The Awareness Center, Inc. (International Jewish Coaltion Against Sexual Assault): Case of Rabbi Elior Chen

Case of Rabbi Elior Chen

(AKA: Eliyahu Abuhazira, Elior Noam Hen, Elior Noam Chen)

Betar Illit, Israel

Jerusalem, Israel

Canada

San Paulo, Brazil

This page is dedicated in honor of all children who were abused by the parents of those who followed Rabbi Elior Chen. May their healing journey go easy and they only know nonviolent - unconditional love the rest of their lives.

Rabbi Elior Chen, who fled to Canada shortly after one of his followers was charged with systematic child abuse including burning her toddlers, making them eat feces, and putting them in a suitcase for days. Chen was not charged with anything, but fled as news reports of the Jerusalem mother's detention were circulated, and it appeared she had committed the abuse following instructions from him on child disciplining techniques.

Chen is also accused of cult like practices.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents:

2008

Photograph of Rabbi Elior Chen and some of his followers (03/08/2008)
Tools Chen's Cult Used to Torture Children
Abused child says his mother was hypnotized by rabbi (03/06/2008)
Parents held in case of Jerusalem child abuse (03/15/2008)
Court denies bail to two moms in abuse cases (04/02/2008)
Jerusalem child abuser to be indicted next week (04/03/2008)
State helpless in face of skeletons in haredi closet (04/03/2008)
Jerusalem mother charged with child abuse (04/06/2008)
Police seek extradition of rabbi from Canada (04/06/2008)
Or Yehuda 'abusive' mother put under house arrest (04/07/2008)
Police to demand extradition of Rabbi believed behind child abuse sect (04/07/2008)
Police arrest man allegedly tied to Jerusalem child abuse case (04/07/2008)
Israeli cult rabbi flees to Canada (04/07/2008)
Israel seeks extradition of rabbi from Canada on suspicion of child abuse (04/07/2008)
Media statement from Canadian Jewish Congress (04/08/2008)
Israel seeks extradition of rabbi in child abuse probe: One child, aged 3, suffered permanent brain damage (04/08/2008)
Metzger: Abusive parents and rabbis should be 'excommunicated' (04/08/2008)

Rabbi Yona Metzger on Child Abuse and The Case of Rabbi Elior Chen - By Vicki Polin (04/08/2008)

Candian Broadcast Company (04/08/2008)
Calls for fugitive Israeli rabbi to contact police (04/09/2008)
Israeli rabbi accused of abuse asked to surrender (04/09/2008)
Child-abuse case leaves investigators stunned; Israel seeks to prepare international warrant, extradite rabbi (04/09/2008)
Suspect in J'lem child abuse arrested (04/09/2008)
God Wasn't There (04/10/2008)
Rabbi on run after child is forced to drink solvent (04/10/2008)
'If he said jump off the roof, you'd jump' (04/11/2008)
Israel issues international warrant against sect leader suspected of child abuse (04/11/2008)
Rabbi on run after child is forced to drink solvent (04/11/2008)
Fugitive rabbi's followers in Jerusalem court (04/13/2008)
Don't politicize child abuse case (04/13/2008)
Canadian Jewish Conference (04/14/2008)
Rabbi Metzger: Abuse stems from distortion of Kabbalah (04/14/2008)
Father tracks down fugitive child abuser (04/26/2008)
Sadistic Child Abuser in Canada Masquerading as Rabbi (05/27/2008)
Mother in 'cult abuse' case ordered held until end of trial (05/28/2008)
Fugitive suspected child abuser's kids removed from wife's custody (05/28/2008)
Cloistered Shame in Israel (05/28/2008)
Radical rabbi may be in Brazil (05/29/2008)
Suspected Haredi child abuser Elior Chen said to be hiding in Brazil (05/29/2008)
Rabbi Israel sought by Interpol in Brazil (05/29/2008)
Brazil's Interpol chief Jorge Pontes shows the photo of Rabbi Elior Chen (06/04/2008)
Rabbi' Elior Chen turns himself in (06/04/2008)
Brazil: Child Abuse Suspect Elior Chen Turns Himself In (06/04/2008)
Suspected Haredi child abuser Elior Chen turns himself in to Brazilian authorities (06/04/2008)
I hope Elior Chen departs this world' (06/04/2008)
Israel asks Brazil to extradite rabbi (06/04/2008)
Elior Chen surrenders to Brazilian authorities; will be extradited to Israel (06/04/2008)
Interpol suspects Brazilian Jewish community hid rabbi wanted for child abuse (06/05/2008)
'Ringleader' in J'lem abuse case could be extradited in weeks (06/05/2008)
Rabbi accused of torturing children (06/05/2008)
Israel: 7 days in 5 minutes (06/06/2008)
Evidence may prove police lied about arresting 'Rabbi' Chen (06/08/2008)
'Parents' feud could be behind baby abuse complaint' (06/11/2008)
Child abuse suspect Elior Chen to fight extradition from Brazil (06/19/2008)
'Rabbi' Chen to fight extradition from Brazil (06/19/2008)
Brazil: Rabbi Elior Chen hires local attorneys to prevent extradition to Israel (06/19/2008)
Abuse charges rabbi to fight extradition (06/20/2008)
Elior Chen opposing extradition from Brazil (06/22/2008)
No greater love (09/03/2008)

2009

Extradition case held up by questions over Israel's jurisdiction (01/01/2009)
'Abusive rabbi's' remand extended (10/29/2009)

2010

Elior Chen found guilty of al charges against him (01/30/2010)

2011

Elior Chen sentenced to 24 years in prison for abuse (02/28/2011)
Haredi 'Rabbi' Elior Chen sentenced to 24 years in prison for child abuse (02/28/2011)

2013

Serial child-abuser asks court to reverse conviction (05/07/2013)

Related Cases

Rabbi Elior Chen (Jerusalem, Israel)
Case of Joseph Fisher (Jerusalem, Israel)
Case of Shimon Gabai (Jerusalem, Israel)
Case of Avraham Mascalchi (Jerusalem, Israel)
Case of Rabbi Yona Metger (Jerusalem, Israel)
Case of Michal Schwartz Shenbaum (AKA: Unnamed Abusive Mother From Jerusalem)
Case of Ro'i Tzoref (Jerusalem, Israel)
The quasi-orthodox Jewish world compared to the "BITE" Model of Cult Mind Control

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Photograph of Rabbi Elior Chen and some of his followers

March 8, 2006

Shimon Gabai / David Kugman / Rabbi Elior Chen / A. Masklatzi

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Tools Chen's Cult Used to Torture Children

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Abused child says his mother was hypnotized by rabbi

By Haaretz Staff and Channel 10 - March 6, 2008

http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/989428.html

Click here to watch video

The son of a woman charged with child abuse details the brutality he faced by his mother's rabbi.

The family of a soldier killed in the Second Lebanon War receives his dog tag from Hezbollah.

Thousands pay tribute to Yosef Lapid at his funeral in Tel Aviv.

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Parents held in case of Jerusalem child abuse

By Jonathan Lis

Haaretz - March 15, 2008

Police are still not sure who is responsible for the abuse of two small children hospitalized with severe burns and bruises. The boys' mother admitted the abuse charges under interrogation Wednesday night, but later recanted.

The father has not visited his eight children since the Sukkot holiday. Several friends of the mother frequented the home and helped with the children. One of these friends called emergency services Wednesday night and performed CPR on the unconscious 3-year-old and was also detained by police.

During a bail hearing yesterday for the parents and family friend, Judge Haim Liran ruled that none of the evidence so far fixes who assaulted the children. "Some of the evidence ties each of the suspects to the charges," Liran said and denied bail for five more days. The woman comes from a prominent family in the New York Jewish community. She immigrated from the U.S. more than a decade ago.

Jerusalem police yesterday called the abuse of the 3- and 4-year-old boys exceptional in its severity. Detective Aliza Aroch termed it "monstrous." Commander Bruno Stein, in describing the boys' injuries, said police could see the children had been tied up and suffered from skin lesions that resulted from criminal neglect. "We could see they had been beaten with objects, and had various burns from heaters being placed against their bodies." In the family's apartment, police found torn nylon restraints with blood stains.

Both children are still hospitalized. The 4-year-old was brought in three days ago with burns and is in good condition. However, the 3-year-old remains in critical condition and has not regained consciousness since being admitted to the intensive care unit.

Police arrested the parents and family friend after doctors suspected abuse. More extensive medical examination revealed that both children bore signs of prior abuse.

The mother confessed to the abuse but later recanted and claimed detectives threatened she would not be allowed to visit her hospitalized children until she admitted the assault.

The father, who also denies the charges, told detectives he wasn't at home and had been out of town that day. However, detectives have evidence he beat the children with a rod in the past.

The family's remaining children have been removed from the home, and police have prohibited family members from visiting the injured boys until they can be questioned.

The parents, who are both U.S. citizens, have not contacted the American consulate in Jerusalem for assistance, a consulate spokesperson said.

(Daphna Berman contributed to this report.)

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Court denies bail to two moms in abuse cases

By Jonathan Lis and Ofra Edelman

Haaretz - April 2, 2008

The Jerusalem District Court yesterday extended the remand of two women suspected of severely abusing their children.

In the case of the Jerusalem mother, whose two children aged three and four and a half were hospitalized in serious condition, an indictment is expected on Sunday. The Beit Shemesh woman was charged yesterday with abusing a minor, along with 25 charges of assault against six of her 12 children.

During the pre-trial hearings yesterday, new details were revealed about the case of the Jerusalem family.

Parents invited rabbi into home

According to the details of the investigation, the parents of the children invited Rabbi Elior Chen and several other men to their home in order to study Torah. The men, including David Kugman and Shimon Gabai, lived in the family's home. When the relationship between the mother and the father deteriorated, the men allegedly drove the father out of the house by force, and he moved elsewhere.

Rabbi Chen allegedly told Kugman and Gabai to discipline the children, but they failed to do so.

The police said that when the routine methods of discipline failed, Rabbi Chen ordered them to use violence, which allegedly included beatings, burnings, pushing, shaking and tying. Investigators also suspect that the two men placed the children in baths of hot and cold water, and broke their bones with hammers and blows.

In the case of the Beit Shemesh woman, the indictment states that she beat her children for years with a belt, a stick, a rolling pin and an electrical cable.

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Jerusalem child abuser to be indicted next week

Jerusalem Post - April 3, 2008

A Jerusalem woman who immigrated from the US and her companion are expected to be indicted next week for allegedly abusing her two young children, police said Wednesday.

The woman's three-year-old child remains hospitalized in critical condition with severe head injuries, and is likely to remain in a vegetative state, officials said.

Police said that several months ago, the woman's relations with her husband broke down, and he was removed from their Jerusalem home by two men whom the couple had brought into their home to educate their children.

The mother told police that since they were unable to educate her children in the "standard" way because they were "mischievous," the two men "corrected" the children, a police representative told a Jerusalem court on Wednesday.

The "corrections," which took place in the mother's presence, included beatings, tying up the children, shaking them dozens of times, setting their fingers on fire, dousing them in hot and cold water, and breaking their bones by beating them with hammers and other tools, according to the testimony of the police representative.

A court order has prevented the release of the names of the woman and her companion, who on Wednesday were remanded in custody for an additional five days by the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ahead of their planned arraignment next week.

The children's father, who has been released from custody, was allowed by the court to pray at his child's hospital bedside, in the presence of social workers.

The two key suspects in the child abuse case, identified by police as Shimon Gabbai and Rabbi Elior Chen, remain at large, and are wanted by police.

The Jerusalem abuse case is one of a series of grisly incidents of brutality against children that have recently come to light.

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State helpless in face of skeletons in haredi closet

By Yael Branovsky

YNet News - April 3, 2008

In spite of efforts by welfare officials, local rabbis, state authorities are unable to curb rampant child abuse in ultra-Orthodox families.

One harrowing case after another, yet welfare officials stand by helpless: Faced with a string of heart wrenching cases of child abuse in the haredi community, even state officials now concede that they have only been able to reach this closed community on rare occasions, and often too late.

One recent, disturbing case, for instance, in which a Netivot mother had sexually abused her son, only came to light when the son began to attend boarding school and molested a fellow pupil. The social workers who handled his case quickly realized that the child had no idea that what he was doing was wrong.

Dalia Lev-Sade, director of community services at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, stated in an interview with Ynet that seeing as the haredi community is so sequestered, haredi children enjoy less exposure to societal conventions of right and wrong.

"This is a group that is extremely closed off from the rest of the world, and so many times we are unaware of problems within the community and cannot intervene."

"The case in Beit Shemesh is a classic example," recounts Lev- Sade. "Even though the family was monitored by welfare services, the social workers involved could not fully understand the family, nor the essence of the problems it was facing, because they kept such closely guarded family secrets. Only when something drastic occurs can we actually begin to take action."

The ultra-Orthodox community, however, is slowly becoming more open, according to Lev-Sade. "The haredi community is slowly opening up and coming to realize that you can't keep the skeletons in the closet forever."

Orlet Moyal, director of welfare services at the Bnei Brak Municipality, tends to haredi families on a daily basis and knows all too well that that road to reaching this clandestine community is long and torturous. "It was nearly impossible to reach the haredi community just a few years ago, but we began to come up with creative means of reaching this community without offending its sensibilities.

"We wanted to be able to reach the haredi community before things became disastrous," says Moyal, "and so we contacted local rabbis and rabbinical councils and urged them to mediate and intervene when families were reluctant to accept help."

'More willingness to report abuse'

Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, head of the National Council for the Child, believes that it is the closed and reticent nature of the haredi community that in many instances precludes intervention by state authorities in child abuse cases.

"The haredi community firmly opposes airing its dirty laundry out in public, like we saw with many kibbutz communities in the past. The haredi community is extremely concerned about its public images, and in many cases rabbis did not allow families to go to the police and report abuse."

Kadman noted, however, that this trend is mercifully changing. "In recent years there is more willingness among haredi families to report abuse. In our council alone, 30% of individuals involved in a project tending to victims of sexual abuse are haredi."

Doron Aggasi, director of the Shlom Banecha foundation, which aids victims of sexual abuse and violence in the haredi community, stated that the recent public cases of child abuse within the haredi community indicate that the haredi world is changing for the better when it comes to reporting such crimes.

"These kinds of cases were often stifled in the past, because the haredi community was unwilling to disclose anything. Now however, people are far more aware of issues such as sexual abuse and familial violence, be it through exposure to the internet or other sources."

Aggasi maintains that it is rabbis that are at the forefront of these positive changes in the haredi community.

"Rabbis have asked me about the best treatment options for pedophilia and sexual deviance, and we are currently training social workers to treat both victims and perpetrators.

"In this respect, the haredi community has bypassed its secular counterpart by far, because this is a very motivated, obedient society that has taken heavy handed measures to help curb such phenomenon."

Roi Mandel contributed to this article

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Jerusalem mother charged with child abuse

By Aviram Zino

YNet News - April 6, 2008

Indictment reveals rabbi instructed woman to 'repair' her children through 'beating, tying, burning organs and feeding them with faces'

As her three-and-a-half-year-old comatose son continued to lie in his hospital bed, a Jerusalem woman was indicted Sunday by the Jerusalem District Court of abusing him and his four-and-a-half-year-old brother.

The court also indicted a family friend accused of conducting a "tikkun" (exorcism) on the children under the influence of a rabbi who fled to Canada.

Shortly after the indictment was submitted, the remand of another suspect involved in the affair was extended. The man, a acquaintance of the mother, allegedly took part in the abuse.

According to the indictment, "During the months of February and March, the accused and her children moved to her mother's apartment in Jerusalem. During this period, the mother found it difficult to cope with the burden of raining her small children, and particularly with their education.

"The defendant turned to a rabbi and asked for his advice in terms of his children's education. The rabbi concluded that the children were 'possessed' with evil spirits and advised the defendant and other suspects to carry out 'tikkunim' on the children in order to help them get rid of those demons."

The indictment went on to say that the rabbi instructed the mother to conduct "tikkunim" on the children – "meaning, jolting, beating, tying, burning organs, feeding them with faeces, and more.

"Two of the suspects were put in charge of educating the children, and systematically abused them and the defendant's other children in a large number of cases, for a long time, claiming that these 'tikkunim' were aimed at removing these evil spirits from the children."

Some of the acts of abuse were also described in the indictment. "The defendant, who knew about the abuse, continued to desert her children."

The mother was accused of "cooperating with some of the other suspects in forcibly jolting the children in at least 40 cases, grasping them in the back or shoulders, or grasping them in their hands and legs and shaking them with their heads moving back and forth and from side to side.

"The defendant and the other suspects also used to tie the children's hands and legs with plastic restraints and ropes for many hours, as well as hit one of the children in the face and bend his hands behind his back, throwing him in the air."

'Police veterans were shocked'

In one of her remand hearings, the police representative presented the judge with a photo album containing shocking pictures of the children.

"The Jerusalem Police veterans found it difficult to listen to such a shocking story," a police representative said during the previous hearing.The mother admitted to the suspicions and went back on her confession, while the father and another person arrested denied the allegations.

"Evidence submitted to the court testifies to a long and harsh abuse," a police representative said during the hearing.

The small son, who was hospitalized at the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital's intensive care unit, suffers from brain damage which has left him in a vegetative state.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report

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Police seek extradition of rabbi from Canada

By Etgar Lefkovits and Hilary Leila Kriegar

Jerusalem Post - April 6, 2008

The police will issue an international arrest warrant this week against an extremist rabbi who fled to Canada and is a key suspect in one of the worst child abuse cases in the nation's history.

Israel demands rabbi's extradition from Canada

Police said Monday that Rabbi Elior Chen and his followers are suspected of severely abusing two children, aged 3 and 4, who were savagely and systematically beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments for months until the younger child lost consciousness last month.

