Follow the Leader

waiting on the bus to ... where now?                         Reuters/Jorge Dan Lopez

The word "orthodox" comes from the Greek orthos (right, true) and doxa (opinion, praise). I find orthodoxy of every stripe fascinating and ultra orthodoxy ultra fascinating. It is fascinating to me that anyone can be so sure that everything he/she is being taught is right and true, which means, of course, that anything that deviates from those teachings is wrong and false. Witness ISIS, for example, or the Taliban. (And as always, I must admit, it's the children I wonder and worry about most.) So, anyway, that's why, when I read about a group called Lev Tahor being asked to move out of a village in Guatemala, I was intrigued enough to read up on them. Apparently, San Juan la Laguna is not the first town they've had to leave. In the last few months, they've gone from England to Canada to Guatemala (story, video): http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28992743
   So who are Lev Tahor? What are their beliefs, why are they having to move so much, and perhaps more to the point, are they a religious sect or a cult? (story, videos, slideshow): http://globalnews.ca/news/1161706/under-the-veil-of-lev-tahor-jewish-sect-accused-of-abuse/
   (slideshow): http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/08/29/remaining-lev-tahor-members-leave-chatham-kent