they believe a
15:10state for the Jews can only
15:12legitimately be proclaimed by
15:13God and can't happen until the
15:16day their messiah arrives.
15:18Helbrans never claimed to be
15:20the messiah but there was
15:21something about his personality.
15:23To his followers, he
15:24was electric.
15:28>> Voice of Translator: He
15:29starts talking to you and
15:31you're attracted to like
15:31a magnet.
15:33I forgot where I was.
15:37>> Gillian: Israel Alter was
15:38one of Lev Tahor's first
15:40members and Shlomo Helbrans'
15:42first assistant.
15:45>> Voice of Translator: He's
15:46very persuasive.
15:47He manages to present himself
15:48as a great man, a man who can
15:50read through other people,
15:51read their thoughts.
15:53He acts as if he's a very pious
15:56man, above the rest of humanity.
15:58In reality, as I later
15:59realized, he is a
16:01complete opposite.
16:05>> Gillian: Alter was
16:06different than many of Lev
16:07Tahor's followers.
16:08He grew up religious.
16:10Others who were drawn to the
16:11rabbi's tiny Jerusalem
16:13apartment tended to be from
16:15the margins.
16:16Those who were experimenting
16:17with religion, those who were
16:19born again, and those who
16:21simply wanted someone to make
16:23the world make sense.
16:28Professor Menachem Friedman is
16:29Israel's foremost scholar on
16:31extreme Jewish groups.
16:33As a charismatic preacher
16:34Helbrans did have an appeal,
16:36he says, but nowhere near what
16:38he would later boast.
16:40He claims to have tens of
16:42thousands of followers around
16:43the world.
16:45>> That is pure bullshit.
16:48He have very, very few
16:49followers.
16:50He's not even a spiritual
16:51leader.
16:54He's not a great scholar.
16:57He attract people in the
16:58margin because of his
17:00extreme ideas.
17:04>> Gillian: Helbrans would
17:05later claim it was those
17:06extreme ideas about Israel
17:08that led him to be persecuted
17:11but no one here remembers it
17:12that way.
17:13One morning in 1990, people
17:15just woke up to discover the
17:16rabbi and his little band of
17:18followers gone.
17:22(♪♪)
17:27>> Gillian: Whatever his reasons
17:28for leaving Israel, this is
17:30where Shlomo Helbrans ended up.
17:35Borough Park, Brooklyn.
17:38Home to some of the most
17:40influential ultraorthodox
17:41communities in the world.
17:44It's the kind of place that
17:45would shelter an upstart rabbi
17:47from Israel, and it did.
17:49Helbrans found financial
17:51support and opened his own
17:52yeshiva, or religious school.
17:55But this is also a place that
17:57can turn against someone who
17:58brings trouble to the community.
18:01And that would happen, too.
18:05It all started with a young
18:06boy named Shai Fhima, born in
18:09Israel, he immigrated to New
18:10York with his mother after his
18:12parents' divorce.
18:14At 13, Shai was fond of
18:15baseball and baking, about as
18:17secular as they come.
18:20But as his bar mitzvah
18:21approached, his mother started
18:22looking for a rabbi to
18:24prepare him.
18:25The rabbi she found was
18:26Shlomo Helbrans.
18:30>> The Rabbi liked him
18:31very much.
18:32I told you he was a very smart
18:33boy.
18:35>> Gillian: Back in Israel,
18:36Shai's father, Michael Reuven,
18:38was a bit surprised but pleased.
18:41>> What the rabbi told me that
18:42he see a big light around him,
18:44and he's going to be one of
18:46the biggest rabbis.
18:48>> Gillian: Do you think that
18:49would have had an impact on a
18:5113-year-old boy?
18:53>> Sure.
18:56>> Gillian: It did.
18:57Shai was soon spending more
18:59and more time at the yeshiva
19:00until one day he didn't
19:02come home.
19:03When police were called,
19:04Helbrans insisted Shai was a
19:06run-away from a broken home.
19:10>> You're dealing with
19:11a kidnapping.