The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the systematic and brutal abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and her companions, according to an indictment filed against his mother this week in a Jerusalem court.

He is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Chen, who served as a spiritual mentor to the abusive mother and who provided explicit written instruction on how to abuse the children, fled to Canada last month after the case came to light to avoid arrest, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. He apparently does not have Canadian citizenship, Ben-Ruby said.

According to the charge sheet, the woman's relationship with her husband broke down last year, and she expressed her desire to divorce her husband, who subsequently left their Jerusalem home, leaving his eight children in the care of his wife and two men who were charged with educating her children.

The men, who allegedly carried out the abuse with the mother, received instruction from Chen on how to "fix" the children's behavior, and "cleanse" them of their Satanic possession, the indictment says.

During a search of Chen's Betar Illit home, police found evidence that appears to link the rabbi to the abuse, including notebooks that document the violence, police said.

"Put stones on a [Shabbat] hot plate . . . when they are boiling, put them on the bodies of the children and then they will be cleansed," the instructions read.

Chen also instructs his followers how to tie up the children, and to prepare alcoholic drinks made of salt water and turpentine, which, he writes, should be given to the children in order to "vomit out the devil from themselves." Among the items police discovered at Chen's home were hammers, iron bars, turpentine, sticks, and handcuffs.

The other key suspect in the child abuse case, identified as Shimon Gabbai, remains at large and is also wanted by police.

Meanwhile, another suspect arrested by police late Sunday night was remanded in custody on Monday for five days by a Jerusalem court.

The suspect, Avraham Maskalchi, a yeshiva student who twice tried to flee arrest and was nabbed after a police chase, allegedly took part in the abuse of the children, a police representative told the court.

One of the woman's eight children identified him as taking part in the abuse as well, the police representative testified in court.

The charge sheet in the gruesome child abuse case recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods of time - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burned their hands with a lighter and a heater, and gave them freezing showers.

The abusive mother and "educators" are also suspected of pouring salt on the burn wounds of the child, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and sealing his mouth with masking tape, and giving the children alcoholic drinks until they vomited.

The woman remains in police custody.

Since her arrest last month, the mother was repeatedly shown pictures of her children's injuries, but on most of the days she was in remand, she did not inquire about the children nor did she ask who was taking care of them, the police said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not confirm whether they were working with Israeli police to track down Chen, saying that releasing that type of information could harm the investigation if one were ongoing.

The Canadian Justice Ministry also declined to confirm whether it had received requests from Israel for Chen's arrest and extradition, citing the confidentiality of communications between countries.

But should Chen be found in Canada under an international arrest warrant and Israel requests extradition, a Canadian judge will determine whether the suspect can be deported under the extradition treaty existing between the two countries, followed by a review of the attorney-general, a Justice Ministry spokesman said.

According to the extradition agreement between Canada and Israel, for extradition to go forward the suspect must be accused of having committed an act that is considered a crime in both countries - as child abuse is. Extradition would also be held up if there was concern that the suspect was being prosecuted for political motives or could face the death penalty, the latter of which has sometimes complicated extradition from Canada to the United States but shouldn't affect deportation to Israel.

The main issue from Canada's perspective is "are we respecting the person's rights and the [Canadian] charter's rights," explained an aide to MP Irwin Cotler, who served as attorney-general and justice minister in the last government and has argued cases before the Israeli Supreme Court.

A Haaretz report quoted an associated of Chen's as saying that he chose to flee to Canada because "the extradition law is tough." But observers say that assertion might not jibe with the reality, though extradition from Canada can take a long time because of protections including the right to appeal at different points in the process.

"He's going to be in for a surprise," said Canadian Jewish News editor Mordechai Ben-Dat.

"This is a more law-and-order government than other governments," he said of the current Canadian leadership, meaning the attorney-general was unlikely to stay an extradition judgment.

Ben-Dat said that while the Canadian Jewish community is a tight-knit one, it also has many different haredi groups, groups which might be sufficiently cut off from the outside world and media to know that Chen is accused of committing serious crimes.

Chen might be able to take advantage of these enclaves, Ben-Dat said, "if he wants to disappear."

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Or Yehuda 'abusive' mother put under house arrest

Jerusalem Post - April 7, 2008

[The mother from Or Yehuda...] The mother from Or Yehuda
accused of abusing her son leaves court Monday. Photo: Channel 2

The mother suspected of severely abusing her infant son, who was admitted to a hospital two weeks ago with cranial hemorrhages and fractured ribs, was released to house arrest with restraints on Monday.

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court thereby approved the request of the woman's lawyers, citing insufficient evidence. Nevertheless, she is forbidden from contacting her husband, who is also suspected of abusing their son.

During her five-day house arrest, the mother is set to stay at a relative in the North. The boy's father was released to house arrest last week after paying a NIS 3,000 bail.

Earlier Monday, Army Radio reported that the couple would probably not stand trial after a pathology report asserted that their "behavior... falls inside the gray area."

When the baby arrived in the hospital and the story broke, the Israeli media had branded them "the abusive parents from Or Yehuda." Doctors had claimed that "the combination of cranial hemorrhaging, clouded consciousness and fractures are very typical of the 'abused baby syndrome,' hence this is a classic case of infant abuse."

Nonetheless, sources involved in the investigation assessed that it was impossible to prove that the parents had abused their child. "The pathology report does not supply any incontrovertible findings, and it now seems that the mother will not be indicted," they said.

"It could be that they are not especially good parents, but the gap between that and a criminal offense is substantial," the sources added.

The police admitted that the case was complicated but insisted that they would pursue an indictment. "I am not willing to give up in this situation, when a two-month-old baby is hospitalized in serious condition and the person who did this doesn't stand trial," a policeman working on the case told Army Radio.

The baby is still in the hospital in stable condition. However, the extent of the harm caused to him is as yet unknown.

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Police to demand extradition of Rabbi believed behind child abuse sect

By Uri Blau, Yair Ettinger, Jonathan Lis and Ofra Edelman, Haaretz Correspondents and Associated Press and Haaretz - April 7, 2008

Israel Police said Monday they will begin extradition proceedings against Rabbi Elior Chen, who fled to Canada shortly after one of his followers was charged with systematic child abuse including burning her toddlers, making them eat feces, and putting them in a suitcase for days.

Chen was not charged with anything, but fled as news reports of the Jerusalem mother's detention were circulated, and it appeared she had committed the abuse following instructions from him on child disciplining techniques.

During a search of his home Thursday, police found evidence that appears to link the rabbi to the abuse, including journals that document the violence.

Chen may be meeting other members of the sect in Canada, where the family of one of the members lives, according to a friend of Chen's who is familiar with the group but doesn't belong to it. The friend said Chen fled with Joseph Fisher, whose name was not mentioned in an indictment filed yesterday against the mother of the children suspected of being abused by Chen's followers. The remand of the mother was extended Sunday until April 14.

Two of the family's eight children, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in serious condition two weeks ago, after Chen allegedly ordered two of his followers to discipline the children by beating, burning, pushing and shaking them, and tying them up as a way of "correcting" their behavior.

The 4-year-old remains in a coma. Police suspect that Chen's supporters also doused the children in hot and cold water and broke their bones with hammers and blows. The mother was charged with forcing the children to eat feces, beating them unconscious and locking them up in a suitcase for three days.

Jerusalem police also arrested an additional suspect in the case, and have issued a gag order regarding his identity. The Magistrate's Court extended his remand by five days.

Chen and three of his supporters allegedly began providing the family with "educational lessons" several months ago. They allegedly kicked the father out of his home and began abusing several of the family's eight children, especially the two youngest.

Chen and Fisher left the country legally, and their exit was registered at border control.

Afterward, their wives and children went into hiding. The Fisher apartment has been cleared out and its contents have been placed in storage.

Police said they do not know the location of Chen's and Fisher's families, but Chen's friend said they were hoping to go to Canada as well and may have already left the country.

Chen and his supporters chose Canada in part, the source said, because "the extradition law is tough" there. "Only in very exceptional cases does Canada extradite," he said.

Elior Chen's father, Yaakov Chen, told Haaretz he did not know where his son or his son's family was hiding. "I didn't see him, I don't know where he is," he said. "The last time I saw him was three weeks ago, after he had a girl. I went to his home in Upper Betar, gave him a present and that's it. I haven't seen him since. I'm sitting at home and eating my heart out."

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Israel seeks extradition of rabbi from Canada on suspicion of child abuse

Canadian Press - April 7, 2008

JERUSALEM — Israeli police say they have begun extradition proceedings against an Israeli rabbi who went to Canada after being suspected of abusing the children of one of his followers.

A police spokesman says two children, aged three and four, were burned and severely beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments.

The three-year-old suffered brain damage, he added.

The children's mother has been charged with abuse.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the rabbi hasn't been charged with a crime.

But police have identified the suspect being sought as Rabbi Elior Chen.

Rosenfeld says the rabbi had travelled to Canada in the past few days.

Officials at the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv were not immediately available for comment Monday.

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Police arrest man allegedly tied to Jerusalem child abuse case

Jerusalem Post - April 7, 2008

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of being connected to the case of a Jerusalem mother of eight who allegedly abused her children, officials said Sunday overnight.

On Sunday, the 38-year-old mother was indicted in a Jerusalem court.

The woman was arrested last month after the two children were taken to the hospital, the three-year-old in an unconscious state. The child remains hospitalized in critical condition with severe head injuries, and is likely to remain in a vegetative state.

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Israeli cult rabbi flees to Canada

JTA - April 8, 2008

A radical rabbi alleged to have counseled followers to commit horrific acts of child abuse has fled Israel for Canada.

Officials in Israel have issued an international arrest warrant for Rabbi Elior Chen, who is alleged to have counseled his followers to severely beat and burn children in order to rid them of the devil. Other children were allegedly forced to drink alcohol and turpentine until they vomited. Some of the abuses have resulted in serious and life threatening injuries. One child remains in a vegetative state.

Israeli authorities plan to ask Canada to extradite him.

"He left Ben Gurion Airport. He flew to Canada. We know that he's in Canada at the moment," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Chen was once linked to a plot to fire a missile at Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

The Canadian Jewish Congress has called on Chen, if he is indeed hiding in Canada, to turn himself in.

"Canadian Jewish Congress is willing to assist in facilitating his surrender to Canadian authorities," said Rabbi Reuven Bulka, co-president of CJC. "If Rabbi Chen so desires, we encourage him to contact our offices."

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Israel seeks extradition of rabbi from Canada

Associated Press - April 8, 2008

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli police have started extradition proceedings against an Israeli rabbi who fled to Canada after being suspected of abusing the children of one of his followers, a police spokesman said Monday.

Rabbi Elior Chen and his followers are suspected of abusing two children, aged 3 and 4, who were burned and severely beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The 3-year-old suffered permanent brain damage, he added.

Rosenfeld called Chen «one of the main suspects» in the case. Though he has not been charged with a specific crime, «He's definitely connected to the abuse,» Rosenfeld said.

He said Chen had fled to Canada in recent days. The children's mother was charged with abuse last week and remains in jail.

Although police said they were still investigating the motive behind the abuse, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that Rabbi Chen was trying to cleanse the children of Satanic possession.

In journals describing the abuse, the rabbi wrote, «Put stones on a hot plate . . . when they are boiling, put them on the bodies of the children and then they will be cleansed,» Yediot reported.

The Haaretz daily quoted an unidentified friend of Chen's who said the rabbi chose Canada because «the extradition law is tough» there. It was not known whether Chen holds Canadian citizenship, and the Canadian Embassy did not return messages seeking comment.

In a similar case, complicated extradition laws helped New York Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz evade extradition for 23 years when he fled the United States for Israel in 1984 after being charged with sexually abusing children. Mondrowitz was finally arrested last fall and remains in jail in Israel.

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Attention News Editors:

Media statement from Canadian Jewish Congress

News Wire Canada - April 8, 2008

CJC calls on Israeli rabbi to report to Canadian authorities

OTTAWA, April 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Officials in Israel have issued an international arrest warrant for Rabbi Elior Chen who is alleged to have counseled his followers to utilize abhorrent physical abuse against children. Some of the abuses against these children have resulted in serious and life threatening injuries. Israeli authorities believe that he is hiding somewhere in Canada.

"If Rabbi Elior Chen is in fact in Canada, as Israeli police have suggested, Canadian Jewish Congress is calling on him to report immediately to the local authorities." said Rabbi Reuven P Bulka, co-President of CJC. "Canadian Jewish Congress is willing to assist in facilitating his surrender to Canadian authorities." Rabbi Bulka continued. "If Rabbi Chen so desires, we encourage him to contact our offices."

"We have complete faith in the Canadian and Israeli authorities to conduct a full and proper investigation so that justice is served." said CJC co-president Sylvain Abitbol.

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Israel seeks extradition of rabbi in child abuse probe: One child, aged 3, suffered permanent brain damage

CBC News - April 8, 2008

Israeli authorities have begun extradition proceedings against a rabbi who fled to Canada after becoming a suspect in a case involving alleged physical abuse of the children of one of his followers.

Israeli investigators said Elior Chen fled to Canada last month, but they're not sure precisely where he is.

Rabbi Elior Chen is alleged to have encouraged followers to burn and beat their children with hammers.Rabbi Elior Chen is alleged to have encouraged followers to burn and beat their children with hammers.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfield said Chen, who is in his mid- to late 20s, was "one of the main suspects" in the alleged abuse, although he has not been charged with a specific crime.

Two children, aged three and four, were burned and severely beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments, Rosenfeld said. The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage, he added.

Several suspects are in custody in Israel. The children's mother, whose name has been withheld, was charged with abuse last week and remains in jail.

The case has garnered massive attention in Israel, where media have published horrific details of the spiritual leader's alleged encouragement of parents abusing children as a form of discipline, the CBC's Peter Armstrong reported Tuesday from Jerusalem.

Journals detailed abuse, police say

Journals purportedly belonging to Chen that were discovered by police after a raid allegedly lay out in explicit detail how the mother should systematically abuse the children to force out their demons, Armstrong said.

The alleged abuse included burning the children, locking them in a suitcase for prolonged periods of time and forcing them to eat feces.

The Canadian Jewish Congress is urging Chen to turn himself in.

Rabbi Reuven Bulka told CBC News that the CJC is willing to assist in Chen's surrender if he is in Canada "to send a message out that there's no escaping from justice."

Bulka said the group was making the public appeal "if on the off-chance he thinks that he's going to be manhandled by police, which we know wouldn't happen, but if there's a fear of this, to let him know that the Canadian Jewish Congress would use its good offices to handle this."

It was not clear what connection the rabbi has with Canada, nor whether he holds Canadian citizenship or residency. The Canadian Embassy in Israel did not call after messages were left, seeking comment.

In Ottawa, Chris Girouard, a spokesman for Canada's Department of Justice, said he could not confirm or deny whether there have been requests for extradition, citing confidentiality of state-to-state communications.

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Metzger: Abusive parents and rabbis should be 'excommunicated'

Jerusalem Post - April 9, 2008

Following a spate of allegations of child abuse in the religious community, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger called on rabbis to "unhesitatingly renounce" such violent acts.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Metzger said that abusive parents and rabbis must be "condemned" and "excommunicated."

He told community rabbis to express their disapproval and the disapproval of the Torah for such "acts of brutality."

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Rabbi Yona Metzger on Child Abuse and The Case of Rabbi Elior Chen

by Vicki Polin, MA, NCC, LCPC

The Awareness Center's Daily Newsletter - April 8, 2008

It seems strange that Rabbi Yona Metzger would be making the following statement, especially since he was accused of sexual misconduct/clergy sexual abuse (with four men) several years ago.

I strongly disagree with the statement Rabbi Metzger made regarding excommunicating the parents of the children who were so horrendously abused. Even though the actions came from their own hands, I believe that they were being manipulated and were acting under the explicit directions of their spiritual leader/cult leader, Rabbi Elior Chen.

Many individuals who get involved with cults, often have histories of child abuse and or neglect. From past experience in working with ex-cult members, I found that women who have left abusive relationships are also more susceptible to getting involved in cult like groups.

The basic issue is that adult survivors of child abuse (emotional, physical and sexual abuse) and those battered as adults are looking for unconditional love. What happens is they get manipulated in believing that their leader represents "the truth." They no longer are able to access their ability to use deductive reasoning / critical thinking.

Though I do believe these parents should no longer have custody of their children, I do not believe that we should make blanket statements stating they should all be excommunicated. We need to look at each situation on a case by case basis. I also have mixed feelings about the parents and the criminal cases that will be brought up against them. If these parents were unable to access their critical thinking, would they then be considered mentally ill? Were they at the time of each act unable to discern right from wrong? I'm not trying to make excuses for their behavior, it's just that I think there is much more to the story then what we are reading in the newspapers. The parents psychiatric help and exit counseling. This can occur either in a prison or a psychiatric facility. I believe that the parents are most likely individuals who most likely have the potential for rehabilitation.

I do not believe this is true when talking about Rabbi Elior Chen. I do agree with Rabbi Metzger that Chen should loose his rabbinical title and believe he should spend the rest of his life in a prison. I do not believe he will ever be safe to be out with the rest of our society.

For more information on Destructive Cults:

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Israel seeks rabbi extradition

April 8, 2008

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Israeli authorities have begun extradition proceedings against a rabbi who fled to Canada after becoming a suspect in a case involving alleged physical abuse of the children of one of his followers. -

Israeli investigators said Elior Chen fled to Canada last month, but they're not sure...

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Calls for fugitive Israeli rabbi to contact police

By Neco Cockburn

Canwest News Service Tuesday, April 08, 2008

OTTAWA - Ottawa Rabbi Reuven Bulka is calling on an Israeli rabbi to turn himself in to authorities after police uncovered a "horrific" case of child abuse.

