Tearing daughters and mothers from their nuclear families: For the past two years, the Gur Hasidic community has been active as "Heroes of Power," an organization whose goal is to strengthen and encourage every woman and girl who boycotts relatives who left the Hasidic community and moved to the community of Rabbi Shaul Alter, the son of the previous Rebbe of Gur who left Hasidism with a group of hundreds of Hasidim and established his own community.
It sounds crazy and taken from the world of fiction, but it is a whole array that supports these women so that they do not contact their families who "sinned" by moving from Hasidism to the community of Rabbi Alter. This is because, after Rabbi Alter's retirement, as has been reported in dozens of cases so far, a sweeping order was issued in Hasidism to strongly boycott anyone who dared to move to the rabbi's community, and as a result these people suffered bodily and property damage and repeated harassment.
Rabbi Shaul Alter, Photo: None
"Damage to a lifetime"
"Power Heroines" was established, according to its founders, to help women overcome the difficulty of total disengagement from their nuclear family. In order to regularly "fuel" the hatred between those who quit Hasidism and their parents and sisters and prevent it from dimming, the women of the organization use a variety of means such as gatherings, meetings, sermons, lectures and the distribution of gifts from time to time.
The organization also lures the women with an irresistible gift – an organized trip to Italy that is due to begin this summer vacation – an important "right" previously reserved only for donors of the Union of Gore Institutions and will now be granted to those who acted against their feelings and cut off all contact with their relatives, including parents and children, albeit at their own expense.
Coordinator Hani Mosbacher announced the unusual gift to her "dear friends" in a message she posted on the organization's very confidential inner line that no one has access to. To those who expressed doubts (in Hasidism it is not customary to travel abroad), she made sure to clarify: "We received permission to travel from the high windows," and it is clear to all of them who she meant.
Monsbacher. "We got permission from the high windows," Photo: None
Demonstration of Gur Hasidim in Jerusalem (Archive)
The boycotting women were invited as personal guests of Rebbetzin Magor to the celebrations of her grandchildren, and especially to the "Seven Blessings" events. One of the dominant women active in the subject, Yael Konopnitsky, who serves daily as an educational consultant at the Be'er Miriam Seminary in Hazor HaGalilit, even conducts workshops for women and instructs them on how to properly disconnect emotionally from their families.
In a recording from the inside line obtained by Israel Hayom, Konopnitsky can be heard wondering: "Aren't we exaggerating? Why cut ties altogether? What happens if we go to say congratulations, if we say hello?" – and replies herself: "One sentence you say at a wedding can do damage for a lifetime.
Konopnitsky later refers to as a "rebel" those who passed from Hasidism, and even shares that she "denounced" a teacher at the seminary who spoke in favor of the dissidents. According to her, although the teacher and her husband are "strong and screwed up in the Gur Hasidim, they dare to behave in a 'furry' manner and run away from controversy" – behavior that Konopnitsky portrays as bad and ridiculous.
Konfetzky. "Fleeing the controversy", photo: None
At the same time, she admits that this is actually blackmail by threats to those who quit: "We cut ties and in this way save frivolous people who are not strong in spirituality. Knowing that they will lose their family if tempted helps them stay connected to Hasidism even if the connection is tenuous."
No concerns, no wonders
Israel Hayom received many of the conversations that were conducted on the confidential line of "power heroines." In one, one of the girls is heard saying, "When my brothers left Gur, we carried out a complete separation. Not inviting and not casual, not even for celebrations, and lo and behold, there are no stomachaches, no concerns, no wonders. Everything is clear, black and white, with a sense of envy of G-d, of great honor (the Rebbe of Gur), and despite the parents' sorrow, with courage and heroism it is possible to overcome the difficulty."
In another recording, one of the women is heard saying, "I've gotten used to the family's back. Family is a very strong back, supportive, embracing and connecting. And without realizing it, I preferred their closeness to that of my heavenly Father. I left the connection with my heavenly Father aside. Heavenly Father did not give up on me. He knew it wasn't good to win."
The Magor Rebbe Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, Photo: Shlomi Cohen/Flash90
In another horrifying recording, one of the girls spoke in a shattered voice about coping with the terrible sorrow she felt for not attending the wedding of one of her nuclear family that day. Following her shocking announcement, a few minutes later, Tirza Manella, one of the main women in Gore, called her to strengthen her boycott of her family and encouraged her not to break down despite the mental difficulties involved. "I realized that 'power heroines' are my family," the young woman concluded.
Manella, by the way, is dominant in the activities of the organization. She hosted a minor girl who ran away from her home after her teacher incited her over her parents' secession from Hasidism until the court removed her from there. In one of dozens of messages she left on the general reinforcement line for Gur Menela Hasidic women, she even likened the dissidents to "a wart that must be removed from the body."
Tirza Manela (center), photo: None
Exercises and reinforcements
Another recording of one of the puppy women includes exercises she suggests to overcome the separation from the family. "You took three chairs - one represented a mother who left, the other a daughter who stayed and the third neutral. Sit in your daughter's chair and spill what she has on her heart, like, 'I feel abandoned.' In the third chair imagine a neutral figure who says, 'The daughter who stayed in the puppy is the really strong one.'"
An equally shocking recording of Avraham Nachum Lev, chief cantor of the Great Synagogue of Hasidism, who boycotted two of his sons who had retired to Rabbi Alter's congregation. In the recording, he is heard telling the girls "heroines of power" that they should not feel compunction and in order for the wedding celebration to be complete, the family that retired should not be given a foothold in the wedding. Two weeks ago, he also sang at the wedding of the Rebbe's granddaughter in front of tens of thousands of Hasidim, while shedding in his words the dissidents, as well as his sons and grandchildren, to a fruit in which a spirit of folly entered and rotted within a few days. The song was also played on the "reinforcement line".
Avraham Nachum Lev sings at the wedding of the Rebbe's granddaughter of Gur a shocking song against the dissidents, photo: None
We reached out to the Gur Hasidic community, the Be'er Miriam seminar and those quoted in the article, but all refused to comment on what was said in it.
Congregation Rabbi Shaul Alter said: "This speaks for itself, there is no need for a response."
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