Guatemalan police have raided the Lev Tahor community after allegations of child abuse, underage marriages, and many other illegalities surfaced. This group, which claims to follow its own brand of strict Orthodoxy, has been on the run from Canadian authorities and seems to be continuing their destructive patterns in other countries.

Founded in the 1980’s by an Israeli, Lev Tahor holds extremist views, shuns technology, and is Anti-Zionist. Female members must wear head-to-toe black robes that cover every inch of their bodies (sound similar to another group of religious fanatics? The Israeli press thinks so and have nicknamed them the “Jewish Taliban”).

I, like most members of the Jewish community, condemn Lev Tahor’s actions and do not consider them legitimate. Quite simply, this is a cult, not a religion. It’s true that Judaism can be practiced in a variety of ways, some of which may seem odd or unappealing to the mainstream. While there’s nothing wrong with that, if local and state laws are broken so their “faith” can be practiced, that is definitely not okay. That is a crime and it should be called just that.

What bothers me most about this whole sordid saga is that the behavior of a few crazies may cause trouble for the rest of Guatemala’s 1,200 legitimate Jews. With such a small population to begin with, the last thing they need is negative attention and unfair comparisons that could lead to more prejudice.

Such a terrible situation for everyone involved and I pray that the abused children and women can get the help they deserve.