Israeli authorities have accused Rabbi Elior Chen of playing a role in the alleged abuse suffered over several months by two of a woman's eight children. Chen is believed to have fled to Canada.

Media reports of the abuse, which describe the children, aged three and four, being burned and beaten with hammers, have shaken the country.

The three-year-old boy suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse, according to police, who reportedly found hammers, knives and other objects believed to have been used during the abuse in Chen's apartment. Reports say Chen served as a "spiritual mentor" to the woman.

"It's one of the worst case we've had to deal with in the last few years," Israel police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said in an interview Tuesday.

Rosenfeld said police are in the process of alerting Canadian authorities and starting extradition proceedings regarding Chen, who fled the country after the children's mother was arrested more than a week ago.

Rosenfeld said it is unknown where in Canada Chen may be, but most flights from Israel would have landed in Montreal or Toronto, with a connection through the U.S.

Bulka, co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called on Chen to turn himself in to authorities and said the Canadian Jewish Congress could arrange his surrender.

"I'm just hoping that somehow or other he'll listen to reason," he said.

"It's something that hits home, obviously, because it's a member of the Jewish community. We had to make clear that we're on the side of the law. We're not convicting him of anything, but if there are charges, he should face them."

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Israeli rabbi accused of abuse asked to surrender

By Neco Cockburn

The Ottawa Citizen; With files from the National Post - Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Ottawa Rabbi Reuven Bulka is calling on an Israeli rabbi to turn himself in to authorities after police uncovered a "horrific" case of child abuse.

Israeli authorities have accused Rabbi Elior Chen of playing a role in alleged abuse suffered over several months by two of a woman's eight children. Rabbi Chen is believed to have fled to Canada.

Media reports of the abuse, which describe the children, aged three and four, being burned and beaten with hammers, have shaken the country.

The three-year-old boy has permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse, according to police, who reportedly found hammers, knives and other objects believed to have been used during the abuse in Rabbi Chen's apartment. Reports say Rabbi Chen served as a "spiritual mentor" to the woman.

"It's one of the worst cases we've had to deal with in the last few years," Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said yesterday.

Mr. Rosenfeld said police were in the process of alerting Canadian authorities and starting extradition proceedings regarding Rabbi Chen, who fled Israel after the children's mother was arrested more than a week ago.

Mr. Rosenfeld said it was unknown where in Canada Rabbi Chen may be, but most flights from Israel would have landed in Montreal or Toronto, with connections through the U.S.

RCMP spokeswoman Nathalie Deschenes said that force was among numerous agencies that received information about Rabbi Chen -- reported to the force as "Elior Hen" -- through Interpol. Sgt. Deschenes could not confirm whether Rabbi Chen had landed in Canada, but said anyone who saw him could contact their local police department.

Rabbi Bulka, co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called on Rabbi Chen to turn himself and said the Congress could arrange his surrender.

"I'm just hoping that somehow or other he'll listen to reason," he said. "It's something that hits home, obviously, because it's a member of the Jewish community. We had to make clear that we're on the side of the law. We're not convicting him of anything, but, if there are charges, he should face them."

Rabbi Bulka called the allegations "horrific."

According to a charge sheet, the woman's relationship with her husband broke down last year, leaving their children in the care of the woman and two men who were educating them, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The indictment says the men, who allegedly carried out the abuse with the woman, received instructions from Rabbi Chen on how to "fix" the children's behaviour, and "cleanse" them of their Satanic possession, the Post reported.

The woman is accused of forcing her children to eat feces, locking them in a suitcase for days at a time, burning them with a lighter and heater and giving them freezing showers, the report states. She and the two men are also suspected of pouring salt on a child's burn wounds, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and giving the children alcoholic drinks until they vomited, the newspaper said.

Notebooks documenting violence, plus hammers, iron bars, turpentine, sticks, and handcuffs, were allegedly found when police searched Rabbi Chen's home, the Post reported.

Police have arrested one man and are seeking two others, including Rabbi Chen, according to the newspaper.

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Child-abuse case leaves investigators stunned; Israel seeks to prepare international warrant, extradite rabbi

Kingston Whig-Standard - April 9, 2008

Israeli authorities have started extradition proceedings against an Israeli rabbi who went to Canada after being suspected in a case involving harsh abuse of the children of one of his followers, a police spokesman said Monday.

Two children, aged three and four, were burned and severely beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage, Rosenfeld said. The police spokesman said Rabbi Elior Chen was "one of the main suspects" in the case and definitely connected with the abuse, although he has not been charged with a specific crime.

He said Chen had travelled to Canada in recent days.

Israeli authorities are preparing an international warrant for his arrest.

In Ottawa, Chris Girouard, a spokesman for Canada's Department of Justice, said that "due to the confidentiality of state to state communications, I cannot confirm nor deny any requests for extradition."

The children's mother, whose name has been withheld, was charged with abuse last week and remains in jail.

Graphic photographs were reported found in the police investigation. The Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, reported that journals recovered by police allegedly had writings such as: "Put stones on a hot plate ... when they are boiling, put them on the bodies of the children and then they will be cleansed."

Local media reports said the case has left veteran police investigators and welfare workers stunned by the horrific treatment allegedly handed out to the young children.

It was not clear what connection the rabbi has with Canada, nor whether he holds Canadian citizenship or residency.

The Canadian Embassy in Israel did not return messages seeking comment.

The Haaretz daily quoted an unidentified friend of Chen's who said the rabbi chose Canada because "the extradition law is tough" there. It was not known whether Chen holds Canadian citizenship.

Israeli media reports say one member of Chen's group has family living in Canada.

The Haaretz daily reported that Chen's father said he had last seen his son three weeks ago at his home of Beta Illit, a community south of Jerusalem.

The father said he didn't know the whereabouts of his son or his family.

Mondrowitz was finally arrested last fall and remains in jail in Israel.

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Suspect in J'lem child abuse arrested

By Etgar Lefkovitz

Jerusalem Post - April 9, 2008

A key suspect in a gruesome Jerusalem child abuse case was arrested Wednesday in a forest on the outskirts of the city, police said.

Shimon Gabai was in police custody after the father of the abused children turned him in to police.

Gabai, who was wanted by police, was hiding in a forest near the capital, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

He will be brought to a Jerusalem court late Wednesday for a remand hearing.

Meanwhile, police planned to issue an international arrest warrant this week against an extremist Israeli rabbi who fled to Canada and was one of the main suspects in one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history.

Rabbi Elior Chen and his followers were suspected of severely abusing two children, aged 3 and 4, who were savagely and systematically beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments for months until the youngest lapsed into a coma last month.

He was expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Chen, who served as a spiritual mentor to the abusive mother and who provided explicit written instructions on how to abuse the children, fled to Canada in order to avoid arrest after the case came to light last month, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

He apparently did not have Canadian citizenship, Ben-Ruby added.

According to the charge sheet, the woman's relationship with her husband broke down last year, and she expressed her desire to divorce him. The husband subsequently left their Jerusalem home, leaving his eight children in the care of his wife, as well as two other men who were charged with educating them.

The men, who allegedly carried out the abuse along with the mother, received instructions from Chen on how to "fix" the children's behavior, and "cleanse" them of their satanic possession, the indictment states.

During a search of Chen's Betar Illit home, police found evidence that appears to link the rabbi to the abuse, including notebooks that document the violence, police said.

"Put stones on a [Sabbath] hot plate...when they are boiling, put them on the bodies of the children and then they will be cleansed," the instructions read.

Chen also instructs his followers on how to tie up the children, and to prepare alcoholic drinks made of salt water and turpentine. These, he writes, should be given to the children in order to "vomit out the devil from themselves."

Among the items police discovered at Chen's home were hammers, iron bars, turpentine, sticks, and handcuffs.

Meanwhile, a Jerusalem court on Monday extended the remand of another suspect arrested by police late Sunday night by five days.

One of the woman's eight children also identified him as taking part in the abuse, the police representative testified in court.

The charge sheet recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods of time - repeatedly beat, whipped and shook them, burnt their hands with a lighter and a heater, and gave them freezing showers.

The abusive mother and 'educators' were also suspected of pouring salt on the burn wounds of one of the children, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and sealing his mouth with masking tape.

The woman remains in police custody.

Since her arrest last month, the mother has repeatedly been shown pictures of her children's injuries, but for the most part has not inquired about the children nor asked who was taking care of them, the police said.

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God wasn't there

How and when have we stopped hearing the cries of children?

By Sima Kadmon

YNET NEWS - April 11, 2008

The photos received by the Yedioth Ahronoth newsroom could not be publish.

They are too difficult to watch, even if the horror revealed in them had been the result of a horrible accident. Or of a terror attack. But the feeling rushing through one's body while looking at them is not one of shock. It's a feeling of great anger. It's hard to believe that the dreadful bubbles and the scorched skin on this child's thin legs were caused by a human being. And not any human being. A mother.

Another picture: Tiny feet, with no skin, covered with festers. Someone took great effort in hurting this child. Someone? Not just anyone. A mother. Had one been told that these photos document the torture of hostages by particularly cruel investigators, one would find it hard to believe that as well. But a mother?

The indictment filed to the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday only intensifies the horror: Burning organs, pouring alcohol and scattering salt over wounds, feeding children with faeces, tying them with ropes and plastic restraints, stroking them with a hammer, breaking their teeth, locking them up in a suitcase for several days – all these charges against a mother of eight guided by a rabbi in Israel to conduct a "tikkun" on her children. Seeing the tools the mother used to abuse her children takes one's breath away. Less brutal means are needed in order to destroy concrete, in order to crack iron, than the ones used on a five-year-old boy and his three-and-a-half-year-old brother.

Who did he cry out to for help, the three-year-old child, when his legs were attached to a heater for several long minutes? When they poured alcohol on his burns? When they hit his hand with a wooden schnitzel hammer? When they scorched his little fingers with a lighter? What was the five-year-old child thinking about while being locked up in a suitcase for three whole days? He couldn't cry out. His mouth was blocked with a skullcap. It is safe to say, however, that God wasn't in there with him.

Where was everyone?

These two small children who underwent incomprehensible acts of abuse are probably not the only ones. A cult headed by Rabbi Elior Chen has recently been uncovered. This spiritual leader even issued a manual to the parents, a sort of Guide to the Perplexed, which teaches God-fearing Jews education methods. Let's hope that this same rabbi won't have to wait for the next world in order to be compensated for his deeds in this world.

Because we are talking about ultra-Orthodox people, it's easy – even tempting – to blame everything on the haredi community. That won't be fair. There are mental patients, sadists and perverts everywhere. Child abuse takes place, unfortunately, among secular people as well. The disturbing thing is that such acts are only revealed when children arrive at hospitals, sometimes in critical condition, sometimes when it's too late.

And the question is where was everyone? Relatives. Neighbors. The welfare services. The social organizations. The teachers. The kindergarteners. Entire circles these children grow up in.

Could it be that such acts are taking place in a nearby house and no one knows about it? How can an entire society shut its heart and ears to voices of distress? How and when have we stopped hearing the cries of children?

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Rabbi on run after child is forced to drink solvent

By Eric Silver, Jerusalem

Jewish Chronical (England) - April 4, 2008

Israel is seeking the extradition of a strictly Orthodox rabbi, Elior Chen, who fled to Canada after being accused of instructing a mother of eight to brutally abuse her children as a means of "cleansing" and "educating" them.

The case, the second of its kind in recent weeks involving Charedi families, has shocked Israelis.

The 38-year-old woman was charged in a Jerusalem court this week with savagely beating her two younger sons, aged four and three, forcing them to eat their own faeces and drink a concoction of salt water and turpentine until they "vomited out the devil". Two of the rabbi's disciples are suspected of working with her.

The three-year-old was admitted to hospital in a vegetative state from which he is not expected to emerge. The mother, an American immigrant, is separated from her husband. Her name cannot be published for legal reasons.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the JC that detectives searching the family's Jerusalem home "found knives, hammers and heaters which we believe were used to punish the children".

They also seized allegedly incriminating documents and instruments from Rabbi Chen's home in the Charedi town of Betar Illit. In one of his notebooks, he is said to have told his followers to heat stones on a hotplate then put them on the children's bodies "and they will cleansed".

"We believe the rabbi frequently visited the family's home and was directly involved in what happened there," Inspector Rosenfeld said. "We know he fled to Canada and we are continuing the extradition process." Israel has an extradition treaty with Canada.

Dr Yitzhak Kadman, director of the National Council for the Child, said that while there was no evidence that child abuse was more prevalent in Charedi families than elsewhere — in Israel as a whole, 38,000 cases were reported last year — such groups tended to harbour conspiracies of silence. Like other "closed and conservative communities", such as Israeli Arabs and kibbutzim, they didn't want outsiders to know about them.

"Based on our experience and knowledge," he told the JC, "child abuse exists in the Charedi community. We find all sorts of abuse, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, even sexual abuse.

"But they keep the problem inside. They say they can cope with it without any outside assistance. They'll deal with it their way, even in a better way."

Dr Kadman reported, however, that over the past two years there had been a slight but sure change in attitude among Charedi rabbis and families. "In more and more cases we find a willingness not to hide the problem any longer, to complain to the social services or the police. They are even turning to us to escort the complainants through the legal and bureaucratic processes. We have a Charedi rabbi on our board."

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'If he said jump off the roof, you'd jump'

By Uri Blau and Yair Ettinger

Haaretz - April 11, 2008

"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer" - Deuteronomy 18: 10-11

Elior Chen grew up in Jerusalem's Romema neighborhood, one of seven children of a mother who worked as the neighborhood's ritual-bath attendant and a father who was an employee of the city's religious council. His father, Yaakov, who had immigrated from Morocco, was a man of action, a fervent Zionist, who served in an elite army unit and been involved in daring operations. However, toward the end of the 1970s he was offered a modest position in the service of the chief rabbis of Jerusalem, and decided to don a black skullcap and give his children an ultra-Orthodox education. He foresaw a future for his son as a brilliant Torah scholar. He purchased countless religious books, including volumes of kabbala, in which the child immersed himself from the age of 12.

Today Elior Chen, 29, is apparently in Canada, hoping to evade the international extradition order that has been issued against him. In Israel, he is suspected of being responsible for one of the worst cases of systematic child abuse the country has ever known. The victims are the children of his disciples, who were prepared to do anything for him, including spilling the blood of their own children and those of their friends.

Police and prosecutors believe that under instructions from their rabbi, Chen, the accused and parties still at large imposed a reign of terror on the children: beating them on the head with hammers, pushing them against burning-hot heaters, throwing salt on their wounds, tying them with ropes, and gagging and punching them. They are accused, too, of imprisoning them in suitcases and other confined areas, forcing them to eat feces and to drink arrack until vomiting, and made them run around until they fainted.

The apparent victims of most of these acts were two children - 3 and 4 years old, the youngest of eight children of the woman charged this week with grave abuse together with another member of Chen's circle, David Kugman.

In any event, the sixth wedding anniversary of Elior and Ruth Chen this week was marked separately by husband and wife: He is in Canada, along with a disciple, Yosef Fischer, and she is apparently somewhere in Israel with their four children and other followers who have not been arrested.

"I knew [Chen] very well, like a brother," relates a former member of the group. "As I remember him, there weren't concepts like violence involved, but there was a madness that stood out in him. If he said jump off the roof, you'd jump. I am certain he has supernatural powers and the proof is that a mother, whom I know as a sterling woman, a religious woman, takes her son and passes him through fire, as though before Moloch. Is it possible to understand a thing like that rationally? And I tell you that even if the child had died, it would not have upset her. Why? Because she's certain she is doing the best thing for the child."

Do you understand what you are saying?

"You have to realize that there are people who can take you - someone from North Tel Aviv, from Haaretz - and control you. This is a reality, out of your control, and you will do things and all of a sudden wake up and only two years later will you manage to escape the scene ...

"Do you know what the police are getting wrong? They aren't trying to understand this story. They think they are dealing with criminals, or with methods of child-rearing. They don't understand that from the perspective of these people there is a 'correction' going on here, in the spiritual sense, a tikkun [correction] of the soul. And the police don't understand what level of control this is. You are talking about nonviolent people who were not beaten at home, perfectly normal people. Someone simply comes along, gets control of their switch and that's it. They need to be sent for observation, and given about two years before they can understand the gravity of the matter. I wouldn't send them to prison for murder, I'd send the person who made them do what they did, because he's the main thing."

Walking 'wounded'

Elior Chen's bar mitzvah, in 1992, was graced with the presence of venerable ultra-Orthodox rabbis and wheeler- dealers, both Sephardic and Ashkenazi, who knew the boy's father, Yaakov, from the religious council. These rabbis were presented with a wunderkind who devoted hours to holy books. No one imagined these were mostly books about Jewish mysticism - kabbala.

Despite his diligence, the youngster had difficulty getting along in ultra- Orthodox settings. At the age of 15 he was sent to the Oz Leyissachar Yeshiva, where he spent 10 years. From a narrow alley that leads from Joseph Caro Street in Jerusalem's Beit Yisrael neighborhood, steps lead to the second story of a building. Here, beyond an iron gate, Oz Leyissachar operates out of three rooms. Wretchedness prevails there. At the late hour when we visited, three students were trying to rest, sprawled on rickety bunk beds. In the main room, a man with a long beard and earlocks, sucking a lollipop, read a text by Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.

Oz Leyissachar was founded by Rabbi Haim Pinto, and intended for youngsters who are on the bottom of the ultra- Orthodox social ladder, some of whom have cut themselves off from their families. The yeshiva is identified with the Bratslav sect, but not formally affiliated with any major branch of Hasidism. Some students have become associated with an anti-establishment group called Pitzuei Hanahal - nahal, meaning "brook," from Rabbi Nachman's "Flowing Brook, a Fountain of Wisdom"; and pitzuei, "wounded," because of their oppression by the ultra-Orthodox establishment. Graffiti is scrawled on the cupboards at the yeshiva: "wanderer," "injured by nerves or anger," "hurt by the cold."