19:13>> Gillian: New York cop Bill
19:14Plackenmeyer would spend the
19:15next two years trying to find
19:17Shai Fhima.
19:18To him, Helbrans' role in the
19:20boy's disappearance was clear
19:22from the beginning.
19:24>> I was commander of
19:25detectives, a little deductive
19:28reasoning goes a long way,
19:31and, I mean, it was so obvious.
19:33They're exhorting him run,
19:35run, run.
19:37>> Gillian: But his deductive
19:39reasoning didn't prepare him
19:40for what happened next.
19:41Hours and his men arrested
19:43Shlomo Helbrans,
19:45Plackenmeyer got a visit from
19:46the district attorney's office.
19:49The D.A. wanted the rabbi
19:50released.
19:52>> I asked them, are you
19:55saying I don't have probable
19:56cause for an arrest?
19:58And they assured me no, no,
20:01that's not what we're saying
20:02at all, you have probable
20:04cause for an arrest, it's just
20:09that the district attorney
20:12would prefer that you void the
20:15arrest and let him go.
20:18>> Gillian: The politics were
20:19simple.
20:20The D.A. was up for re-election,
20:22and Brooklyn's ultraorthodox
20:23community represented a lot of
20:25votes.
20:27>> Did you kidnap that boy
20:28like his mother says?
20:29>> Of course not.
20:30>> Gillian: The rabbi
20:31was released.
20:35The rabbi was free but a
20:3613-year-old boy was
20:37still missing.
20:39Shai's family, both in New
20:40York and Israel, were frantic.
20:42The New York cops were angry.
20:44And so they turned to the
20:45F.B.I. who came up with a plan.
20:49>> This is the poster of Shai
20:51they made on the police
20:53department in New York.
20:55I made 10,000 copies of this.
20:59>> Gillian: When all the usual
21:00efforts to find his son
21:02failed, Michael Reuven was
21:03ready for anything.
21:05In a telephone call,
21:06Hellmann's had promised
21:07he'd let Reuven see Shai if
21:09he could convince the boys
21:10mother, to send a letter
21:12agreeing to share custody
21:13with the rabbi.
21:15With the police's help, Reuven
21:16went undercover.
21:19>> I was wired at this time so
21:22everything you spoke was on
21:23the tape.
21:25He start negotiate with me.
21:26He said why don't you offer
21:29him money, I said I don't have
21:30money to offer her.
21:32He say I give you this money.
21:35You can offer her $50,000, can
21:38go up to 100,000.
21:40>> Gillian: Where was he going
21:42to get the money from?
21:43>> He had the money.
21:44>> Gillian: He had the money?
21:45>> He had the money.
21:46He had the money.
21:47>> Gillian: And why was your
21:48son so important to him that
21:50he would pay that kind of money?
21:52>> I wonder about it.
21:55Until today.
21:57>> Step aside, please.
21:59>> Gillian: The offer of cash
22:01for custody helped get
22:02Helbrans rearrested.
22:04And once again, the orthodox
22:06community came to his defence.
22:08>> So many supporters of rabbi
22:10Shlomo Helbrans and his wife
22:11showed up at a Brooklyn
22:13courthouse this afternoon.
22:14Their officers fearing a
22:15security risk, limited public
22:17access to the emotional
22:18bail hearing.
22:24>> Gillian: He'd been gone for
22:24two years but just days before
22:26the trial, Shai Fhima
22:28re-appeared.
22:30The teenager was till loyal to
22:31the rabbi.
22:32He testified on his behalf.
22:35But phone intercepts showed
22:36the lengths Helbrans and his
22:38supporters have gone in
22:39hiding him.
22:40Transferring him between
22:41communities.
22:43At one point across the border
22:44into Canada.
22:46And then to France where he
22:48was stopped by French customs.
22:52>> And he had a phony passport
22:54so how does a 13-year-old,
22:57unless he's not receiving
23:00help, get a phony passport?
23:06>> Gillian: In 1994, Helbrans
23:07was convicted of kidnapping
23:10and sentenced to a minimum
23:11four years in prison.
23:13He would serve two.
