Shuvu Banim (Eliezer Berland)

Shuvu Banim ('Return, O Sons') split from mainstream Breslov Hasidism in the 1990s under Berland's increasingly autocratic prophetic claims. The Mea Shearim-headquartered community combined Breslov mystical practice (annual pilgrimage to Uman, intensive hitbodedut private prayer) with extreme veneration of Berland personally as a tzaddik ha-dor (the righteous one of the generation). Allegations of sexual assault began surfacing in 2012; Berland fled Israel in 2013 ahead of charges and spent years in Morocco, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, and South Africa before being extradited in 2016. His February 2022 Jerusalem conviction covered three female complainants; subsequent 2023 charges added fraud, exorbitant 'pidyon nefesh' (redemption-of-soul) payments to vulnerable individuals (some terminally ill, charged tens of thousands of shekels for blessings of healing), and exploitation. Israeli press estimates current Shuvu Banim membership in the low thousands, with concentrations in Mea Shearim (Jerusalem), Beit Shemesh, and Hatzor HaGlilit. The community has rejected the convictions as antisemitic state persecution and reinterpreted Berland's imprisonment as a spiritual sacrifice. The 2024 Israeli Supreme Court ruling rejecting Berland's appeal closed the appellate door on the original conviction.