The "wounded" have replaced life at establishment yeshivas with study in independent settings, wandering among graves of holy men and in forests. The group, whose members are unmarried, has been joined by the newly religious and refugees from national religious yeshivas. In recent years, the name "Wounded" has struck terror in the hearts of Arab passersby in Jerusalem's Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood after a number of violent incidents, some culminating in convictions.

Elior Chen was never identified with the hard-core "Wounded," but that was the environment in which he grew up. He excelled in his studies and became Rabbi Pinto's favorite. After some years as a student, Pinto appointed him a ba'al shi'ur (teacher) at the yeshiva. Although he was never ordained, he has since been called by the title of "rabbi" and has attracted enthusiastic disciples, who are impressed not only by his knowledge of kabbala, but by the way he applies it practically.

Rabbi Pinto was also responsible for making a match for his foremost student. A number of years ago he was contacted by Sharon Tel-Tzur, a Bratslav Hasid who had become newly religious and requested his help in transferring Rebbe Nachman's remains from Uman in Ukraine to Jerusalem. Tel-Tzur dreamed of marrying his daughter to an Ashkenazi, but when Pinto offered him the genius of the yeshiva, he could not refuse. The couple married and moved into an apartment in the Beitar Illit ultra-Orthodox settlement.

The popularity of his lessons led Chen to believe that Oz Leyissachar was not "big" enough for him; Pinto was unhappy about the kabbala lessons he was giving.

"He started dealing with kabbala too much," recalls one of Chen's classmates. "Rabbi Pinto would say: 'Don't teach kabbala. Study everything, but young people are forbidden to teach kabbala' ... Five years ago Elior quarreled once and for all with the rabbi. The explosion occurred because of the business about kabbala. Elior left."

Other students left together with Chen. Some of them became members of the circle that coalesced around him, like Shimon Gabai - a main suspect in the child-abuse case, who was found Wednesday and is now in police custody. Others, like D., the separated husband of the woman who was indicted in the affair, who himself is not a suspect, and David Kugman, the other person who was indicted - simply worshiped Chen's "powers." At first he would give lessons in synagogues in the capital's Geula and Har Nof neighborhoods; later he met with followers near his parents' home in Romema.

Canceled wedding

About two years after the Chens' wedding, Tel-Tzur's second daughter met one of Chen's major disciples: Kugman. Today a central suspect in the child-abuse case, he then looked like a good match. "She wanted Kugman because he comes from a wealthy home. She wanted a comfortable life. She had several meetings with him and he looked to her like a refined, nice person," relates a relative.

The intended bride linked up with Chen's group, and members of her family remember that she started to disappear from home. They felt they were losing her to Chen, but say the closer she got to him, the more she was upset by his control over her fiance, says one source: "She said she was not interested in anyone whose rabbi was Elior - she felt Elior controlled him entirely."

The day before the vort (an agreement between the bride's and groom's parents) was sealed, Chen decided he did not like the bride's reservations, and ordered Kugman to call everything off. After this humiliation, the Tel-Tzurs broke off relations with their son-in-law and thus with their eldest daughter Ruth as well. The only one who continued to maintain contact with Ruth was her grandmother, who says she spoke to Ruth about a month ago, after she gave birth to her fourth child, and says: "I am very worried about her. She is a good soul. She is so naive and loyal to her husband."

"Ruth realized that if her husband breaks up the match, it means her father is no longer happy with her genius [husband], her 'messiah rabbi,'" says a family member. "Tel-Tzur told his daughter many times: 'For me your husband is my son-in-law and he will never be my rabbi.'"

Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri, son of kabbalist Rabbi David Batzri, relates that as early as 18 months ago he heard "talk about 'a hidden saint.' A kind of young star with supernatural powers, who was leading a group of Bratslav Hasidim connected to Pitzuei Hanahal. People were saying he was advising people, and doing tikkunim and rituals of applied kabbala for them."

The practice of applied kabbala attributed to Chen has been considered illegitimate in the world of Jewish mysticism ever since it was prohibited by the Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria) in the 16th century. Along with the flourishing amulet and "holy water" industry, many kabbalist rabbis engage in theoretical kabbala, such as "revelation of the secrets" of Creation.

The so-called tikkunim conducted by kabbalists are for the most part a kind of prayer, rather than acts associated with applied kabbala - the forbidden realm of "invoking the names" of angels to influence reality. "Hardly anyone engages in those things," explains the younger Batzri. "I believe that this is possible, but I am somewhat skeptical about those things, and I don't believe that a youngster of 29 can do them."

Chen has indeed engaged in "invoking names," relate former friends and members of his family. "He has engaged in applied kabbala and mysticism, and this has attracted many people," says his brother-in-law Nachman Tel-Tzur who, as noted, has cut off contact with him. "Many people have been in contact with him, asking for advice. When he would come to Ashdod, a list of people would chase after him because they thought he works miracles. There were rumors that he cured people in hospitals. I can't rely on that, but I have seen things with my own eyes. He would sit in the house and move things by reciting verses, and he would do things with parchment. One time he looked at the palm of my hand and told me things that I was shocked that he knew."

His classmates relate that Chen's work with applied kabbala began in 2005, after he had left Oz Leyissachar; even before that, all of them are prepared to swear, they saw him perform wizardry. "At first I didn't believe it," relates one of them, who refrains from revealing his name for fear that Chen will do him harm. "The reality was," he continues, "that we would drive at no cost ... from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, and then from Jerusalem to the North and back. He would ask how much was needed and then he would say, 'Bring a book,' open it and find cash. Call this whatever you want, I have seen this happen."

Rabbi Batzri says that from the details of the abuse affair, it seems there were attempts to exorcise a dybbuk (evil spirit) from the bodies of the victims, rather than to perform tikkunim, as stated in the indictment. "To me it sounds like complete paganism, like sacrificing children to Moloch. This is a religious rite that does not exist in Judaism. There isn't any religious rite because there aren't any such things in the Jewish kabbala, not even in applied kabbala, which is forbidden. This is exactly how children are sacrificed to Moloch. Only in Christianity and in pagan religions is there a concept like that - to pass a child over a fiery oven so he will burn."

Batzri is convinced that anyone who engages in "invoking names," like Chen, is exposed to danger from "demons and evil spirits," like Samael and Lilith. "Only someone who holds conversations with demons can arrive at passing children through fire.... It's like all kinds of mediums who don't have any connection to kabbala. That is the danger in these things, because it can lead to complete paganism."

In May 2005, on the day opponents of the Israeli pullout from Gaza planned to block roads across the country, the Shin Bet security service exposed a Jewish group that was planning a terror attack on the Temple Mount, intended to spark an all-out war in the Middle East - and thwart the withdrawal. At that time the Shin Bet believed that Avtalion and Akiva Kadosh - two brothers who knew Chen from Oz Leyissachar, and afterward attended his lessons outside - were planning to fire a Lau missile from the Bratslav Shuvu Banim Yeshiva at the Temple Mount, and then hurl grenades at the police who arrived on the scene. At the end of the operation, the Shin Bet said, the two planned to commit suicide. To this end Avtalion Kadosh contacted Eyal Kermani of Rehovot, to help carry out the terror attack and purchase weapons, but Akiva Kadosh got cold feet, and refused to cooperate with them.

Although he did not serve in the Israel Defense Forces, Chen is known as "a very militant, Kahanist figure." Attorney Naftali Wurtzburger, who represented the men under arrest, recalls "a hallucinatory group of Bratslav guys, hallucinatory in the harmless sense - fellows who go around to the graves of holy men and started to talk about how they would bring redemption by blowing up the Temple Mount. The Shin Bet took this seriously and thought they had discovered a new Jewish underground. In the end they realized that this is a hallucinatory story, somewhere in the twilight zone of these people's thinking."

Wurtzburger remembers the major role Chen played in the affair: "The others in the group saw him as their squad commander in a way. He wasn't a sort whom battalions follow, but he did lead this small group. The initiative and the talk ... were attributed to him."

Wurtzburger gained the impression that Chen's authority did not derive only from a dominant personality. "All of their talk was at the religious level. The idea was to bring about redemption by means of a grandiose action, and the messianic atmosphere was always in the background. In the end the Shin Bet also understood that it was dealing with a hallucinatory group." Chen's involvement in this affair unraveled his ties with the yeshiva and with Pitzuei Hanahal, once and for all.

'Hidden saint'

Chen continued to nurture the hard core of his disciples, which numbered 10 to 15 people. After he was released from arrest in the Temple Mount affair, he closed the gates to the group and demanded total loyalty and blind obedience. Even though his reputation as a "a hidden saint" continued to grow, he ordered his disciples not to let people from the outside join the group, which met alternately at his home in Beitar, his parents' home and at the home of D. and his wife.

"We weren't permitted to bring people in, and if this did happen he would be angry," says a former member of the group. "He didn't want other people. Whoever was there, was there; they were stuck to him. There were a lot of people whom he kicked out."

Among the sworn followers were the suspected abusive mother and her husband D., Yosef Fischer, Shimon Gabai, David Kugman, Avraham Mascalchi and at least three other unmarried men, whose identies are protected by the court.

"If someone met a girl and wanted to marry her," relates the former group member, "[Chen] would tell that person not to get married and people would cancel everything. That is what happened with Shimon Gabai, who got engaged and broke the engagement, that is what happened with David Kugman, who was about to get married to Chen's sister-in-law, and that is what happened with Avraham Mascalchi."

Another wedding was canceled this week in different circumstances: Yet another disciple, whose identity is protected by a gag order, was arrested on Monday, just hours before his wedding. He did not agree to hold the ceremony in jail, as the judge suggested at his arraignment.

Only a few of the Chen family's neighbors in Beitar knew the members of the group by name. The children who live on Hazon Ish Street tell about the lively traffic of visitors to the Chens' home, and about another family that lived with them during the weeks before the child-abuse story broke, and then left.

Close to the family's apartment, a kollel (yeshiva for married men) of the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva operates in a trailer. One student there, newly religious, remembers the group of naive men that gathered under the leadership of the neighbor across the way. He remembers the tikkunim they conducted in the street in the middle of the night.

"In that group, [Chen] was the only one from Beitar," he relates. "They would go to the ritual bath together and would go into seclusion. On nights of the new moon, at 2 A.M., he would stand here under the tree with some 10 or 15 people, doing tikkunim. If you want to find him, he is usually in the fields in the area. He is very mysterious. He has lived here for years and no one knows anything about him."

The married men of the group were Chen, Fischer and D., the husband of the mother suspected of child abuse. D. and she were born and raised in the United States in Zionist, Orthodox families. After they immigrated, they lived for a few years in a settlement in Gush Katif in Gaza and then moved to the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem. There D. abandoned the values of religious Zionism and began to take an interest in mysticism. The couple and their children felt comfortable in the Jewish Quarter, where there are many foreign residents who join the ultra-Orthodox communities in the city; D., who dresses in a white robe, is familiar to the residents. The couple sent their children to a relatively liberal Talmud Torah (school for young boys).

D. met Chen about six years ago and became a key member of the group that traveled together to the tombs of holy men, and secluded themselves in the forests near Jerusalem and the Etzion Bloc. "Even though Elior is much younger, D. saw him as a very wise individual. He recognized his special qualities and thought Elior Chen was a spiritual individual with abilities," relates a close friend.

D. opened his home on Misgav Ladach Street in the Jewish Quarter to the group's members, which is how their acquaintance with his children and his wife developed. In their home they came to know Kugman and Gabai, who "would come to their home and study, sitting and talking about the Torah portion of the week, Hasidism, things that people learn at any yeshiva. There wasn't a focus on raising children."

D. and his wife were unusual among the members of the group, mostly because they were well off economically, even though D.'s friend says that "in his time it never happened that the rabbi asked for or received money. D. says that if he had wanted money then, he would have become a millionaire, because of his many disciples."

During the past year the relationship between D. and his wife began to crack: The veteran Chen disciple found himself outside the circle, whereas his wife remained on the inside and her position grew stronger.

"If there were a constellation of sexual closeness between the rabbi and the wife, that could explain why Chen took the trouble to neutralize D.," says the same source.

Chen ordered D. to leave home and advised him to give his wife a bill of divorce. This past Sukkot D. was thus compelled to leave his wife and eight children, and to stop his visits to the home. At the same time he totally cut himself off from the group. The separation was kept secret, ironically, so as not to hurt the children, as D.'s friend relates. "She didn't want him to be in the home, but they kept up the pretense of conducting themselves as husband and wife for the benefit of those around them. Divorce in the ultra-Orthodox world can harm the children and he was afraid of that."

The strengthening of the wife's position occurred in parallel to her total abdication to Chen's will, to whom she turned when she had difficulty raising her small children in the absence of the father. Chen authorized Gabai and Kugman to "help" in the education of the children, an education that was almost entirely pure torture. Gabai and Kugman took control of the home in the Jewish Quarter and later of the villa to which the wife moved two months ago. The villa, part of the prestigious Wolfson complex in the Shaarei Hessed neighborhood of Jerusalem, belongs to the wife's mother, who lives in the United States and is the proprietor of a well-known Jewish newspaper.

According to his friend, D. "did not really know what was happening there. When he heard the story, he said that it couldn't be happening, that they had gone crazy. How could people do such things to children? He couldn't believe it of his wife and he said that she was a woman who put all her soul into the children. This isn't a family where there was violence, it's a very wealthy family. Now he is in bad shape and he can't sleep at night."

On Monday an ambulance left Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Karem for the Herzog Hospital for nursing care. In it lay a small child of three and a half, hooked up to tubes and machines. His condition is defined as vegetative. This is the eighth child of the mother and D. The doctors at Hadassah have given up hope that he will ever regain consciousness.

At Hadassah, before she was jailed, the mother was able to visit him once, accompanied by police. One of the medical team recalls: "The mother looked calm and serene, completely normal, didn't ask how the child was doing and didn't even ask to see him. There was only one thing she wanted. She said that they have a very important and precious amulet, which is valuable, and she wanted to leave it with the child. That is the only thing she said." The amulet was not found.

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Israel issues international warrant against sect leader suspected of child abuse

By Uri Blau, Yair Ettinger and Jonathan Lis, Haaertz Correspondents

Haaretz- April 11, 2008

The Jerusalem police on Friday issued an international arrest warrant against Elior Chen, a spiritual leader who is suspected of orchestrating the worst case of systematic child abuse in Israel's history.

At the beginning of this week, Haaretz reported that Chen had fled to Canada with one of his disciples after the arrest of a Jerusalem mother, apparently another of his disciples, on suspicion she severely abused her eight children at Chen's bidding. The mother was indicted for allegedly burning her toddlers, making them eat feces and locking them in a suitcase for days at a time, among other charges.

Chen was planning to meet other members of his spiritual sect in Canada, who had not yet been arrested, and the group was apparently planning to hide there together. One of Chen's friends, who was acquainted with other members of the group, told Haaretz that the entire group was headed for Canada, where one of the members' family lives.

The police hope that the arrest warrant will facilitate the extradition and apprehension of the fugitives.

During a search of Chen's home on Thursday, police found evidence that appears to link the spiritual leader to the abuse, including journals that document the violence.

The remand of the mother currently held in custody was extended Sunday until April 14.

Two of the mother's children, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in serious condition two weeks ago, after Chen allegedly ordered two of his followers to discipline the children by beating, burning, pushing and shaking them, and tying them up as a way of "correcting" their behavior.

The 4-year-old remains in a coma. Police suspect that Chen's supporters also doused the children in hot and cold water and broke their bones with hammers and blows.

Jerusalem police also arrested an additional suspect in the case, and have issued a gag order regarding his identity. The Magistrate's Court extended his remand by five days.

Chen and his disciple, Yosef Fischer, left the country legally, and their exit was registered at border control. Afterward, their wives and children went into hiding. The Fisher apartment has been cleared out and its contents have been placed in storage.

Police said they do not know the location of Chen's and Fisher's families, but Chen's friend said they were hoping to go to Canada as well and may have already left the country.

Chen and his supporters chose Canada in part, the source said, because "the extradition law is tough" there. "Only in very exceptional cases does Canada extradite," he said.

Elior Chen's father, Yaakov Chen, told Haaretz he did not know where his son or his son's family were hiding. "I didn't see him, I don't know where he is," he said. "The last time I saw him was three weeks ago, after he had a girl. I went to his home in Upper Betar, gave him a present and that's it. I haven't seen him since. I'm sitting at home and eating my heart out."

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Rabbi on run after child is forced to drink solvent

Jewish Chronicle - April 11, 2008

By Eric Silver Jerusalem

The case, the second of its kind in recent weeks involving Charedi families, has shocked Israelis.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the JC that detectives searching the family's Jerusalem home "found knives, hammers and heaters which we believe were used to punish the children".

"Based on our experience and knowledge," he told the JC, "child abuse exists in the Charedi community. We find all sorts of abuse, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, even sexual abuse.

"But they keep the problem inside. They say they can cope with it without any outside assistance. They'll deal with it their way, even in a better way."

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Fugitive rabbi's followers in Jerusalem court

Canadian TV - April 13, 2008

Three men were indicted Sunday in an Israeli child abuse case as lawmakers searched the globe for a fugitive rabbi, who may have fled to Canada.

David Kugman, 22, Avraham Maskalchi, 23, and Ro'i Tzoref, 25, were charged with 22 counts of aggravated assault and injury.

Meanwhile, an international warrant has been issued for Israeli rabbi Elior Chen, who is believed to be hiding within the Jewish community in Toronto or Montreal.