23:15The United States deported him
23:17back to Israel, but he
23:19wouldn't stay long.
23:20Within weeks, the rabbi was on
23:22the road again.
23:24Looking for a new home for
23:25Lev Tahor.
23:27He'd find it in Canada.
23:30When we return.
23:32>> He told me a lot.
23:33I'm special, I'm holy, I'm smart
23:36and all that, but he used
23:38those lines for everyone.
23:39( ♪♪ )
23:46(♪♪)
23:49>> Gillian: If you're looking
23:50for privacy, the Laurentian
23:51mountains north of Montreal
23:52aren't a bad place to find it.
23:55Six weeks after he was
23:56deported to Israel, Shlomo
23:58Helbrans arrived in Canada.
24:01And was soon rebuilding his Lev
24:02Tahor community in the
24:04town of Ste. Agathe.
24:08But as he set about regaining
24:09his flock Helbrans had
24:11a problem.
24:12He'd been admitted to Canada
24:14on a visitor's Visa.
24:15If he wanted to stay and be
24:16legal, he'd have to change that.
24:19He first applied to become a
24:20Canadian resident but that was
24:22stopped when authorities
24:23discovered he'd been jailed
24:24for that kidnapping in New York.
24:27And so in 2003, he tried the
24:29next best thing.
24:31Shlomo Helbrans asked Canada
24:33to accept him as a refugee.
24:38The key to becoming a refugee
24:39is to convince a refugee board
24:42you'll be persecuted if
24:43sent home.
24:44Helbrans argued that as an
24:45anti-zionist rabbi, he was a
24:47threat to Israel.
24:49That argument had never been
24:51tested in Canada before and a
24:53man who would preside over
24:54Helbrans' hearing admits the
24:56issues were new to him.
24:58Former refugee board
24:59commissioner Gilles Ethier.
25:02>> It's not important what I
25:04knew and what I didn't know.
25:08The thing is that I had a
25:10proof and evidence that was
25:13put in front of me, and I had
25:15to decide with that.
25:18>> Gillian: He had to decide,
25:19but he wouldn't get a lot
25:20of help.
25:21Ottawa was so convinced the
25:22case would be thrown out, it
25:24didn't send a lawyer to
25:25question the evidence.
25:27Eight witnesses and documents,
25:29all claiming Helbrans would be
25:31at risk.
25:33>> I think that they did
25:34not check.
25:35>> Gillian: We asked professor
25:36Menachem Friedman, Israel's
25:37leading scholar on orthodox
25:40groups, to read Helbrans
25:41refugee file.
25:43>> When I read it, I laugh.
25:47If it was not so tragic, it is
25:51a comedy.
25:52>> Gillian: You don't
25:53believe it.
25:54>> I don't believe it at all.
25:56>> Gillian: That's because
25:57there are ultraorthodox rabbis
25:58in Israel who take their
26:00opposition to the state
26:01much further.
26:03Openly aligning themselves
26:04with Iran's rabid anti-Israel
26:06leaders, for instance, and no
26:08one bothers them, says Friedman.
26:11>> Others are very well-known,
26:14and they preach their
26:15philosophy.
26:16>> Gillian: The state of Israel
26:17does not stop them.
26:19>> Has no interest in them.
26:21>> Gillian: But if Israel had
26:22no interest, the Canadian
26:23refugee board did.
26:25One witness in particular
26:26would impress commissioner
26:28Ethier, a man who claimed
26:30Israel's military ordered him
26:32to infiltrate Lev Tahor.
26:34>> That was an important
26:36element, as I recall, because
26:40it illustrates the fact that
26:45the state or the government
26:48was giving some importance to
26:52this gentleman.
26:54>> Gillian: The witness he's
26:55referring to is none other
26:57than Uriel Goldman.
26:58Today Lev Tahor's spokesman
27:00in Chatham.
27:01He testified that as a young
27:02intelligence soldier in
27:04Israel's defence force, the
27:05IDF he was ordered to
27:07secretly spy on Shlomo Helbrans
27:09to help make a case for his
27:11arrest.
