A Jerusalem rabbi accused of enslaving 30 women in a cult-like compound called the “House of Horrors” has reportedly offered a lighter sentence of community service and cash compensation to the victims. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
Aharon Ramati was charged with enslavement, misdemeanor assault, and obstruction of justice, but he reportedly agreed to a plea deal for “confining people in conditions bordering on slavery.” Y Net News.
The agreement comes with a light sentence of just nine months of community service and $34,000 in restitution to the victims, because 11 of the women were too traumatized to face Ramati. It was established in response to the defendant’s refusal to testify.
The case made headlines in Israel after Ramati’s arrest in 2020, with police labeling the rabbi a “cult leader” who uses violence, intimidation, and stories of eternal damnation to indoctrinate and control his victims.
“They had to ask his permission for everything and consult him for every simple action.” police told the Times of Israel After his arrest.
In 2008, Ramati began gathering women around him, presenting himself as an enlightened religious leader who knew the “true path” to salvation, YNet reported.
He invited women to live in his house, which he renamed “Beer Miriam Seminary.” There they lived on moldy mattresses spread across three bedrooms, faced no hot water, constant leaks and dilapidated conditions.
As the number of believers increased, Ramati moved into the house next door. Prosecutors say more than 30 women lived at one time in the small compound, with some reports saying as many as 50 women and children.
According to YNet, the rabbi charged the women about $220 a month for beds in his home and about $170 a month for sharing mattresses with other residents.
While at home, the women attended daily lessons taught by Ramati, which included abandoning all personal desires to focus their energies on spirituality.
Mr. Ramati filled the vacuum of personal responsibility for them, made all decisions on their behalf, and as a result received the majority of their salaries from jobs they worked outside of class, prosecutors argued.
Prosecutors say Ramati tried to control women by frightening them by telling them that if they did not obey him, they would suffer terrible harm at the hands of otherworldly forces, and by isolating them from their families. , said they tried to pit the women against each other and police each other.
According to a report in the Times of Israel, common punishments in the home included having women burn their fingers and eating chili peppers to “simulate hell.”
Rumors about Mr. Ramati’s conduct have been circulating around him for years.
He was first arrested in 2015, but was released after several members of his group testified on his behalf.