However, sources have told CTV News that Chen may travel to another country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with Israel.

Chen has not been charged with any crime. But he is wanted in connection with the extensive child abuse case, that alleges children of his followers were beaten, whipped and forced to eat feces in order to correct bad behaviour.

The men appearing in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Sunday were part of large group of Chen's followers suspected of child abuse, the Jerusalem Post reported. During a hearing on Thursday, the court heard one of the men allegedly struck a 12-year-old boy when the child wasn't paying enough attention to his studies.

"We are not just talking about a simple assault. We are talking about beating a 12-and-a-half-year-old boy with sticks," the Post quoted a police representative as saying.

A mother and her partner had already been charged in the case.

Meanwhile, the hunt is on for Chen, a man whose followers believe has supernatural powers and who refer to him as "His Honour the King of the Messiah." He is believed to have fled Israel with a friend who has relatives in Canada.

The international warrant allows Canadian authorities to take him into custody if he is discovered here.

Chen's lawyer said Sunday that it would be poor advice to tell his client to surrender, despite the warrant in his name.

"Should Elior Chen turn himself in? No, it's the last thing he should do," Ariel Atari told CTV News in Jerusalem. "Otherwise he will be tried here by the public."

However, his father feels differently, and is urging his son to do the right thing and stand trial. Yaakov Chen said he knows his son is a spiritual extremist, but does not believe he's a monster.

The ongoing trial has heard that Chen allegedly counselled his disciples to beat and burn their children to modify their behaviour and rid them of the devil. One mother is accused of forcing her children to eat feces and locking them in suitcases.

With a report from CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer

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Don't politicize child abuse case

Horrific story of rabbi-inspired abuse must not be used to stigmatize haredi society

by Rabbi Levi Brackman

YNET NEWS - April 13, 2008

This week a horrific story of child abuse came to light in Jerusalem. Child abuse is always terrible and leaves psychological scars on its victims. Tragically in this case, one of the children involved has been severely and irreversibly physically injured as well.

However, what makes this case even more disturbing, if such a thing were possible, is the fact that the person who inspired and advised this abuse called himself a rabbi. Elior Chen, together with some of his students, is suspected of beating two children aged three and four with hammers and knives and other instruments over many months. The three-year-old finally fell into a coma last month, and is not expected to recover.

Any normal human being finds it difficult to read the horrific details of the abuse in this case. How a parent could allow this to be done to his or her child and even participate in it is beyond comprehension.

Violence less common in haredi society

Unfortunately, religion has its share of crazies and phonies that use a religious façade for their own nefarious and narcissistic purposes. The so-called rabbi involved in this case was such a person. Clearly he had tremendous influence over his followers, and sadly they trusted in him completely.

Lamentably, however, as is happening with the tragic Kolko case in the United Sates, some in Israel have politicized this horrific case and used it to bash the haredi community as a whole. Some have claimed, falsely, in my opinion, that abuse is commonplace within the haredi community and for appearance's sake is just brushed under the carpet.

Of course there are psychopathic people in every society, but anecdotal evidence and my experience—having lived among both groups of people—tells me that family and domestic problems are far less common in Orthodox and haredi communities. The following incident will illustrate this.

Nearly 10 years ago I had the distinct honor and privilege of accompanying one of Israel's senior rabbis to a meeting with Rebbe Moshe Yehoshua Hager of Vizhnitz, who currently resides in the Israeli town of Bnei Brak. During the meeting, Rebbe Hager related that he had just been visited by the Israeli Chief of Police who told him that there was, at the time, a serious problem with juvenile criminals in Israel. Rabbi Hager told us that he asked the police chief how many of these juvenile criminals were haredi. "None," the police chief replied.

Don't stigmatize entire community

Whatever problems and difficulties the haredi community has—and it has its fair share—they seem to have their domestic arrangements figured out rather better than secular society does.

This dreadful case of abuse must not be used as a reason to stereotype haredi rabbis either. What we now know about Elior Chen demonstrates that he is a person with serious mental health problems and the case should be seen as such rather than as a general community issue.

Most haredi rabbis I know are good, well-intentioned people, who not only have a deep knowledge of the Torah and Judaism but also a lot of wisdom in other areas, including the rearing of children. It is therefore perfectly normal for religious parents to go to their rabbi for advice on how to deal with a difficult child. It is equally obvious that psychologically healthy parents would never listen to the advice of any person—no matter how spiritual or divine he seemed—if he told them to hurt their own child.

The perpetrators in this case need to be brought to justice and feel the full weight of the law. It is, however, mistaken and in horribly bad taste to use this heartbreaking and horrific case, as some have, to attack and stigmatize an entire community of good and decent people, the overwhelming majority of whom manage to bring up their children in an enviable manner.

Rabbi Levi Brackman (www.levibrackman.com) is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills (www.jitf.org). His upcoming book, about Jewish Business Success, is set to be published in late 2008.

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Canadian Jewish Conference

CTV News and Current Affairs - April 14, 2008

By: Sandie Rinaldo and Janis Mackey Frayer

Chen

SANDIE RINALDO: The hunt for Israeli cult leader Elior Chen has moved to Canada. Chen, who calls himself a Rabbi, is accused of ordering followers to violently abuse their children in the name of religion. Jewish leaders in this country are now among those urging him to surrender and face his accusers in court. CTV's Middle East bureau chief Janis Mackey Frayer has the latest on an Israeli horror story and its Canadian connection.

JANIS MACKEY FRAYER (Reporter): Elior Chen is a known religious radical, a spiritual extremist, but not a monster according to his father. He says he never thought something like this could happen, urging his son to surrender and seek justice. Chen is the suspected ringleader in one of the worst ever cases of systematic child abuse here. He has not been charged, but it's alleged the self-styled Rabbi explicitly counseled his disciples to beat and burn their kids, to fix their behaviour and rid them of the devil. One mother is accused of forcing her children to eat feces and locking them in a suitcase. A total of 40 alleged attacks on her kids ages three and four. The youngest remains in a coma, unlikely to ever know it's over. Elior Chen, whose followers believe has supernatural powers, fled Israel with a friend who has relatives in Canada. Chen has a lawyer here. Should Elior Chen be turning himself into police in Canada?

ARIEL ATARI (Chen's Lawyer): No, that's the last thing that he should do. Right now he was tried by the public here.

MACKEY FRAYER: It's thought Chen is hiding within a large Jewish community like that of Toronto or Montreal. The Canadian Jewish Congress is offering to be the go-between for Chen with police.

BERNIE FARBER (Canadian Jewish Congress): There might be a better chance of him surrendering than if we left him to his own devices.

MACKEY FRAYER: There is now an international arrest warrant for Elior Chen, which means Canadian authorities can take him into custody. But sources tell CTV Chen may actually leave Canada to wait out the intense scrutiny in a different country that doesn't have an extradition treating with Israel. Janis Mackey Frayer, CTV News, Jerusalem.

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Rabbi Metzger: Abuse stems from distortion of Kabbalah

By Neta Sela

YNET News - April 14, 2008

Chief rabbi addresses child abuse affair in Jerusalem, says 'this is horrifying proof of what unsupervised Kabbalah studies can lead to'

The disastrous results of unsupervised Kabbalah studies have reportedly led to a series of child abuse cases, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said Saturday.

Speaking during a Great Shabbat (the Shabbat which immediately precedes Passover) sermon in Jerusalem, Rabbi Metzger noted that Kabbalah studies by those who have yet to fully internalize the six books of the Mishnah and have yet to turn 40 years old have not been prohibited for nothing.

Even then, he said, this must only be done under the guidance of a famous rabbi with superior knowledge in mysticism.

"If, as a result of studying practical Kabbalah, this person's mind has been disrupted, and if it is true that this 'rabbi' (Elior Chen) explained this acts of abuse as a repair of the soul, this is horrifying proof of what can happen when Kabbalah is studied without being supervised and guided by the greatest sages of Israel who are known to all as having superior knowledge of Kabbalah's wisdom."

'Court has crushed symbol of freedom'

Rabbi Metzger went on to speak about his visit to the IDF base in Tze'elim last week.

"This week I met IDF regiment commanders who told me painfully about the constant drop in the number of officers and commanders enlisting to reserve duty. When we tried to understand the main cause for this phenomenon, there was an agreement that the reservists' value system is worn out, leading to a drop in the motivation for reserve duty.

"And I tell you, gentlemen, when the court crushes with its own hands a sacred Jewish value like prohibiting leavened food during Passover, this crushes the symbol of Jewish freedom.

"The 'matza' we eat in Pesach has served as a symbol of the Jewish people's freedom for 3,000 years. With it we left Egypt with the goal to immigrate to the fatherland. If we trample the flag of Jewish freedom with our own hands, we are to blame for the results. I was sorry to hear that officers refuse to serve because they don't want to miss work days...

"When I served in the IDF, an officer would be ashamed to raise such an option, but when he sees that the values sacred to the Jewish people are being crushed, including those symbolizing the hasty Exodus in order to reach the Land of Israel which he is asked to fight for, unfortunately he does not feel the duty."

Metzger added, "I am not a legalist, and it is possible that the ruling includes different arguments explaining it, but I am puzzled by the timing of its delivery, just before the Passover holiday."

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Father tracks down fugitive child abuser

By Jonathan Lis

Haaretz - April 26, 2008

The father of the Jerusalem children subjected to horrific abuse succeeded yesterday in locating Shimon Gabai, one of the main suspects in the case, who had eluded police for the past few weeks.

The father, whose name cannot be published, decided to help the police find all of the fugitive suspects, who are thought to have followed Rabbi Elior Chen's directives for "correcting" children. Chen fled to Canada when the case broke.

Early yesterday morning, the father contacted a Jerusalem detective, Motti Edri, and informed him that he had found the suspect, who was with him. They agreed on a meeting place, where the suspect turned himself in to the police.

Gabai had apparently received a beating from the children's father, and had a blood-soaked handkerchief covering his eye yesterday at the police station and courthouse, where his remand was extended by seven days.

Police detectives had had trouble locating Gabai. Even though his name and photograph were published in the media, and even though a person who had been staying with him was questioned at length by the police, all efforts to find him were in vain.

The father informed police several days ago that he had tracked Gabai down to a house in the city of Elad, but the suspect had fled by the time police arrived there.

In his interrogation yesterday, Gabai admitted he knew the other people arrested in the case, and that he had been in the places where the abuse took place, but did not confess to commiting the acts themselves.

Detective Malchiel Hatab told the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court that according to the statements gathered from the children and the other suspects in the case, Gabai caused burns on the children's bodies using cigarette lighters and heaters, hit them with hammers, and shook them to the point of unconsciousness. He allegedly also forced them to drink alcoholic beverages.

Gabai is suspected of involvement in the abuse of two boys, aged 3 and 5, which came to light three weeks ago. Police believe Gabai was in the apartment on the night the children were taken to the hospital, and took part in the assault.

The 3-year-old boy, who the police believe was abused by his mother and a male friend of hers, was declared in critical condition as a result, and his doctors are not optimistic about his regaining consciousness in view of the severe brain injuries he sustained. The older child's condition has greatly improved.

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Sadistic Child Abuser in Canada Masquerading as Rabbi

By Naomi Regan

Israel E-News - April 9, 2008

On the cover of yesterday's newspaper, Yediot Acharonot, is a photo of hammers, knives, guns, turpentine, and heaters all of which - according to the newspaper -were used to torture small children allegedly at the behest of a so-called haredi Rabbi, Elior Chen.

According to the article, a four year old is in the hospital with irreversible brain damage from one of Chen's "hassidim", David Kugman. Chen and Kugman have fled the country and are now in Canada, along with at least one family of Chen's "hassidim," the family of Joseph Fisher. Chen is suspected of leading a cult that believed that torturing children would remove the "devil" from them.The removal of the devil, according to notebooks found in Chen's apartment filled with his instructions, included force-feeding toddlers drinks of alcohol and turpentine. Making them eat feces.

Forcing them against electric heaters until their skin turned black then pouring alcohol on the wounds. Stuffing their mouths with skullcaps and taping them closed, and then zipping them into suitcases for days. Leaving stones on the Shabbat "blech"all day and then placing the stones on the tender skin of these babies. The following is excerpted from an article in Haaretz on April 8 by Uri Blau, Yair Ettinger, Jonathan Lis and Ofra Edelman:

"Chen may be meeting other members of the sect in Canada, where the family of one of the members lives, according to a friend of Chen's who is familiar with the group but doesn't belong to it. The friend said Chen fled with Joseph Fisher, whose name was not mentioned in an indictment filed yesterday against the mother of the children suspected of being abused by Chen's followers.

The remand of the mother was extended Sunday until April 14. Two of the family's eight children, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in serious condition two weeks ago, after Chen allegedly ordered two of his followers to discipline the children by beating, burning, pushing and shaking them, and tying them up as a way of "correcting" their behavior. The 4-year-old remains in a coma.
Police suspect that Chen's supporters also doused the children in hot and cold water and broke their bones with hammers and blows. The mother was charged with forcing the children to eat feces, beating them unconscious and locking them up in a suitcase for three days. Jerusalem police also arrested an additional suspect in the case, and have issued a gag order regarding his identity. The Magistrate's Court extended his remand by five days.

Chen and three of his supporters allegedly began providing the family with "educational lessons" several months ago. They allegedly kicked the father out of his home and began abusing several of the family's eight children, especially the two youngest. Chen and Fisher left the country legally, and their exit was registered at border control. Afterward, their wives and children went into hiding.

The Fisher apartment has been cleared out and its contents have been placed in storage. Police said they do not know the location of Chen's and Fisher's families, but Chen's friend said they were hoping to go to Canada as well and may have already left the country. Chen and his supporters chose Canada in part, the source said, because "the extradition law is tough" there. "Only in very exceptional cases does Canada extradite," he said. "

All families with children involved in this cult are IN IMMINENT DANGER if even a fraction of these allegations turn out to be true. The people involved all dress as haredi Jews and are most likely to live in a haredi neighborhood. Other members of the cult are still in Israel. Please keep your eyes and ears open and report anything that might be helpful to the authorities. The heart weeps and the heart cannot fathom such cruelty.

As former Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau said: "Judaism cannot justify the tears of helpless child...I call on every mother in Israel to recognize that not every person who wraps himself in the title of Rabbi is deserving of thie title... Is the terror of a mother towards her children any different from a terrorist who spills innocent blood?" This is the worst case of child abuse in Israeli history. Even the police are in shock.

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Mother in 'cult abuse' case ordered held until end of trial

By Ofra Edelman

Haaretz - April 21, 2008

The Jerusalem mother accused of abusing her children will remain in detention until the court proceedings are over, Jerusalem District Court Judge Moshe Ravid decided Thursday. The indictment against the woman details abuse "among the most serious and shocking I have known as a judge," he wrote.

The mother reportedly belongs to an ultra-Orthodox group led by a charismatic leader, Elior Chen, who preaches "correcting" children by means of torture. An international arrest warrant has been issued for Chen, who fled to Canada when the case broke last month. Ravid called the room in Chen's apartment where tools allegedly used to abuse the children were found as "an Inquisition room."

According to the charge sheet, the mother abused her children physically and emotionally, particularly her two youngest, boys aged 3 and 4. The mother admitted to police that she let other people do so, too.

Refused them medical treatment

The fact that the mother knew of the abuse and refused to provide the children with medical treatment left the judge no doubt that she poses a danger to them and to others, Ravid said. The youngest son has been unconscious in the hospital for the past month, and doctors say he probably will not not recover.

Meanwhile, a 39-year-old mother from Tel Aviv was charged Thursday with assaulting, abusing and neglecting her 15-year-old daughter for the past seven years.

The indictment filed in Tel Aviv District Court describes a litany of abuse, including dragging the girl along the floor by her collar until she lost consciousness and threatening to kill her. The mother also occasionally forbade her daughter from using the bathroom or communicating with her father and siblings, and refused to do her laundry or provide her with food and drink.

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Fugitive suspected child abuser's kids removed from wife's custody

By Uri Blau and Yair Ettinger

Authorities transferred custody Wednesday of four children belonging to the wife of an alleged child abuser, who is currently overseas fleeing arrest together with his wife, in an effort to entice the two to return to Israel and face charges, Haaretz has learned.

Elior Chen, who headed a Jerusalem sect that was found to have abused young children, and his wife, Ruth, are in hiding in a foreign country, the name of which cannot be revealed due to censorship laws. In the coming days, a representative of the family is expected to travel to the country where the couple is hiding, and will attempt to persuade them to return home. Police removed the children from the care of Ruth Chen's family and will deliver them to the care of a foster family.

Both Israeli law enforcement and the loca police in the foreign country know in which city the two are located, however their exact location remains unclear. According to information obtained by Haaretz, Ruth Chen is supportive of her husband, thus prompting police to remove the children from her custody in hopes of pressuring her husband to turn himself in.

Jerusalem police last month issued an international arrest warrant against Elior Chen, a spiritual leader who is suspected of orchestrating the worst case of systematic child abuse in Israel's history.

Haaretz reported that Chen had fled the country with one of his disciples after the arrest of a Jerusalem mother, apparently another of his disciples, on suspicion she severely abused her eight children at Chen's bidding. The mother was indicted for allegedly burning her toddlers, making them eat feces and locking them in a suitcase for days at a time, among other charges.

Chen was planning to meet other members of his spiritual sect in the country to which he fled, who had not yet been arrested, and the group was apparently planning to hide there together.

The police hope that the arrest warrant will facilitate the extradition and apprehension of the fugitives.

During a search of Chen's home on Thursday, police found evidence that appears to link the spiritual leader to the abuse, including journals that document the violence.

The remand of the mother currently held in custody was extended Sunday until April 14.

