Haredi burqa sect

The frumka as a mode of dress for Haredi women was encouraged by Bruria Keren, an Israeli religious leader who taught a strict (by Orthodox standards) interpretation of Jewish scripture for female adherents. Keren, who covers herself in several layers of clothing, claims that covering women was originally a Jewish tradition, and that she has seen a 400-year-old picture of Jewish women covered from head to toe.[1] There are also Sephardic women who claim that their mothers covered their bodies entirely so that one cannot discern their figures. A sect member is reported to have explained that she's "following these rules of modesty to save men from themselves. A man who sees a woman's body parts is sexually aroused, and this might cause him to commit sin. Even if he doesn't actually sin physically, his impure thoughts are sin in themselves." The religious group, which was estimated to number around 100 in 2008 and may have grown to several hundred by 2011,[2] is concentrated in Beit Shemesh, but also has followers in Safed and Jerusalem. The majority of the women have secular backgrounds.[3][4]

In February 2008, Bruria Keren was arrested on charges of severely abusing her children.[4] Identified in court as "B.", she was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court in 2009 on three counts of abuse of a minor or helpless person, and 25 counts of assault in aggravated circumstances, and sentenced to four years in prison. Her husband, identified in court as "M.", was also convicted of 10 counts of assault, and three counts of abuse of a minor or helpless person, and was sentenced to six months in jail.[5]

Bruria Keren does not speak in front of men, and has taken on various ascetic practices. During her prison term, she was hospitalized several times for malnutrition and other maladies as a result of her unwillingness to eat the food provided.[6] Some members of the group reportedly do not believe in vaccination or treatments. On February 8, 2013, one woman's baby allegedly died from untreated flu, with the parents then fleeing from the law. On another occasion, a newborn baby had to be taken to a hospital by force, after the mother refused to go to a hospital to give birth to avoid contact with hospitals and physicians.[7] Other cases of child abuse and neglect have been reported within the group.[8]

The Israeli press has adopted the informal epithet "Taliban mothers" to refer to the followers of Bruria Keren's teachings on modesty.[9] According to Miriam Shaviv, the estimated 100 "gullible and needy" Jewish women, for whom Keren was a holy woman, were not forced, but convinced, by Keren "that the ideal for a woman was not to be seen in public (and not even to be heard – she used to stop talking for days on end). Negating themselves, she was telling them, making themselves invisible, was the height of frumkeit, while, in fact, it has no basis whatsoever in halachah".[10] The Israel National Council for the Child has requested that the Welfare Ministry look into the matter and make sure this behavior is not harmful to the girls.[3]

Another Haredi group which requires female adherents to wear such shawls is the Lev Tahor cult of Israeli-Canadian rabbi Shlomo Helbrans.[14] A Messianic claimant and faith healer from Tel Aviv named Goel Ratzon reportedly lived with 32 women who neighbors said "wore modest clothing that neighbors likened to those of religious Muslims" before he was arrested.[15]

• Israel Hayom: Ex-Member of Beit Shemesh "Burqa Cult" Reveals Truth About Group