Yakov Rabkin, a history professor at the University of Montreal, spoke to N1 about his experience with the Jewish group Lev Tahor, whose practices he has been studying for more than 40 years.

He disliked the idea of calling the group “ultra orthodox” as many do, but he noted however that this is the closest to describing them.

The Lev Tahor group drew his attention when he worked on a book dealing with Jews who do not recognise the state of Israel, and he was told there was one such group close to Montreal.

After meeting them, Rabkin realised their practices were very strict, they were preparing their own food, and their prayers lasted much longer than those among other Jews.

He said he never noticed anything within this group that he would call child abuse but, he added, such incidents never happen in public anyway. He stressed that nothing like that has ever been proven.

According to professor Rabkin, the Lev Tahor group finds it difficult to get used to the social norms of the today's world and the education they get is not sufficient for life in the modern world.

He stressed that education is actually the main problem and that this is what keeps them closed.

Rabkin does not think the group poses a threat to their environment and deems that they are pacifists.

They are very isolated and have no connection with the outer world but they are not dangerous for anyone, he added.