The 4-year-old remains in a coma. Police suspect that Chen's supporters also doused the children in hot and cold water and broke their bones with hammers and blows.

Jerusalem police also arrested an additional suspect in the case, and have issued a gag order regarding his identity. The Magistrate's Court extended his remand by five days.

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Cloistered Shame in Israel

SECRETS: Abuse victims in Israel's ultra-orthodox community often fear speaking up will bring shame on their families.

By Tim McGirk

Time Magazine - May 28, 2008

Among Israel's ultra-orthodox Jews, the Haredim, social workers are often called "child-snatchers" and the police "Cossacks," harking back to the 19th century pogroms against Jews in Russia. These cloistered communities, in which women are expected to raise and financially support their large families while their husbands spend their days stooped over the Torah, make up 10% of Israel's population and a third of Jerusalem's, and consider themselves defenders of a core morality in Jewish society. But that moral authority has come under scrutiny since evidence began to emerge in March of incest, rape and child abuse in four different ultra-orthodox enclaves around the country.

Over the last few weeks the Cossacks have arrived wearing the uniform of the Israeli national police force. In a series of raids following tip-offs from victims' relatives, neighbors and hospital workers, the police have arrested ultra-orthodox wives, husbands and yeshiva students.

Community elders were at first appalled. Now they are grateful for the intervention. "The Haredim are shocked by these cases," says Noach Korman, a Haredi attorney in the rabbinical court that adjudicates family and religious law, and the director of a shelter for battered wives. "At first they said, 'These people are crazy, they don't belong to us.' But now I hear Haredi voices saying: 'We should examine ourselves and not close our eyes to why these things are happening.' "Says Naomi Ragen, an orthodox woman who is an author and advocate for gender equality: "These shocking things had to come out. There was no more room left under the carpet."

Sex predators operate with ease among the ultra-orthodox communities because female victims often keep quiet, knowing that to speak out will damage their prospects of finding a husband. "The families all want their girls to have a AAA marriage to a religious scholar from a good family, and nobody's going to marry a girl who gets raped," says Ragen. In Bnei Brak, a predominately Haredi city near Tel Aviv, social worker Doron Agasi says one young Haredi man told him that he had molested more than a hundred girls. Agasi, director of the Shlom Banaich Fellowship, the only organization in Israel that treats pedophiles and their victims, convinced the young man to confess to the police. But, says Agasi, the authorities refused to bring charges because none of the parents of the alleged victims had filed complaints. Agasi says the rapist is now roaming free.

Convincing the Haredi to work with police and social workers has been a struggle, says Miki Miller, a social worker in the newly built Haredi town of Kiryat Sefer near Jerusalem. "The Haredi believe that a closed society is a pure society," she says. But a closed society can hide a multitude of sins. A senior police officer in Jerusalem acknowledges that the instincts of the Haredi community to cover up such crimes undermines the authorities' ability to investigate and prosecute offenders: "We're aware of this phenomenon of sex abuse among Haredis, but an extremely low number of these cases are ever reported."

The first port of call for Haredi families faced with violence or sex crimes is often their rabbi. But religious leaders themselves have not been immune from accusations of abuse. On April 6, a Jerusalem court indicted a Haredi mother of eight for child abuse in light of evidence that she broke her two toddlers' bones with hammers, forced the children to eat feces, and locked them inside a suitcase for hours. The alleged abuses came to light only after her three-year-old son was taken to hospital in a coma with brain damage. The woman claimed she was driving "devils" from her children following instructions from her religious counselor Elior Chen, who has since fled to Canada. Israeli police are seeking his extradition.

In Beit Shemesh, a town near Jerusalem, another case of abuse centered on a self-styled female "rabbi" who hid her face entirely behind a black veil. Her religious modesty attracted dozens of Haredi female disciples over several years, but her own sister was frantically seeking police intervention to stop the woman from thrashing her children with a rolling pin. Neighbors say she allegedly left her kids tied for hours to a garden tree. After her arrest, one of her children, now an adult, told police that his mother had encouraged incest among her offspring when they were younger.

Family Honor

The majority of ultra-orthodox families are orderly and loving, but for some mothers, the stress of raising an average of seven to eight children while holding down a job is too much to handle. Haredi men place a higher value on spiritual learning than on money or possessions; devout husbands, who wear black hats and long-tailed coats modeled on those of 18th century Polish noblemen, are expected only to study. And when they are abusive, their wives often cover up to preserve the family's honor. Says Ragen: "You hear the Haredi women say: 'I took the stain on me so that my husband could be as white as snow.' "

Social workers at Jerusalem's shelter for battered Haredi women say that family violence often erupts during the ritual Shabbat dinner, when all children are gathered — tempers flare over mundane arguments and the husband strikes his wife. A wife may endure such treatment for years. But the number of women who call a 24-hour hotline for battered Haredi women has jumped from 477 calls in 2004 to 1,402 last year. Social workers attribute the increase to a new generation of rabbis urging women to speak out against domestic violence.

Yet many Jewish feminists say that women are more repressed than ever inside Israel's Haredi community. Anat Zuria, a respected filmmaker who focuses on the Haredim, says that many Haredi now believe that, according to Biblical prophecy, Judgment Day is fast approaching. "The Haredi are becoming more Messianic, and they believe the Messiah will only come if there's purity and modesty among women," she says. To that end, boys and girls are segregated early on. "Everything about sexuality is unmentionable," says Zuria. "There's no Internet, no TV, no books, but you can't kill off the erotic impulse." Author Ragen concurs: "All of these taboos don't necessarily make them saints. Sometimes they become perverts."

That realization is sinking in with some socially conscious rabbis. In Febuary, Rabbi Meir Kessler from Kiryat Sefer called two late-night meetings in which 3,000 parents were urged to warn their children that even men in beards and hats are capable of evil. The rabbi's candid sermon has stirred debate among the shuttered Haredim. One stunned participant told reporters that "not since Moses" had a rabbi spoken publicly on such forbidden sexual topics. The spate of abuse cases prompted Israel's chief Ashkenazi rabbi, Yona Metzger, to call on his fellow religious leaders "to vomit these parents and rabbis out of the camp and do everything in our power to save the souls of these young children."

More openness is the only way to catch offenders and root out the culture that permits them to operate. Teachers in some Haredi primary schools and yeshivas are now taught how to recognize such telltale sights of abuse as sudden moodiness or aggression, injuries or indecent behavior towards other students. In early spring, a teacher in the southern town of Nativot caught one child sexually accosting another. Social workers investigated and found that the boy's mother said she had sex with her child as a way to "punish" her husband for having left her.

It's hard to find positives in such stories. Yet it is better that they come to light than that they remain the dark secret of the Haredi. In Bnei Brak, police say one rapist in ultra-orthodox garb is stalking preteen girls, cornering them in dark hallways or in parks. It took weeks before religious elders alerted the police to the sexual predator, who has yet to be caught. But authorities say it is a sign of changing times that the Haredi children, and their parents, did not endure these crimes in silence.

With reporting by Aaron J. Klein/Jerusalem

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Radical rabbi may be in Brazil

JTA - May 29, 2008

A radical Israeli rabbi alleged to have led followers to commit horrific acts of child abuse is believed to be hiding in Brazil.

Israeli authorities said Thursday that Rabbi Elior Chen, who fled the country after reports surfaced of the serial child abuse that he suborned, is in Brazil, where local police are searching for him.

Officials in Israel have issued an international arrest warrant for Chen, who is alleged to have counseled his followers to severely beat and burn children in order to rid them of the devil. Other children allegedly were forced to drink alcohol and turpentine until they vomited.

Some of the abuses have resulted in serious and life-threatening injuries. One child remains in a vegetative state.

Chen previously was said to be hiding in Canada.

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Suspected Haredi child abuser Elior Chen said to be hiding in Brazil

By Uri Blau and Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondents

Haaretz - May 29, 2008

An ultra-Orthodox man suspected of orchestrating one of the worst cases of systematic child abuse in Israel has gone into hiding in Brazil, it was revealed on Thursday.

Israel Police issued an arrest warrant for Elior Chen last month. After his alleged crime was exposed, Chen and his family fled to Canada, ultimately making their way to Sao Paulo. Chen and his wife have been hiding separately since then.

Chen's wife, Ruth, and their four children left Brazil on Wednesday for Belgium. Hoping to pressure Chen's wife to turn him in, Brazilian authorities removed the children from their mother's custody and placed them with a foster family for two days. But authorities on Wednesday returned the children to their mother.

Chen, who calls himself a rabbi, is considered the spiritual leader of a Jerusalem sect that was found to have abused young children, two of whom, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in March in critical condition.

Chen allegedly ordered two of his followers to "discipline" the children by beating, burning, pushing and shaking them, and tying them up as a way of "correcting" their behavior.

Representatives from Israel Police who went Brazil in recent days did not arrive in time to locate Chen's family. The police hope that finding Chen's children and bringing them to Israel will pressure the fugitive to turn himself in.

However, Chen's lawyer Ariel Atari, said the police had exploited his client's young children as a "guarantee to expose their father," adding that such a tactic "is one of the most despicable acts imaginable."

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Rabbi Israel sought by Interpol in Brazil

May 29, 2008

(Translated using Google)

http://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/terra_santa/post.asp?cod_post=105263

The Israeli Elior Chen of 29 years, Orthodox Jewish resident of Jerusalem, is looking for by Interpol in Sao Paulo. The foragido, which is self-proclaimed rabbi, is foragido two months ago and after a move by Canada, sought shelter in Brazil. He is accused of being behind a series of cases of violence and abuse against minors there. More information about the case. If someone dare to read in Hebrew, I wrote about it in the website of Yediot Ahronot, here. They can also read more here, here and here. The supposed rabbi believes that the best way to punish children taken according to the Torah are small "fixes" to "expel bad jinn" the bodies of small, in a macabre treatment that includes electric shocks, beatings using all kinds of tools available, the body of minor burns and the like. (Photo: Dissemination - Police in Israel)

Last month, a mother was arrested after assaulting two of his sons, 4 and 5 years. The children were hospitalized in serious condition with burns and marks of blows by the body. Questioned, the woman said to have been educated by the rabbi to beat, burn, shaking their children, besides banhá-lhos in cold water or boiling to "repair their behaviour."

Simply abominable. We live here, moreover, without precendentes a wave of violence against children in the Orthodox. Only in the last two months, three cases that were recorded escandalizaram the country, this mother of Jerusalem, mentioned above, another of Netivot, and more bizarre, called "the mother of Beit Shemesh." The latter is a figure that is challenging the police. Pesam against it 25 complaints of violence against six of its 12 children. In addition to spacing, letting their children outside the home in the small town of Beit Shemesh, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and even to allow and encourage the incest between siblings, according to the indictments, the figure in question uses a kind of burca, alleging religious grounds. Check out the photo of Maya Levin. Just never seen anything like that in this holy land. Although the artifact does not exist here and not be part of Jewish culture, it covers toes to head with seven layers of tissue, and gloves. No part of the body is exposed and she refuses to speak to the judge or the investigators, claiming that a man can not hear your voice, which would be a violation of the commandment to protect the modesty. A Taliban in the heart of Israel? Maybe.

Hopefully news of Brazil. I am in contact with PF and hope to news soon on the case.

The word in Hebrew of the day is "mevukash." In good Portuguese, "sought".

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Brazil's Interpol chief Jorge Pontes shows the photo of Rabbi Elior Chen

June 4, 2008

Brazil's Interpol chief Jorge Pontes shows the photo of Rabbi Elior Chen during a press conference in Brasilia, Wednesday, June 4, 2008. Chen, a fugitive rabbi suspected of abusing the children of one of his followers in Israel, was detained Tuesday in Sao Paulo, where he is awaiting the outcome of extradition proceedings initiated by Israel.

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Rabbi' Elior Chen turns himself in

By Etgar Lefkovits and JPOST Staff

Jerusalem Post - June 4, 2008

An Israeli fugitive who is considered to be the ringleader of - and 'spiritual mentor' responsible for - one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history turned himself in to Sao Paulo police on Tuesday night. Elior Chen, who calls himself a "rabbi," is expected to be extradited to Israel in the coming days.

Chen, 29, and his followers are suspected of severely abusing two children, ages three and four, who were beaten with hammers, knives and other implements for months, until the younger child lost consciousness in March.

They are also suspected of severely abusing other children in the family.

The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse he was subjected to at the hands of his mother and her companions, according to an indictment filed in a Jerusalem court

He is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Chen turned himself in after realizing that police were closing in on him, Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

However, Chen's lawyer Ariel Atari claimed that his client had turned himself in "so as to prevent Brazil's Jewish community from coming to harm."

"There were reports that the Jewish community was hosting a man who had perpetrated terrible deeds, and that is why he turned himself in," Atari told Israel Radio, asserting that "The reason for his turning himself in has nothing to do with Israel Police."

Chen originally flew from Israel to Canada to avoid arrest after police uncovered the abuse, then immediately continued to Brazil.

In an apparently successful attempt to attain information about his whereabouts, Chen's wife Ruth and their four children were sent to Belgium from Brazil last week, the police said.

Chen had apparently sought refuge with members of a vehemently anti-Zionist haredi sect in the Brazilian city.

Jerusalem Police had issued an international arrest warrant for the suspected ringleader in the child abuse case in April.

The suspects in the abuse case allegedly received instruction from Chen on how to 'fix' the children's behavior, and 'cleanse' them of their satanic possession, says the indictment.

The chilling charge sheet in the gruesome child abuse case recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burnt their hands and gave them freezing showers.

The abusive mother and 'educators' are also suspected of pouring salt on the burn wounds of one of the children, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and sealing it with masking tape, and giving them alcoholic drinks until they vomited.

Chen provided explicit written instructions on how to abuse the children.

Chen's father Ya'acov has publicly urged his son to return to Israel and face trial, insisting that he is innocent.

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Brazil: Child Abuse Suspect Elior Chen Turns Himself In

Israel National News - June 4, 2008

(IsraelNN.com) Elior Chen, a 29-year-old from Beitar Ellit who is suspected of involvement in a severe case of child abuse, turned himself in to Sao Paolo police in Brazil Wednesday, following a two-month long police manhunt.

Israeli Police estimated that Chen would be extradited to Israel soon.

Chen's lawyer told IDF Radio that his client turned himself in after news articles in Brazil blamed the Jewish community there for sheltering a child abuser.

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Suspected Haredi child abuser Elior Chen turns himself in to Brazilian authorities

By Uri Blau and Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondents

Haaretz - June 4, 2008

An ultra-Orthodox rabbi suspected of orchestrating one of the worst cases of systematic child abuse in Israel has turned himself in to Brazilian authorities, it was revealed on Wednesday.

Elior Chen turned himself in following ongoing cooperation between Israeli and Brazilian police to determine his whereabouts. After his alleged crime was exposed, Chen and his family fled to Canada, ultimately making their way to Sao Paulo.

Israeli sources said Chen's extradition to Israel would be carried out soon.

Chen's lawyer, Ariel Atari, said that his client turned himself in after reports in the Brazilian press began to surface, blaming the Jewish community for giving shelter to a child abuser.

"It's something Elior Chen couldn't live with. What caused him to turn himself in was the desire to prevent blasphemy."

Chen is considered the spiritual leader of a Jerusalem sect that was found to have abused young children, two of whom, aged 4 and 5, were hospitalized in March in critical condition.

Chen's wife, Ruth, and their four children traveled to Brazil with him, but departed last week for Belgium. Hoping to pressure Chen's wife to turn him in, Brazilian authorities had removed the children from their mother's custody and placed them with a foster family for two days, after which they were returned to their mother.

Representatives from Israel Police went Brazil to pursue Chen last week. An international warrant for his arrest was issued in April.

Chen allegedly ordered his followers to "discipline" children by beating, burning, pushing and shaking them, and tying them up as a way of "correcting" their behavior.

Chen had fled to Canada with one of his disciples after the arrest of a Jerusalem mother, apparently another of his disciples, on suspicion she severely abused her eight children at Chen's bidding. The mother was indicted for allegedly burning her toddlers, making them eat feces and locking them in a suitcase for days at a time, among other charges.

One of her children remains in a vegetative coma.

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'I hope Elior Chen departs this world'

Jerusalem Post - June 4, 2008

The father of two children who were allegedly severely abused by their mother and several other men lashed out at the leader of the gang, Elior Chen, on Wednesday, wishing that the self-proclaimed rabbi die in prison.

The mother of eight indicted for child abuse, left, and "rabbi" Elior Chen, suspected of being her mentor.

Chen, 29, turned himself in to Sao Paulo police on Tuesday night.

"Elior Chen is a dangerous man; I will only be at ease when he is behind bars," the father told Israel Radio. "We cannot know if he will try to do such a thing again. I bless him that he will depart from this world or rot in prison."

Chen and his followers are suspected of severely abusing the man's two children, ages three and four, by beating them with hammers, knives and other implements for months, until the younger child lost consciousness in March. The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse, and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

"Chen fooled me," he continued. "I studied with him and there was a good connection between our two families. We would help each other and there was no way of knowing that he was such a person. He contacted my wife and tried to steal the kids and the house. He is a highly intelligent man and knew how to utilize all possible methods. I am only comforted by the fact that he did not succeed in duping more people."

The man also attributed the rabbi's success to his wife's gullibility, and claimed that Chen had been infatuated with her. "My wife was naïve and he took advantage of her naiveté," he said. "He fell in love with her three years ago, despite being 11 years her junior and married with children. This shows what a reprehensible man he is. That was when he began dabbling in practical Kabbala and witchcraft."

His wife, he said, had expressed remorse. "She was a good wife and mother before. Everyone can attest that we were a good family. Many social workers who saw the kids say that they are special, and that they don't exhibit any symptoms of having been abused. I am glad that my children are so special and sweet, each in his own way. They love their mother and think she is a victim in this affair."

