Jews expelled from Guatemala village

Founded in the 1980s by Israeli Shlomo Helbrans, the Lev Tahor practice an austere form of Judaism
[Reuters]
A few months after moving from Canada to a remote part of Guatemala to find religious freedom, a
group of ultra-orthodox Jews have now been forced to leave their homes in a bitter conflict with
villagers.
The Lev Tahor community packed its bags on Friday in San Juan la Laguna around 150km west of
Guatemala City, to board buses bound for the capital after weeks of friction with sections of the local
population.
The town's Elders Council voted last week to force the group to leave because they say some
members of the sect have mistreated indigenous residents and tourists in the area, the AP news
agency reported.
Verbal abuse, threats to cut off power and eject them by force were, say the Jews, the last straw for
the group who began arriving in March from Canada, where the Lev Tahor group's strict religious
ways had clashed with authorities.
Founded in the 1980s by Israeli Shlomo Helbrans, the Lev Tahor practice an austere form of
Judaism.
Winning admiration from some Jews for its devoutness, the group is condemned by others as a cult-
like sect.
Helbrans declined to be interviewed, but another Lev Tahor leader in San Juan, rabbi Uriel
Goldman, fielded questions about the group.
Goldman insisted most of the Guatemalan villagers were friendly toward the group but that it was
pushed out by an aggressive minority he said were motivated by local politics.
"I don't understand why they don't want us, we're doing nothing bad here," said Goldman, who like
other men in the Lev Tahor, which means "Pure Heart" in Hebrew, the Reuters news agency
reported.
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