U.S. authorities have charged a Brooklyn, N.Y., man in the elaborate kidnapping of two grandchildren of Shlomo Helbrans, the late founder of the fundamentalist Jewish Lev Tahor sect that worried Canadian child protection authorities for years. Disguised in typical children’s clothing — unlike the black garb usually worn by Lev Tahor members — they were put on a flight and a few days later observed at a hotel in Mexico City, in the company of Lev Tahor members. The Times of Israel reported Shlomo’s son Nachman was among five Lev Tahor leaders arrested last week in Mexico. Helbrans founded Lev Tahor, Hebrew for “Pure Heart,” in Israel in the mid-1980s. Aron Rosner, 45, of Brooklyn, is being held without bail, accused of providing financial assistance to members of Lev Tahor in the international abduction scheme.

Source: National Post December 29, 2018 00:22 UTC