Etgar Lefkovits contributed to this report

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Israel asks Brazil to extradite rabbi

JTA - June 4, 2008

An Israeli rabbi who fled to Brazil amid child-abuse allegations is likely to be extradited for trial.

Israeli police said Wednesday they had asked Brazil to extradite Rabbi Elior Chen, 29, who turned himself in to police in Sao Paulo.

Israel had issued an international arrest warrant for Chen, who is alleged to have counseled his followers to severely beat and burn children in order to rid them of the devil. Other children allegedly were forced to drink alcohol and turpentine until they vomited.

Some of the abuses have resulted in serious and life-threatening injuries. One toddler remains in a vegetative state.

Chen previously was said to be hiding in Canada.

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Elior Chen surrenders to Brazilian authorities; will be extradited to Israel

By Efrat Weiss

YNET News - June 4, 2008

Self-proclaimed 'rabbi' suspected of ordering followers to abuse children turns himself in to Brazilian police; Chen, who maintains innocence, says he preached legitimate educational values.

"Rabbi" Elior Chen, who fled Israel to Brazil to escape allegations of his involvement in numerous cases of the most horrific child abuse in recent memory, turned himself in to Brazilian law enforcement authorities in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

Authorities expect he will be extradited back to Israel within the coming days.

Chen has been identified as the leader of a group of religious parents some have called a cult, to which he provided the "spiritual inspiration" that led his followers to torture their children.

Among Chen's victims are a three-year old toddler and his four-year-old brother, and police investigators believe it was Chen who ordered their mother to inflict severe emotional, mental and physical harm on the children - which rendered the toddler in a permanent vegetative state.

A grave indictment was filed against the children's mother, who was arrested after her sons were hospitalized. It included multiple counts of aggravated assault, child abuse and the endangerment of minors. She has repeatedly claimed she was acting on Chen's instructions.

Worldwide manhunt

Throughout the duration of the extensive worldwide manhunt launched by Israeli authorities in pursuit of the elusive "rabbi", Chen – from his hiding place and through his attorneys – has fiercely professed his innocence; saying all he did was "assist in the education of damaged children," adding he was only preaching "legitimate educational values."

The police have tried to convince Chen to turn himself in since first learning of his getaway, be it through the Jerusalem Police, Interpol, the police attaché in South American or through the International Crimes Division in the Justice Ministry. Once extradited to Israel, Chen is expected to face a lengthy police investigation.

Israeli police made the Interpol's involvement in the case known just earlier in the week, only saying that Interpol officers "are searching for Elior Chen in Brazil." The matter was reportedly kept under wraps for fear Chen would glean knowledge of the development and use the tip-off to flee to a different country.

Once located, Brazilian welfare authorities removed Chen's children from his custody and that of his wife's. The children, three months to seven years of age, were later returned to their mother and she was allowed to leave Brazil for Belgium.

Chen's attorney claimed the move was devised by Israeli police in an attempt to pressure his client into turning himself in. Sources in the police department denied the allegation.

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Interpol suspects Brazilian Jewish community hid rabbi wanted for child abuse

By Jonathan Lis and Paula Idoeta

Haaretz - June 5, 2008

SAO PAULO - Interpol suspects that the Jewish community in Sao Paulo hid an an ultra-Orthodox rabbi suspected of seriously abusing Jerusalem children, one of whom is in a vegetative state.

Local police arrested Rabbi Elior Chen Wednesday on a street corner in the Bom Retiro neighborhood after conducting an extensive search through the Jewish neighborhood.

"Apparently he was being protected by the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Sao Paulo, who supposedly didn't know about the accusations against him in Israel," said Menoti Barros de Oliveira, the Interpol sheriff in Sao Paulo. "He was found alone, in the street of Julio Conceicao, so we think he was already separated from his peers."

Chen is considered the spiritual leader of a Jerusalem sect that was found to have abused young children, two of whom, aged 3 and 4, were hospitalized in March in critical condition.

On Wednesday, Chen was reported to have turned himself over to the Brazilian police. Later in the day, however, Sao Paulo police informed their counterparts in Israel that he had not turned himself in, but was arrested.

Chen's lawyer Ariel Atari denied reports on Wednesday that Chen had been arrested and insisted he had turned himself in. "When Elior Chen arrived at the Sao Paulo police department in the morning, he threw police into great confusion. None of them expected him to turn himself in," Atari said.

"Israeli police did not ask the Brazilian police to carry out an extensive search for him," said Moti Edri, a police official in Jerusalem. "It was the Brazilian police's own initiative, undertaken due to a similar case of child abuse there recently."

Police sources say Chen's extradition is currently awaiting approval by the Brazilian Supreme Court. They expect him to be extradited to Israel within a few weeks. Chen had fled Israel to Canada with his wife and their four children three months ago after the arrest of a Jerusalem mother, who was apparently one of his disciples, on suspicion that she severely abused her eight children at Chen's bidding. The mother was indicted for allegedly burning her 3- and 4-year-old, making them eat feces and locking them in a suitcase for days at a time, among other charges.

When he arrived in Brazil, local authorities detained Chen's wife and children, yet he evaded arrest. Hoping to pressure Chen's wife into turning him in, Brazilian authorities removed the children from their mother's custody and placed them with a foster family for two days, after which they were returned to their mother.

Israel Police representatives went to Brazil to pursue Chen last week and an international warrant for his arrest was issued in April.

Brazilian Federal Police released a communique Wednesday to the Jewish community in Sao Paulo informing them of the serious offenses Chen allegedly committed. "Elior Noam Chen, also known as Eliyahu Abuhatzeira, frequented a synagogue in Bom Retiro and we're sure that Sao Paulo's Israeli community, upon learning of the torture cases, alerted the religious representatives of the city and prohibited the community to cover for the fugitive," the statement said.

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'Ringleader' in J'lem abuse case could be extradited in weeks

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

Jerusalem Post - June 5, 2008

The suspected ringleader and spiritual mentor in one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history, who is currently under arrest in Brazil, will decide only next week whether he agrees to be extradited back to Israel, his Israeli attorney Ariel Atari said Thursday.

'Rabbi' Elior Chen, 28, was apprehended by Brazilian police on a residential street in Sao Paolo on Tuesday night after his local lawyer called Brazilian police with information about his whereabouts, officials said.

A Justice Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday that they were waiting for Chen's response to the extradition request.

Israel and Brazil do not have an extradition treaty, but law enforcement officials from the two countries have been working hand-in-hand on the case since an international warrant for Chen's arrest was issued in April.

Brazilian authorities are eager to deport Chen back to Israel, Israeli officials said.

The Justice Ministry spokeswoman said that Chen could be extradited to Israel "in the coming weeks" if he agrees to the extradition request and does not mount a legal battle against the move, which could drag on for months.

His extradition is currently pending approval by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Chen and his followers are suspected of severely abusing two children, aged 3 and 4, who were beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments for months until the former lost consciousness in March.

They are also suspected of the severe abuse of other children in the family.

The 3-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and her companions, and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

In an effort to avoid arrest, Chen had fled the country just as police uncovered the abuse, traveling to Brazil via Canada with his own family.

Five people, including the children's mother, have already been indicted in the grisly case, with Chen expected to be charged almost immediately upon arrival in Israel.

Meanwhile, the trial of the children's mother was postponed Thursday until next month, after the mother's attorney resigned from the case.

An attorney for the family, Gil Friedman, told the Jerusalem District Court that the family is opposed to the appointment of a public attorney, a proposal made by the court.

Friedman told reporters outside the courtroom that the family views Chen as the "chief culprit" in the whole case, and that the mother plans to deny the charges against her.

He added that the children's mother, who has been charged with severe child abuse, was "altogether a victim."

The chilling charge sheet recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burnt their hands, and gave them freezing showers.

In court on Thursday, the children's mother once again immersed herself in a Book of Psalms, her perpetual courtroom reading material.

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Rabbi accused of torturing children

By correspondents in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Herald Sun (Australia) - June 5, 2008

BRAZILIAN police and Interpol have arrested a fugitive rabbi wanted in his native Israel on charges of torturing children in exorcism rites.

Officials said Elior Noam Hen, 26, was apprehended late yesterday by Brazilian and Interpol officers, ending a 45-day manhunt focused on the Jewish neighbourhood of Bom Retiro in Sao Paulo where the rabbi had been spotted going to a synagogue.

Mr Hen, also known as Eliyahu Abuhazira, was one of Israel's most wanted men.

He was accused of torturing children and inciting violence against them in an effort to "expel the demon" from their bodies, in line with the beliefs of a radical religious sect to which he belonged, police said.

"All the crimes were committed in Israel against children with the use of violence," Interpol police official Jorge Barbosa Pontes said.

He said the extradition request against Mr Hen would soon be heard by Brazil's supreme court and that in the meantime the rabbi would be held in preventive detention.

Police located Mr Hen's wife and children last week. The children were taken into state care.

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Israel: 7 days in 5 minutes

Jewish Chronical (London) - June 6, 2008

A strictly Orthodox rabbi suspected of heading a cult which systematically abused children has turned himself in to the authorities in Brazil, where he had sought refuge. Elior Chen allegedly led a Jerusalem sect whose members were instructed to beat and starve their children.

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Evidence may prove police lied about arresting 'Rabbi' Chen

By Avner Hofstein

Haaretz - June 8, 2008

In letters sent to Jewish community prior to his alleged arrest, Elior Chen details why he plans to turn himself in to local authorities

Letters sent by Elior Chen to his supporters in the Jewish community of Sao Paulo days before he was detained raise doubts in the versions of the story presented by the Israeli and Brazilian police and may indicate he was not arrested but rather chose to turn himself in.

In letters written to rabbis in the community and sent a very shortly prior to his arrest, Chen declares that he decided to turn himself in and describes his plans for the future.

"Unfortunately, I am compelled to turn myself in so that the entire community will not be harmed because of me," explains Chen in a letter which describes his decision to put an end to the three-month period as a fugitive from the authorities.

"I presume this will help my situation, since if they catch me they will act in a much harsher manner and I have almost no refuge. I have nowhere or way to hide if I don't turn myself in. So, with a heavy heart I am surrendering with the hope that God has mercy on me and will deliver me from fear and worry."

In addition, Chen asked rabbis to help him while in jail and talks of his loneliness. "If they keep me in Brazil, try to assist me as much as possible with all my Jewish observance needs and the conditions, and come to visit me here because I am very lonely. My family has left and I am truly like an unwanted carcass.

"I am scared that they won't support me and leave me here in order to show the police that they have no ties with me. So, I ask you, for God's sake don't forget me and try to help me," he added.

Chen turned himself in on Tuesday at midnight and arrived at the police station with his lawyer. The following day Brazilian police notified their Israeli counterparts that Chen had been apprehended in the street in a daring operation.

Chen, his lawyers, and those closest to him have denied the claims and maintain he turned himself in.

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'Parents' feud could be behind baby abuse complaint'

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

Jerusalem Post - June 11, 2008

Galilee Police are looking into the possibility that a conflict between divorced parents led an Ashkelon man to file a complaint alleging that his ex-wife, of Safed, physically abused their baby son.

On Wednesday, police launched an investigation after the father said he noticed bruises on his son. The baby's mother has a record with welfare services, and police suspected her of abusing the child.

But later in the day, police refocused their investigation on a bitter feud between the parents.

"The father has a criminal record. We are examining a conflict between these parents. Both the father's and the mother's version of events are being examined," a Galilee Police spokesman said.

He added that the parents had a "custody arrangement" over the baby.

In recent months, a series of child abuse cases have rocked the country. One of the most infamous cases involved a cult-like figure, Elior Chen, allegedly telling mothers to seriously wound their children with heavy tools in order to "spiritually purify" them.

Chen, 28, was recently arrested by Brazilian police after fleeing the country, and is awaiting extradition back to Israel.

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Child abuse suspect Elior Chen to fight extradition from Brazil

By Jonathan Lis and Paula Idoeta

Haaretz - June 19, 2008

The self-proclaimed rabbi who was arrested in Sao Paulo a few weeks ago on suspicion of encouraging his followers to abuse the children of a Jerusalem family has decided to contest the Israeli extradition order.

Elior Chen, the spiritual leader of a Jerusalem sect, fled from Israel amid suspicions that he initiated severe child abuse, including torture, which left two children, aged 3 and 4, hospitalized in March in critical condition.

Chen this week denied the allegations. His lawyer, Ariel Atari, said Chen had asked him "what kind of person could do things like that?"

Atari, who returned from Brazil on Wednesday, said Chen refuses to be extradited to Israel and will contest the extradition order.

"Chen did not preach to hurt children. It did not even occur to him," Atari said Thursday.

"He is sorry he left Israel because he feels it would have been better to state his case to the police and public in Israel. He fled to Brazil because three years ago he was interrogated by the Shin Bet about a plan to blow up the Temple Mount and had no intention of repeating that experience. So he took his things and fled Israel."

Chen is being held in a small prison with 36 inmates in Sao Paulo. Because of Atari's efforts, he receives kosher food from a catering company and has been allowed to have a phylactery in his cell.

"I found an optimistic, believing man. Contrary to his image in the media, Chen is a gentle, modest man who cannot understand how this affair has been blown up like this," Atari said.

He said Chen may agree to the extradition in a few months, when the media storm in Israel dies down.

Chen had fled Israel to Canada with his wife and their four children three months ago after the arrest of a Jerusalem mother - apparently one of his disciples - on suspicion of severely abusing her eight children at Chen's behest. The mother was indicted for allegedly burning her 3- and 4-year-old sons, making them eat feces and locking them in a suitcase for days at a time, among other charges.

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Brazil: Rabbi Elior Chen hires local attorneys to prevent extradition to Israel

By Efrat Weiss

YNet News - June 19, 2008

Rabbi Elior Chen, suspected of heading a group of religious parents who tortured their children under his tutelage, who was recently arrested in Brazil, has announced his refusal to turn himself in to Israeli authorities.

Chen's attorney, Ariel Atari, visited his client in Sao Paulo, announcing he has hired a team of local attorneys that will do their best to prevent Chenâ¤TMs extradition to Israel. The three-year old toddler who underwent severe physical abuse under Chenâ¤TMs supervision is still in vegetative state.

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Abuse charges rabbi to fight extradition

JTA - June 20, 2008

An Israeli rabbi who fled to Brazil amid child-abuse allegations is fighting extradition.

Ha'aretz on Friday quoted Elior Chen's Israeli lawyer, Ariel Atari, as saying that Chen denies the charges. Atari returned this week from visiting Chen, 29, in Brazil.

Earlier this year, Israel issued an international arrest warrant for Chen, who fled the country after he was alleged to have counseled his followers to severely beat and burn children in order to rid them of the devil. Other children allegedly were forced to drink alcohol and turpentine until they vomited.

Some of the abuses have resulted in serious and life-threatening injuries. One toddler remains in a vegetative state.

Atari said he has secured kosher catering for Chen, who is being held in a Sao Paolo prison.

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Elior Chen opposing extradition from Brazil

Suspected ringleader of abusers, "Rabbi" Elior Chen.

By Etgar Lefkovits

Jerusalem Post - June 22, 2008

Rabbi Elior Chen, the suspected ringleader and spiritual mentor in one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history, will fight his extradition from Brazil, his Israeli attorney said Sunday.

Chen, 28, was arrested in Sao Paolo on June 3 after his local lawyer called Brazilian police with information about his whereabouts.

"We do not agree to the extradition," his Israeli lawyer, Ariel Atari, said in an interview after returning from a visit to Chen in Brazil.

Atari said the litigation over the extradition request could last between six months and a year-and-a-half.

"The timing of the extradition is significant," he said, suggesting that Chen might accept extradition when the media storm over the case subsided in Israel.

Israel and Brazil do not have an extradition treaty but law enforcement officials have been working hand-in-hand since an international warrant for Chen's arrest was issued in April. The Justice Ministry had said that Chen could be extradited to Israel "in the coming weeks" if he did not mount a protracted legal battle.

His extradition is now pending approval by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Chen and his followers are suspected of savagely and systematically beating two brothers, aged three and four, with hammers, knives and other instruments for months, until the younger boy lost consciousness in March.

They are also suspected of the severe abuse of other children in the family.

The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and her companions, and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Chen had fled the country just as police uncovered the abuse case, traveling to Brazil via Canada with his own family.

He turned himself in to Brazilian police on June 3 to avoid besmirching the local Jewish community, who were getting bad press as a result of the case, his lawyer said.

Five people, including the children's mother, have already been indicted.

The mother forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods of time - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burned their hands with a lighter and a heater, and gave them freezing showers, according to the charge sheet.

The mother and Chen and his "educators" are also suspected of pouring salt on the three-year-old's burn wounds, stuffing his mouth with a kippa and sealing his mouth with masking tape, and giving the children alcoholic drinks until they vomited.

As he awaits his extradition proceeding in a small Brazilian prison, Chen is receiving kosher food from a catering company and has been allowed to have phylacteries in his cell.

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No greater love

By Judy Siegel-Itzkovich

Jerusalem Post - September 13, 2008

This very special Jerusalem pediatrics ward is colorful, orderly, clean and... chillingly silent, except for medical staffers' calling the patients' names - even though they know they'll get no answer. The doctors, nurses and paramedical staff can only dream of a child shouting for joy or making a mess. In Herzog Hospital's "Ventilated Patient Unit C," the 18 "children" aged four months to 20 years are either in a deep coma or semiconscious. It's clear that no one will improve enough to be discharged and enjoy a normal life.

Although the unit was launched three years ago when a 16-year-old Jerusalem girl with a genetic metabolic disease went into a coma, the psychogeriatric hospital (www.herzoghospital.org) hasn't yet listed the unit on the wall in the entrance foyer.