27:13Instead, Goldman says he was
27:14so taken by the rabbi, he
27:16decided to join.
27:20And yet when we asked him
27:21about the story, Goldman
27:23became distinctly uneasy.
27:25>> I really don't want to talk
27:26about that because it's a
27:29very -- I know that Israel is
27:30watching very carefully.
27:33I think you can understand I
27:34don't want to receive one day
27:37a bullet from a Mossad agent
27:38or something like that.
27:39>> Gillian: What I'm trying to
27:40get at is whether it's true or
27:42not so we went to the IDF and
27:44we asked them about Mr. Goldman
27:46and the story that he tells, and
27:47they say we have no record of
27:49Mr. Goldman in the military
27:52intelligence.
27:53>> I understand there's
27:54no record.
27:55I don't want, whatever, but
27:57say no record, it's the most
28:01-- for you as a journalist,
28:03it's like someone say
28:04no comment.
28:06>> Gillian: It does raise the
28:07question of whether or not,
28:09when you were testifying at
28:10the refugee board hearing, you
28:11were telling the truth or not.
28:12>> Absolutely.
28:16>> Gillian: Even though the
28:17IDF today says they have no
28:19record of you?
28:20>> I understand why they say
28:21that.
28:22And this was not like not a
28:24normal operation.
28:28>> Gillian: What was remarkable
28:29about the Helbrans hearing
28:30is how few questions were
28:32asked, evidence was accepted
28:33without corroboration.
28:36>> Everybody was pertinent, no
28:38contradiction, they were good
28:40witnesses, and I was struck
28:42by that.
28:43>> Gillian: One thing that
28:44didn't need corroborating was
28:46Helbrans' criminal record.
28:47He was a convicted kidnapper,
28:49a big obstacle for any
28:51would-be refugee.
28:53So what better strategy than
28:55to have the kidnapping victim
28:57make an appearance?
28:59>> I feel really bad for what
29:00happened to the rabbi.
29:02>> Gillian: Shai Fhima was 24
29:03years old at the hearing.
29:05This videotape of him next to
29:06a smiling Shlomo Helbrans was
29:09submitted as part of the
29:10rabbi's claim.
29:12>> He was prosecuted just
29:14because he introduced me to the
29:15religion, nothing else, not
29:16because he kidnapped
29:17me, this is why I'm here
29:19today, because I want to clear
29:20up his name.
29:22>> Gillian: But in researching
29:23the story, we've discovered
29:24something disturbing.
29:26Shai Fhima now tells us that
29:27what he said on that videotape
29:29was a lie.
29:30Lev Tahor paid him, he says,
29:32$5,000, to make the recording,
29:35a deal he claims was arranged
29:36by the community spokesman
29:38Uriel Goldman.
29:39Fhima wouldn't talk to us on
29:41camera, he's not proud he
29:42accepted the deal.
29:44But all these years later, he
29:45feels it's important to set
29:46the record straight.
29:48Shlomo Helbrans did kidnap
29:50him, he says, no one should be
29:52in any doubt.
29:55Commissioner Ethier says that
29:57if he'd known all of that in
29:582003, it might have led him to
30:00assess the evidence
30:01differently.
30:03As it was, he accepted Shlomo
30:04Helbrans as a refugee, a
30:06decision that was upheld
30:07on appeal.
30:10Now the rabbi was safe to stay
30:12and to grow his Ste. Agathe
30:14community.
30:17(speaking in French)
30:21>> Gillian: In fact, it was just
30:22a year later this documentary
30:24again captured the image Lev
30:26Tahor wanted to project.
30:31Devoted families who simply
30:32wanted the freedom to live
30:34apart.
30:35But the happy children did not
30:37include Mendhi Markus.
30:39He was tent to Lev Tahor to
30:40attend school at age 11.
30:44>> The way they make you
30:45listen is by slapping you or
30:48pinching you and some, you
30:50know, extreme religious people
30:53would call that discipline.
30:55But it's not discipline.
30:57It's physical abuse.
31:00>> Gillian: Markus' family was
31:01extremely religious but Lev
31:03Tahor, he says, was even
31:04more so.
