Shlomo Helbrans
Rebbe Shlomo Helbrans | |
|---|---|
| Title | Rebbe of Lev Tahor |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Erez Shlomo Elbarnes 5 November 1962 |
| Died | July 7, 2017
(13th of Tamuz, 5777) (aged 54) Chiapas, Mexico |
| Spouse | Rebbetzin Malka Azulai-Helbrans |
| Children | Nachman Helbrans
Yoel Henich Helbrans Miriam Laver Sarah Feige Teller Son Unknown Daughter Unknown |
| Parent(s) | Pinhas and Yocheved Elbarnes |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Denomination | Haredi Judaism |
| Jewish leader | |
| Successor | Rabbi Nachman Helbrans |
| Organisation | Lev Tahor |
| Buried | Shlomo Helbrans is buried in an undisclosed location southeast of Guatemala City, near the municipality of Oratorio, Guatemala. |
Shlomo Erez Helbrans (Hebrew: שלמה הלברנץ; 5 November 1962 – 7 July 2017) was an Israeli-born Rabbi. He was the founder and Rebbe of Lev Tahor.
Originally having established his community in Israel, which he claimed to have modelled after the Satmar Hasidic movement, Helbrans moved his community to the United States, where he was convicted in 1994 for kidnapping, for which he served two years in prison. Despite the fact that the "Victim" himself attested in court and on video that Helbrans was innocent. During this period, some former community members accused him of child abuse, administering medications and psychiatric drugs, and enforcing strict disciplinary measures; however, it was later revealed that the substances in question were only vitamins. He was deported back to Israel, but in 2001 he fled to Canada, where he reestablished his community in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, applying for and attaining refugee status for himself two years later. In November 2013, amid clashes with the education authorities, most members of the group left for Ontario, again claiming religious persecution.
On 7 July 2017, Helbrans drowned while performing a ritual immersion in a river in Mexico at the age of 54.