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Breslovs to settle & build new Yeshiva in Zim?

LATEST: Street party in Glenhazel for Rebbetzen Berland; Followers have rented a warehouse in Bedford View where many of them are now staying; Yaron Yamin has built a house for Berlands in Zim; Yamin told SAJR that work proceeding on new Yeshiva at same site; A Shuvu Banim Rabbi is mistaken for R. Berland; Latest on whereabouts of Rabbi & Rebbetzen Berland; Two Shuvu Banim Breslovs arrested for drug smuggling; and The Rabbi who keeps being mistaken for R. Berland.

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ANT KATZ

Once again the fast-moving story of Breslov Rabbi Eliezer Berland and his Shubu Banim followers has been the talk of the community and making news almost daily. The latest developments include:

  • A street party was held in Glenhazel to welcome Rebbetzen Berland last week;
  • Berland’s followers have rented a warehouse in Bedford View where many of them are now staying;
  • Yaron Yamin has built a house for R. Berland outside Bulawayo;
  • Yamin told SAJR that work is proceeding on a new Yeshiva at the site;
  • A Shuvu Banim Rabbi is mistaken for Rabbi Berland;
  • The whereabouts of Rabbi and Rebbetzen Berland are not known;
  • Two Shuvu Banim Breslov’s are arrested for smuggling drugs; and
  • The Rabbi who keeps being mistaken for R. Berland.

UPDATE OF ALL RELATED READS BELOW

Rabbi Berland is wanted for questioning by Israeli police for alleged sexual offences, which he denies. No charges have been laid in this matter. The Rebbetzen and their son, as well as several of the son’s associates, have been charged with money laundering and other charges.

In just two days LAST WEEK Jewish Report Online was able to break eight new stories on the Rabbi-on-the-run, including:

  • Rabbi Berland seen in & around Glenhazel over the weekend of 4 May;
  • Rebbetzen Tehila Breslov (pictured right) flew into Joburg on 5 May;
  • Yaron Yamin, Rav Berland’s close disciple from Zimbabwe, spoke to SAJR on 5 May;
  • Another exclusive interview with senior Berland follower in Jerusalem published 5 May;
  • Rav Berland in regular contact with followers at Yeshiva giving phone lessons;
  • Yamim building Yeshiva in Zim in hope that Berland will settle there; and
  • R. Berland had been at “Next Door” Restaurant Tuesday evening.

The past week’s events…

There was a street party outside the new Sephardi Shul in Elder St, Glenhazel to welcome Rebbetzen Berland last week. Tables were laid out and set alongside the street outside the Shul and catering was ordered in.

Rabbi Berland’s followers have rented a house and warehouse in Bedford View where they have been staying since last week. It is not known if the Rabbi and Rebbetzen are staying there as well, although it is doubtful, say members of the local community who have been delivering food to the followers. One told SAJR Online that the followers were sleeping on matrasses which had been placed on palettes.

Yaron Yamin has built a house for R. Berland outside Bulawayo where, Yamin told the Jewish Report, said, work is proceeding on the construction of a new Yeshiva SEE STORY ON SAJR ONLINE: WHO IS YARON YAMIN?


A Shuvu Banim Rabbi whose name SAJR Online was unable to establish (pictured left with two followers in Glenhazel), has been repeatedly mistaken for Rabbi Berland, with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance.

This may account for the regular “sightings” SAJR has had called in over the past two weeks.

SAJR Online sent this picture, taken by ILAN OSSENDRYVER, to Yossi (the members of the sect only go by first names), a senior follower at the Shubu Banim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and asked if it was Berland.
 
“No, it’s one of his students,” came the reply. “Rabbi Berland has trained many Rabbis who have students of their own. This is one of them. “The newspapers in Zimbabwe actually made the same mistake and put a picture of this Rabbi on the front page saying it was Rabbi Berland,” said Yossi.

Yossi was, however, unable to identify the Rabbi, saying that Berland has thousands of followers.

The notable distinction between the two men is that this Rabbi has some colour at the top of his beard, whereas Rabbi Berland (pictured right) has a pure white beard.

 

The whereabouts of Rabbi and Rebbetzen Berland are not known. The Berlands are believed to still be in South Africa but their whereabouts remain a closely guarded secret. Jewish Report has been unable to establish their current location within SA or whether they are continuing to move from place to place as the Rabbi had been doing prior to the Rebbetzen’s arrival.

Jewish Report is still trying to arrange for an interview with Rabbi Berland.

 

Shuvu Banims arrested for smuggling drugs

According to a story published FailedMessiah.com this week, “two Shuvu Banim Breslov’s” were arrested on drug smuggling charges in Spain.

The two are “members of the Breslov Chasidic Shuvu Banim sect – the same sect whose leader, Rabbi Eliezer Berland, fled Israel after being accused of sex crimes… and the sect is known to have many former and current criminals as members.”

The two men, aged 22 and 23, one a young married man and the other an unmarried Yeshiva student, were arrested with a large quantity of drugs concealed in their vehicle. One the men lives in Jerusalem and the other in Sefat says FailedMessiah.com.

The pair claimed that they had been offered a free rental car on condition it be returned in Madrid, said the article, quoting Yeshiva World. They apparently claim they did not know drugs were concealed in the car.

However, says the article, a report on “the Chareidi news website Kikar HaShabbat,” the father of one of the two was previously arrested for smuggling drugs in a similar way.

Follow the story on www.sajr.co.za

1 Comment

  1. Yossi

    May 14, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    ‘Sorry Ant for not speaking to you before, I was awfully busy…
    \n
    \nI know the two boys, and as a side point only one of them is from Shuvu Bonim, the other lives in Safed and has nothing to do with Shuvu Bonim. However the story itself is once again a desperate attempt to make Chareidim look bad.
    \n
    \nFailedMessiah.com is definitely not the right place to get pure information from. Anyone can clearly see that the entire purpose of the site is to slander every Rabbi of every sect. Just look at how they make a mockery of every Rabbi in Chabad, every Chief Rabbi of Israel, etc. that in itself should make it clear how unreliable they are…
    \n
    \nWhat happened with the boys is that they were offered to bring a car to Uman in the Ukraine, a 35 hour drive from Madrid. They were told that gas and tolls would be paid for and they can therefore get a free drive to Rebbe Nachman of Breslovs kever in Uman. The Ukrainians who provided them with the car explained to them that they are going to sell the car on the other side of the border for a profit therefore it was worth it for them to pay these boys expenses. It is not the first time something like this has been done. However it was the first time that the people \”selling\” the car actually had in mind to make a much larger \”profit\” by hiding drugs in the car. This was completely unknown to the boys. No idiot in the world would risk getting arrested in order to get a free ride.
    \n
    \nBut again… if we only get our information by following what we read on the internet, then sure – all Hareidim are criminal, drug-dealer, sex-pests…
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    Thanks, Yossi, for putting your version here. It is important that we continue to communicate with one another as the issues you have raised here were among those I had hoped to clarify with you prior to releasing comments and publishing stories.
    \nRegards, ANT KATZ, ONLINE EDITOR
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