31:06Prayers were noisy and lasted
31:08for hours.
31:10The competition to impress the
31:11rabbi was intense.
31:14>> These people there will do
31:15anything and everything for him.
31:17He lives a beautiful life.
31:19He has beautiful chairs,
31:20beautiful silverware, all
31:22kinds of very fancy rabbi
31:25stuff, and the people in his
31:29community have nothing.
31:32>> Gillian: The boy and the
31:33rabbi spent a lot of
31:34time together.
31:35>> He told me a lot I'm
31:36special, I'm holy, I'm smart
31:39and all that.
31:40But he used those lines for
31:41everyone to get them to listen.
31:45>> Gillian: Today, Markus has
31:46no trouble using the word,
31:48brainwashing.
31:50>> He couldn't care less about
31:52any of the God stuff.
31:54It's a tool for him to get
31:55people to follow him.
31:57And once they follow him, the
31:59God part falls away, and he
32:01has pure mind control over the
32:02people.
32:04>> Gillian: Markus wasn't the
32:05only visitor.
32:06Shulamit Kaminsky spent a few
32:08months in Lev Tahor.
32:09What shocked her was how
32:11unhappy they all seemed.
32:15>> Voice of Translator: They
32:16all pop pills, all kind of
32:17pills, I don't know what kind
32:18of pills.
32:19They were on the shelves for
32:20people to take freely.
32:23The rabbi orders them to take
32:24those pills, and you take it.
32:27>> You saw it with your
32:28own eyes?
32:29>> Voice of Translator: Yes,
32:30I did.
32:32>> Gillian: Almost a decade
32:33later, it's the same concerns
32:34that are now part of a
32:36criminal investigation.
32:38Among the allegations in those
32:39police search warrants,
32:41psychological control by
32:43medication, beatings,
32:45confinement, marriages of
32:47underage girls to older men.
32:51In a community where only one
32:53man has the power, only one
32:55man can provide the answers.
32:58When we come back, the
32:59rabbi speaks.
33:02>> I never married children
33:03against the law.
33:06Point.
33:07( ♪♪ )
33:13(♪♪)
33:16>> Gillian: If there is any
33:17doubt as to who is the beating
33:19heart of Lev Tahor, it only
33:22takes minutes in this
33:23community to understand.
33:25In Chatham, Shlomo Helbrans
33:27is revered.
33:29Perhaps, more importantly,
33:30he's obeyed.
33:34>> Thank you very much
33:35for coming.
33:36>> Gillian: We asked for a
33:37private conversation with the
33:38rabbi, but he insisted on
33:39being surrounded by at least
33:41half a dozen helpers.
33:43For a conversation that would
33:44go on for more than three
33:45hours.
33:48Rabbi Helbrans.
33:49It is important that the
33:50Canadian people hear you talk
33:53about the allegations.
33:55>> Okay.
33:55>> You say it's persecution.
33:56We have been told that it is
33:58common in Lev Tahor that
34:00children who misbehave will be
34:02hit with wire coat hangers,
34:04will be hit with wooden
34:06batons, will be hit with
34:07belts, with fists, with hands.
34:10Is this how discipline happens
34:13in Lev Tahor?
34:14>> Okay.
34:15I don't want to say for this
34:17my policy.
34:17Just the truth, yes.
34:18To say no child never receives
34:22a slap of a hand never, ever
34:28is false, is false, but what I
34:31can to declare very strongly
34:34that physical punishment of
34:36children we can use in our
34:38community a lot less than
34:41the western society.
34:43>> So people who claim that
34:44they were beaten or they saw
34:45people beaten are wrong?
34:47>> People say a lie,
34:48absolutely lie.
34:50>> Gillian: Many things were
34:51lies, he said.
34:52The allegations he declared
34:53people mentally ill,
34:55instructed them to
34:56take medication.
34:58>> Of course I never, ever,
34:59never, never, never offer to
35:02nobody any kind of any pills.
35:04>> Gillian: How many people
35:06have you diagnosed with border
35:06line personality disorder?