"I hadn't realized there is no listing," says Dr. Yehezkel Caine, the 330-bed institution's director-general, former surgeon-general of the Israel Air Force and a specialist in aerospace medicine. "But it's true that we didn't publicize its existence because the families are very sensitive. Our unit isn't a secret; all Jerusalem-area hospitals know, and they and the health funds refer patients to us. There is enormous pressure to admit more patients, and we have to turn them down."

The only other institution in Israel that can care for such patients is Tel Aviv's Reut Hospital, which is larger.

Herzog Hospital, known for its excellent care of the elderly, demented and mentally disabled, invited The Jerusalem Post to tour the children's unit and interview the devoted staff. This resulted from a disclosure by the media that one of its patients is the three-and-a-half-year-old son of a Jerusalem mother of eight who, along with her "rabbi" Elior Chen allegedly abused him, putting him into a vegetative state. The staff are not allowed by court order even to talk about him, and I am not allowed to see him.

There are a few others who suffered severe child abuse, but others lost consciousness due to accidents and falls, metabolic diseases, congenital defects such as being born without certain parts of the brain, a shortage of oxygen at birth or a sudden brain hemorrhage after being a normal child. All the cases are tragic, says Prof. Rena Gale, senior pediatrician and director of the ventilated children's unit.

ALTHOUGH PATIENTS like these would be disconnected from their respirators in Sweden or Holland, where active euthanasia is accepted, Herzog staffers "never think it would be better to die," she says. "We still remember the Holocaust; we would never do selections. There's a slippery slope. Maybe we would feel differently if a child were forced to suffer. But we don't let them suffer. We give them drugs and treatment. They are attached to monitors. There are objective and subjective ways to determine whether a child, even a baby, is suffering,"said Gale, a neonatal expert invited to head the department two-and-a-half years ago. "When there is something bothering them, their pulse speeds up or they grimace. We don't expect them to get better tomorrow, but we do give them quality of life."

"No patient in this unit comes under the definition of the Terminal Patients Law," adds Dr. Julia Namestnic, a senior physician who arrived from Tashkent 17 years ago and specialized in treating elderly people attached to ventilators. "They are not dying, and we love them. Everybody on the staff has a favorite. Perhaps some day there will be a way to help them," Namestnic suggests. "In the meantime, we care for them as if they were our own."

Fortunately, the health funds cover all the hospitalization costs of their members without complaint. Herzog's unit is much cheaper than pediatric intensive care units in the general hospitals, and beds for acutely ill children are freed up by the existence of the chronic-care ventilation unit.

"We were nervous about taking the first patient when the Hadassah intensive care unit asked us because we had only experience with elderly patients in comas," said Namestnic. "This was pediatrics. We knew how to run ventilators, but we had a lot to learn. We learned the ropes from other departments and still have numerous medical advisers in various specialties from other hospitals."

"THE STAFF are so devoted," says Caine, and indeed, that fact is evident throughout. "The strain is intense, as in a neonatal intensive care unit. You don't do these things because its your job, but because you have a warm heart. I have no words to describe their dedication."

In fact, it was difficult to persuade other doctors, nurses and auxiliary worker to come to the pediatric unit, but once they became acclimated, no one wanted to leave. Some even use their days off to draw pictures for hanging in the ward.

Daniella Geudj, a Paris-born social worker who has worked at Herzog since 1982, is one of them, and Sigalit Arbaboff, in charge of the unit when it opened, is now the hospital's clinical supervisor and regularly involved in its activities.

Although the young patients don't talk, and many barely move, they are treated as if they were well functioning; they get vaccinated against children's diseases according to the Health Ministry schedule. They are placed on special wheelchairs so they can go out into the garden, and are exposed to music and TV. But when in bed, they have to be turned every two hours to prevent pressure sores. They get respiratory and physiotherapy; secretions in their throats and lungs have to be suctioned out, says Gale. Some of the patients are able to smile. "Sometimes there are slight improvements, and we are overjoyed by positive reactions."

Nevertheless, a few have died, recalls Namestnic with sadness, as infections can't always be overcome. Ventilated patients can live for many years. "We have a 91-year-old coma patient who has been in the geriatrics ward for years; some have been on a ventilator for seven or eight years. Just look at Ariel Sharon at Sheba," she notes.

Herzog, which currently has three or four children on the waiting list, accepts patients for temporary assessments and also admits less seriously disabled but ventilated children whose families want to go on vacation.

The staff do a lot of hard physical work, as it takes strength for an orderly or nurse to turn over teenagers. The older ones also have special air mattresses to reduce the risk of sores. Every other day, says Geudj, "the children are given baths in their beds; the mattresses are waterproof." Most are fed via tubes to their stomachs, but those who can swallow are spoonfed. We try to stimulate them with music and color. We always speak to them and kiss them. There is no one that we don't love. We braid and put ribbons on the girls' hair."

"When we ask the hospital management for medical equipment, we don't have trouble getting it. We are the most 'spoiled' unit in Herzog," Gale says, "because's it's hard to say 'no' to us."

NEVERTHELESS, some luxuries are still unavailable, such as enough customized wheelchairs for taking the children out. Each child is a different size, and the chair has to be suited for the ventilation machine as well as the position of the patient. Herzog does not have its own workshop for building such wheelchairs.

Geudj says she and her colleagues would like a mobile Snoezelen facility to provide controlled multisensory stimulation, as patients can't be brought as far as the hospital's impressive Snoezelen room, with its soft music, waterbed, glass tubes with bubbles rising, pleasant odors, spotlights, vibrating cushions, stuffed animals and revolving mirror balls - that was installed in 2006.

The hospital will soon begin building a new wing, which will offer space for an expanded pediatric ventilation unit, says Caine. The staff hope that eventually there will be space and money to construct a therapeutic pool.

The families come from all ethic groups and backgrounds, adds Arbaboff. "Some travel long distances to get here, even though they know they won't even hear a 'hello.' Some place photos of their kids the way they were before they became comatose, and that is the saddest thing to see."

Guedj encourages family members to celebrate the children's birthdays or other family occasions in the wards if they wish, or to bring a favorite toy or blanket. There are parents who help staff give the children baths; they get a good feeling from participating."

The hospital organizes lectures for families twice a year.

As for the staff, they have learned not to take their job home, even though their work is so intensive.

"All of us have children. Daniella is also a grandma," says Arbaboff. "At first we couldn't help talking about patients at home, but we separate the two aspects of our life now. At first, I used to tell my own child I loved him all the time; I would cry and get hysterical, but I got over that."

"You learn to separate the two," adds Guedj, who helps the staff work out their anger when a child whose coming could have been prevented is admitted. "I didn't want my family to be saddened by the personal stories I encounter here."

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Extradition case held up by questions over Israel's jurisdiction

By Etgar Lefkovits

THE JERUSALEM POST - Jan. 1, 2009

A six-month long legal battle over the extradition of the suspected ringleader in one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history has taken an unexpected turn after a Brazilian court has asked Israel for clarifications about its judicial authority in the West Bank settlement where the suspect lives, Israeli officials said Thursday.

The unusual political twist in the case of "Rabbi" Elior Chen, 28, who is under arrest in Brazil, came after his defense team claimed that Israel has no legal jurisdiction to demand his extradition since he lives in a West Bank settlement that is not within the judicial authority of the State of Israel.

Chen, a resident of Beitar Ilit, was apprehended by Brazilian police on a residential street in Sao Paolo in June after fleeing Israel when the grisly abuse case first broke last year.

His extradition is now pending approval of the Brazilian Supreme Court. However, a partial decision to grant the extradition request - which Chen is fighting - has now been temporarily stymied by a political dispute over Israel's legal jurisdiction over the West Bank.

"This court unanimously decided to convert the judgment into a measure to determine...about the jurisdictional competence of the State of Israel on the criminal facts occurred in the territory allegedly administered by the National Palestinian Authority," a recent Brazilian court decision stated."This territory is nowadays occupied by the State of Israel," the court added.

The Brazilian court asked Israel's legal department to respond to the issue by February 12.

The Justice Ministry said Thursday that Israel had the right to press criminal charges and try Elior Chen for the allegations against him which were committed, among other places, in Beitar Ilit.

The Ministry said in a written response that it's international department was currently preparing a detailed legal response which it will be presenting to the Brazilian authorities in order to press ahead with Chen's extradition process to Israel.

"It is truly amazing that a settler that lives in the territories argues that Israel does not have legal authority over his settlement only in order to prevent his extradition," said an Israeli official involved in the case.

At the same time, the court has previously turned down a defense request to release Chen on bail pending the outcome of the extradition hearing.

An Israeli attorney representing Chen abroad on Thursday lambasted the State's interference in the legal proceedings in Brazil which have been attended by an Israeli consular official.

"The presence of a consular official in the discussion is state interference in legal measures which discriminate against other Israeli prisoners abroad," said the lawyer, Mordechai M. Tzivin.

He added that the Justice Ministry's position over Israel's jurisdiction on the West Bank was not in synch with the Israeli government's stated readiness to create a Palestinian state on much of the West Bank.

Chen, a resident of Beitar Ilit, was apprehended by Brazilian police on a residential street in Sao Paolo in June after fleeing Israel when the abuse case broke.

Israel and Brazil do not have an extradition treaty but law enforcement officials have been working hand in hand in the abuse case since an international warrant for Chen's arrest was issued in April.

Chen and his followers are suspected of severely abusing two children, aged 3 and 4, who were savagely and systematically beaten with hammers, knives and other instruments for months until the younger child lost consciousness in March.

They are also suspected of the severe abuse of other children in the family.

The 3-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the systematic and brutal abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and her companions, and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

In an effort to avoid arrest, Chen had fled the country just as police uncovered the abuse case, traveling to Brazil via Canada with his own family.

He turned himself in to Brazilian police on June 3 only in order not to besmirch the local Jewish community who were getting bad press as a result of the case, his lawyer said.

Five people, including the children's mother, have already been indicted in the grisly Jerusalem abuse case.

The chilling charge sheet in the gruesome child abuse case recounts that the mother allegedly forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods of time - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burnt their hands with a lighter and a heater, and gave them freezing showers.

The abusive mother and 'educators' are also suspected of pouring salt on the burn wounds of the child, stuffing his mouth with a skullcap and sealing his mouth with masking tape, and giving the children alcoholic drinks until they vomited.

As he awaits his extradition proceeding in a small Brazilian prison, Chen is receiving kosher food from a catering company and has been allowed to have phylacteries in his jail cell.
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'Abusive rabbi's' remand extended

By Efrat Weiss
YNET News - October 29, 2009

Day after arriving in Israel from Brazil, remand of self-proclaimed rabbi Elior Chen suspected of instructing followers to abuse children, extended by eight days. Police announce plans to charge him with attempted murder, present evidence they say supports this clause

After being questioned by police Wednesday night, the remand of so-called 'abusive rabbi' Elior Chen, suspected of instructing his followers to abuse their children, was extended by eight days by the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Justice Yitzhak Shimoni ruled that there was a risk of disruption of proceedings and a flight risk. Chen's lawyer, Ariel Atari said in response, "There is no flight risk. Chen has never violated a court order. He left the country before he was summoned for questioning."

At the remand hearing on Thursday, police attributed to Chen charges of attempted murder and submitted evidence to the court they say supports this clause.

Chen was seen grinning from ear-to-ear before the session, and said, "Injustice has been done."

The police's representative said at the hearing there were serious suspicions against Chen regarding deeds he committed against children fro a number of months. The police's representatives said he, along with others, abused and injured children to the point of hospitalization and medical treatment.

The police also claimed that Chen frequently threatened children, saying he would hurt them if they did not do his bidding and behave as he saw fit, and in many cases he did indeed hurt them.

Chen wouldn't stop grinning before the hearing, and was joined by his family who came to show their support. Chen's father Yaakov said, "We are glad he is back in Israel. I wish the children a speedy recovery, my heart aches (for them). I believe in a fair trial, but not in the police. In the end, it will all come out, the entire truth."

Chen's mother, Vivian said, "My son is innocent. There is a court that will decide. God willing, you will be strong as I have raised you."

At the beginning of the hearing a police representative requested that Chen's attorney be disqualified for having met the abused children's mother. "We are holding an investigation against attorney Atari who represents Elior Chen. A hearing will be held in the coming days. We were told by the Bar Association that they would recommend suspending him. At the end of the investigation it will be decided whether to indict him," the representative said.

Atari commented in response, "The fact that the police chooses to open the hearing on Chen's case with this particular issue says a lot. After I retuned from Brazil I met with the children's mother, eight months before she turned state's evidence, until then she was a defense witness."

Attorney Atari claimed that Chen was wrong to leave the country since he's been getting "obnoxious headlines" ever since, and feels as though he's already been tried and convicted. "Elior Chen has complete faith in the legal system. We are distinguishing between the legal system and the police."

Commenting on the attempted murder suspicion Atari said, "It is all too clear to me that he will not stand trial on attempted murder since the State has never claimed that, not even during the extradition procedure."

Chen landed in Israel Wednesday afternoon after a 14-hour flight from Brazil, from which he was extradited. He was transferred to a Jerusalem police station where he was questioned.

Jerusalem Police's Zion District Commander Brig. Gen. Bruno Stein said on Wednesday, "We attribute to Elior Chen personal involvement in the abuse acts – the harm of children in a sadistic manner. His extradition and his return to Israel was a big issue for us. We went through a difficult time, and there is much satisfaction in his return to Israel and his prosecution."

Speaking to journalists at the police station, attorney Ariel Atari said he is waiting to see the charges attributed to his client. "In any case, these things never happened," he said.

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Elior Chen found guilty of all charges against him

By Dan Izenberg

Jerusalem Post - November 30, 2010

Self-styled rabbi convicted of perpetrating sadistic attacks on the children of a couple who became his followers; sentencing at later date.

Elior Chen, who was dubbed “the king” by his followers and claimed to be in direct communication with God, was found guilty in the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday of abusing and committing violence against the eight children of a woman who became his disciple.

Chen’s lawyer, Ariel Attias, told reporters later that his client was “completely innocent” and that he intended to appeal the conviction to the Supreme Court.

The reading of the verdict was an anticlimax to one of the most disturbing affairs in the country’s history. Presiding Judge Yoram Noam took his seat, announced in a few words that he had convicted Chen, and then quickly left the courtroom.

The verdict itself, however, was 130 pages long.

A few minutes earlier, Chen, handcuffed and flanked by two prison guards, entered the small courtroom and sat down on a bench along the wall. He was dressed in black pants, a white shirt and a black, short-sleeved sweater. His beard and side curls were long and unkempt. He had a slight smile on his face and did not display any obvious signs of nervousness about the outcome of the trial.

The next step in the judicial process will be the pleadings for sentence by the defense and the state, and then the sentence itself. Noam did not announce the dates for these procedures on Tuesday.

Chen was charged with viciously and sadistically harming all eight siblings, and particularly three of them: A., age three, N., age four, and Shin, age 13.

His followers were tried, convicted and sentenced in a separate trial that ended two weeks ago.

In one of several references in his written verdict, Noam wrote, “The directives and instructions that the defendant gave to the members of the group having to do with the treatment of the children through ‘corrections’ included, among other things, beatings, in some cases using objects, rods and hammers; inflicting blows to all parts of the body including the head; lengthy shaking of some of the children’s heads backward and forward forcefully; causing bruises, wounds and burns; handcuffing the children, including stuffing them in a suitcase; depriving them of sleep and food, including leaving them in the cold without clothes; and forcing them to eat feces and drink arak.”

Noam wrote that although Chen had committed these acts in conjunction with his followers, “the defendant should be seen as the principal perpetrator...

of all the violent crimes and abuse committed by the members of the group toward the children. He stood at the head of the criminal group, served as the spiritual father of all the crimes which he initiated, and was therefore responsible for the key contribution within the group for the criminal act.”

The sadistic mistreatment of the children first came to light on March 11, 2008, when four-year-old N. was brought to hospital with severe burns on both of his legs. Later the same day, A. was brought to the same hospital in a comatose state, in which he has remained ever since.

Three months earlier, the mother, who had married Chen even though he was already married and had three children, had moved into his house in Betar Illit with all of her children. It was during this period that most of the attacks on her children took place, though some of them had already occurred in her home in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The mother sent N., who was suffering from the burns he had endured, to a woman for care, and she contacted social workers because of his condition.

On March 11, Chen sent all the children to their grandmother’s house and disappeared. Five days later, Chen flew to Brazil, from which he was extradited on October 28, 2009.

Before sending the children to their grandmother, he warned all of them, including the mother, not to say anything about what had happened. They maintained their silence for almost three weeks before beginning to talk to the police.

Soon afterward, the mother, who was also charged in the case and sentenced to five years in jail, turned state’s witness.

After Chen was returned to Israel, he refused to answer police questions during his interrogation. Attias also refused to question him in court. To date, Chen has not given his version of what happened to anyone.

Attias not only refused to call up Chen to the witness stand, he also refused to cross-examine any of the state’s witnesses or call up witnesses of his own. He charged all along that the court had not given him sufficient time to properly prepare his defense, and essentially boycotted the proceedings except for presenting three days of summation arguments.

He continued that same strategy on Tuesday, after the verdict was issued, charging that Chen had not received a fair trial.

Meanwhile, Chen’s mother, Vivian, told reporters that the media had been prejudiced against her son from the very beginning and had branded him a “monster.” When some of the reporters protested that it was the police who had called him that name, she replied that the police were corrupt.

It is likely that Chen’s sentence will be a harsh one. Three of his followers, who were with him and the children in Betar Illit between January and March 2008, recently received sentences of between 17 and 20 years for their part in the crimes committed against the children. Elior Chen found guilty of all charges against him.