Two Children From Haredi Canadian Sect Taken Into Custody by Child Services
Child-protection authorities in Ontario have taken two children into protective custody from the reclusive Jewish sect Lev Tahor.
A lawyer for the group told The Toronto Star on Monday that officials with the Chatham-Kent Children’s Services in southwest Ontario seized the two children from one family on Dec. 12.
The circumstances surrounding the seizure are not known, but the Star quoted a source as saying that the children taken into custody are not connected to a Quebec court ruling last month that ordered 14 children from Lev Tahor into foster care. A second source told the newspaper that the children are a brother and sister about 3 or 4 years old.
The original ruling from Quebec targeted children from two Lev Tahor families ranging in age from 2 months to 16 years. About 40 families from the extremist haredi Orthodox Jewish group fled from north of Montreal to Chatham, about 200 miles southwest of Toronto, on Nov. 18, a few days before the Quebec ruling was handed down.
On Dec. 4, Ontario child-welfare authorities sought a warrant to seize all the children. An Ontario justice of the peace denied the request; an appeal of that decision will be heard on Dec. 23.
Quebec authorities have documented what they say is evidence of neglect, psychological abuse, poor dental and physical health, and an education regime run by the community that falls below provincial standards, according to The Star.
The sect, led by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, reportedly uses extreme violence and mind control. Most of its members are Israeli-born with children born in Canada.
Originally an Israeli citizen, Helbrans went to the United States, where he was convicted in 1994 for kidnapping and served a two-year prison term before being deported to Israel in 2000. He then settled in Canada.
An Israeli parliamentary hearing last month documented cases of physical abuse and said the sect is a dangerous cult.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
- 4
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion The ADL reversed its support for Trump’s student deportations. You should too
-
Fast Forward Senate rejects Bernie Sanders’ proposal to block some weapons sales to Israel
-
Fast Forward Sotheby’s to auction earliest known kiddush cup
-
Opinion Trump’s new tariffs on Israel are a BDS dream come true
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.