35:09>> It was two peoples.
35:10>> Gillian: Only two?
35:11>> Two people.
35:12One moment.
35:13Two peoples.
35:14I didn't -- you see where you
35:16take me?
35:17I just try to explain to these
35:18people that they have to see a
35:20doctor, yes.
35:21>> Gillian: But other people
35:22have told us that they have
35:25seen many medications in this
35:27community, have seen people
35:28taking pills all the time, and
35:30that it is about controlling
35:32the people who live here.
35:33>> Okay.
35:34Go to a sleep room and bring
35:37what you find of my own tables
35:38there, okay?
35:41>> Gillian: This was the
35:42explanation.
35:43Vitamins, he said.
35:44Lots of vitamins.
35:46Everybody taking pills, they
35:48were taking vitamins?
35:49>> No, no, it's not -- not
35:50everybody take all the vitamins.
35:52Somebody suffering from nerves
35:54problem, yes, to put to sleep,
35:57or sometimes worse, so they
36:00are especially class vitamins I
36:02would support this person to
36:03take, B complex, magnesium, and
36:06then if somebody have to take
36:09medical treatment, I'm very
36:11extreme about it, they have to
36:13take it.
36:14>> Gillian: We then asked him
36:16about marriages.
36:17Do you marry children under
36:19the age of 16?
36:20>> Now, first of all, you
36:22cannot to judge community just
36:24with -- (making sound).
36:26Yes or not.
36:27You must understand story.
36:28>> Gillian: It's a simple
36:28question.
36:29>> No, no, no --
36:30>> Gillian: Do you marry
36:31children under the age of 16?
36:31>> First of all, we don't --
36:33we never -- we never.
36:35>> Gillian: It's never happened?
36:36>> It's happened.
36:37I never marry children against
36:39the law.
36:41What is happening like this.
36:42I marriage, it was maybe,
36:45maybe, maybe three stories,
36:48three stories that families
36:51was marriage in America by
36:53judge, yes, and after that
36:55they're asking me to do the
36:58ceremony, also, yes.
36:59>> Gillian: So three times it
37:01did happen, he said,
37:0215-year-olds travelled to
37:04Missouri where the marriage
37:05laws are different.
37:07When we suggested he'd sent
37:08them to avoid Canadian law,
37:10he bristled.
37:12>> People in my community are
37:14not puppet.
37:15Mr. Goldman is not a puppet,
37:17and his daughter is not a
37:18puppet and his children are
37:19not a puppet.
37:20>> Gillian: You understand in
37:21this country it's considered
37:22child abuse, you
37:23understand that?
37:24>> No, no, I didn't understand
37:26it, I don't understand it
37:27right now because you are
37:28wrong.
37:29>> Gillian: Whatever the moral
37:30implications, it is a crime in
37:31Canada if a much older man has
37:33marital relations with an
37:35underage girl.
37:36We asked if it had ever
37:38happened at Lev Tahor and he
37:39denied it.
37:40One of the questions people --
37:41Then we asked about that
37:43refugee board hearing, how he
37:46came to be in Canada.
37:47There has been questions
37:48raised about whether the
37:50information that was given at
37:52the refugee hearing was true.
37:54>> I didn't lie to
37:55refugee board.
37:56I was not able to provide the
37:57real story -- I was prosecuted--
37:59I am not able to bring you
38:02today, Mrs. Findlay, how I'm
38:03prosecuted here in Canada.
38:06>> Part of your application to
38:08become a refugee in Canada --
38:09>> -- the blessing of the
38:10coffee, one moment.
38:13>> Gillian: As the rabbi blessed
38:14his coffee, we told him what we
38:16learned about that videotape
38:17with Shai Fhima, the kidnap
38:19victim.
38:24>> Gillian: We've talked to
38:25Shai.
38:25>> Yes.
38:26>> Gillian: He tells us that
38:27he was paid to make that video.
38:29>> Okay.
38:30>> $5,000.
38:31>> Okay.
38:31So is absolutely false and
38:32a lie.
38:34First of all, he was not paid
38:35even one penny once.
38:36>> He says Mr. Goldman
38:37actually made the arrangement.
38:38Mr. Goldman, did you
38:39arrange that?
38:41>> His ticket.
38:42>> Did you pay for his ticket?
38:44>> Let me tell you all the
38:45story as I remember right now.
38:47You will pay his ticket, yes.
38:49This I remember absolutely.
38:50>> Gillian: You did pay his
38:51ticket.
38:51>> Yes.
38:52>> Gillian: Did you in addition
38:53to paying his tickets pay him
38:54$5,000?
38:55>> No, absolutely no.
38:56>> Gillian: Why would he say
38:57that now?
38:57>> Now, you ask me --
39:00>> Gillian: Excuse me, excuse
39:02me.
39:03>> What's the connection we are
39:04over right now?
39:04>> Gillian: No, the connection
39:05is did you lie to get into this
39:06country?
39:08>> I didn't lie to get in the
39:10country.
39:11>> Gillian: Did you pay Shai
39:12Fhima to help you get into this
39:13country?
39:13>> Okay, so truth him to believe
39:14what am I to say.
39:18>> Gillian: The allegations
39:19have shaken this community and
39:21left them groping for an
39:22explanation as to why the
39:24authorities would target them.
39:27Their answer is as old
39:28as history.
39:30Anti-Semitism.
39:32>> The Jewish nation is a
39:33target from allegation already
39:36more than 3,000 years.
39:38We persecuted because our
39:41spiritual background, because
39:43we are Jews, because we are
39:46anti-zionist, because we
39:49are extreme.
39:51>> Gillian: But his claim they
39:52are hated because they are
39:53Jews gets no sympathy in the
39:56Jewish state.
39:58>> I think all of the ways
40:00that this sect operates is
40:01something that is
40:04contradictory to Judaism in
40:06every aspect of it.
40:08>> Gillian: In Israel, a
40:09parliamentary committee on the
40:10rights of the child has been
40:11gathering evidence on Lev Tahor.
40:14Even among the very
40:15ultraorthodox here, the
40:17Canadian community is viewed
40:19as bizarre.
40:20Israeli families who have
40:22children in Lev Tahor are
40:23pressuring their government to
40:24do something.
40:29And in turn, government
40:30representative Yariv Levine
40:32is calling on Canada to shut
40:34Shlomo Helbrans down.
40:37>> He doesn't have any excuse
40:40and any reason to be
40:41recognized as a refugee but
40:43all of that we can deal
40:44later on.
40:45Now we have to deal with
40:47the children.
40:50>> Gillian: Which is what Oded
40:51Twik from his tiny electronics
40:53shop outside Tel Aviv has been
40:55trying to do for
40:56two-and-a-half years.
41:00>> Voice of Translator: She
41:01gets married in 2000, when she
41:03was 14.
41:05>> Voice of Translator: Yes,
41:06we do understand she was more
41:07or less 14.
41:08>> Gillian: He used to worry
41:09about his sister and her
41:10eight children.
41:12Now he wants everyone out.
41:15>> Voice of Translator: After
41:16talking to other parents,
41:16listening to their stories, I
41:18want to fight against the
41:19whole thing.
41:21So I want to put an end to
41:22this place.
41:26>> Gillian: It is the children,
41:27girls in particular, who are
41:30at the centre of the concerns
41:31about Lev Tahor.
41:34Each time we visited Chatham
41:35we made a point of asking to
41:37speak with Oded's sister.
41:39It was only as we prepared to
41:40leave the last time that we
41:42were able to meet Sima
41:44although she didn't want to
41:45show her face.
41:46With her husband next to her,
41:48she denied her brother's story
41:50that her children had ever
41:51been taken from her as a
41:53punishment.
41:55>> Gillian: He thinks that you
41:57are not happy here and that your
41:58children are not happy here.
42:00>> I told my brother
42:02everything it's okay.
42:04And I'm good place.
42:09>> Gillian: Whether she is in
42:10a good place, whether any of
42:12them are is something Canada's
42:14courts will have to decide.
42:20(♪♪)

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