Tel Aviv Cult Leader Has 32 Common Law Wives, 89 Kids

And it isn't the only moonbat story out of Israel today, either:

Exposed: Tel Aviv man has 32 women and 89 children
Haaretz.com

A Tel Aviv man in his late fifties is living with 32 women with whom he has fathered 89 children, an Israeli television station revealed last week. 

The women are subject to strict discipline, but say that they are all living with Goel Ratzon by their own accord. 

They are not allowed to communicate with men, be in physical contact with their biological family, eat meat, smoke, drink alcohol or dress immodestly. 

Ratzon is held by his companions to be the savior (Goel in Hebrew) of the universe, and is attributed godly and supernatural abilities. Many of the women have tattooed his name and portrait on their bodies. 

The names of every one of Ratzon's 89 children include his own first name. For instance, one of his sons is called Avinu Ha-Goel (our father the savior) and he has a daughter named Tehilat Ha-Goel (glory of the savior). 

Ratzon told Channel 10 that there had been several attempts at collective suicide when some of the women thought he was going to leave them. Also in the film, some of the women said they would commit mass suicide if anyone tried to harm their leader. 

They are all registered as single mothers, and live in separate quarters. Whenever Ratzon comes to visit, the children are required to kiss his shoes, and worship the tattoo of his portrait on their mother's arm. 

National Council for the Child Director Dr. Yitzhak Kadman said that the authorities have very little room for maneuver. 

"The man is treading a fine line," Kadman said. "As long as these children go to school regularly and are not suffering from neglect or flagrant abuse, there's not much the authorities can do. The law does not permit to prevent people from living in a certain lifestyle just because it seems inappropriate to some." 

On Friday, one of Ratzon's companions was hospitalized after claiming to have tried to commit suicide. She was brought to Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot by Ratzon, who was accompanied by some of his other companions. The woman was released the next day. 

She said that she had taken a large amount of anti-depressants and that she could not remember whether she had medical insurance or not. Ratzon, for his part, said he could not remember the woman's name. 

"As soon as they came I knew it was this guy from TV," a hospital staff member said. "They walked in, and one of the women was supported by another. They really stood out." 

The Tel Aviv welfare services and the National Insurance Institute said they were familiar with the case. The woman's apparent suicide attempt on Friday has been seen by authorities as a premeditated provocation to mitigate public pressure to clamp down on the cult. 

An estranged friend of one of the women said that the group was very sophisticated and aware of the repercussions of being exposed to the public. 

"They are not stupid, just very extreme," he said. "Maybe they fear that the exposure might affect their way of life, and they're acting tactically. I don't think it was the TV report - they wouldn't agree to do it unless they thought that it might benefit them in any way. Everything there is under control." 

According to one of the women's friends, "they probably thought that if they make the first step, no one will harm them... That's their way of dealing with the authorities.

Meanwhile, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Ariel decided to bring the redemption in a slightly different way:

Rosh-Ha'ayin police arrest man in Spiderman costume harassing commuters
By Yuval Goren, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel Police have grown accustomed to strange sights on Israel's highways, but nothing could have prepared them for the sight of a man in a Spiderman costume jumping on top of cars and throwing ropes at the startled commuters' vehicles.

Cops were called to the scene after receiving a flurry of calls from gridlocked commuters near the Rosh Ha'ayin intersection who reported a man in a Spiderman costume throwing ropes at cars, the improvised lassos presumably meant to substitute for the web-crawler's famous mechanical web-shooters.

Police arrested the would-be superhero, a resident of Ariel, and took him to the Rosh Ha'ayin precinct for an investigation. While under investigation, the man told police he woke up in the hospital wearing the costume, with no recollection of where it came from.

Police are expected to call for doctors to examine the youth's mental health.

Comments

[steve]

Shades of David Koresh and Branch Davidian. I hope their ending is not as tragic.

[cr]

eureka!

now I know y there's a singles crisis
"moshiach" is grabbing all the young hotties for himself

[Hometown Postville]

He sure looks a lot older than in his fifties- must be all wore out! So if he drops dead of a heart attack, are they all going to drink their cyanide kool-aid cuz they can't live without him? How do women allow themselves to succumb to such control? I suppose the alternative for single mothers in Israel is pretty bleak.

[cr]

anyone who can keep 32 females under control is one powerful mofo...

[Isa]

There a FAR more women that want to get married than men.
Now if you are fat, ugly , older, etc, a women's chances of getting married gets to be pretty slim. So here is some guy who wants to get you pregnant and take care of you, of course there are issues (ha ha) but the alternative is to grow old and childless.THAT'S how he can get 32 wives!

[Rachel]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the SpiderMan dude. I see a macaroni and cheese box in his future.

[A. Nuran]

Typical cultist shit.
The guy in charge gets all the pussy.
The women are treated like slaves and go willingly to their servitude.

[Yochanan Lavie]

With great power comes great responsibility.

[mnuez]

After Yochanan's comment anything I could say would fall short. Yochanan totally covered both of these stories in one fell swoop and unlike Messiah, managed to connect two stories with something other than a love of lashon harah.

As for Goel, let's all admit (all of us virile males that is) that we're jealous. As Mencken pointed out, indignation is often nothing other than jealously with a halo (and anyone who instinctively goes to Cross currents to try to find that quote deserves a really hard smack with a hiostory and or literature hard-covered text book upseide the head).

I sometimes wish I wasn't raised with such Portnoyan guilt that I can't morally get myself to start a sex, money & power cult around me. Heck, I can't even express SENTIMENTS I don't believe in. Who the fuck slipped me this goddamned Jewish truth serum?! I'm such a goddamned honest little yingeleh. It makes me sick!

mnuez

[shmuel]

"I sometimes wish I wasn't raised with such Portnoyan guilt that I can't morally get myself to start a sex, money & power cult around me. Heck, I can't even express SENTIMENTS I don't believe in. Who the fuck slipped me this goddamned Jewish truth serum?! I'm such a goddamned honest little yingeleh. It makes me sick!
---mnuez"
That is so great. Great way to start my day. Thanks.

[Dr. Dave]

I'm making yellow crowns that say Y'chei Goel Ratzon.

Now that's my kind of Messiah!

[Just a Goy]

I see an Israeli version of 'Big Love' coming...

[Yochanan Lavie]

mnuez: Thanks for your kind words. I loved the Mencken quote. He's brilliant.

[Dr. Dave]

Mencken (an antisemite in private not public) also said love is the delusion that one woman actually differs from another.

[Jerome Soller]

As a single Jewish guy in Salt Lake City (which has been famous for its polygamy), I must admit that I now have a new idol. I guess that I chose the wrong profession (president of a small - sometimes struggling - software engineering company), as I should have had 32 hot, sex-starved women support me financially :) !!!!!! On the flip side, he looks like he is 70. Therefore, managing 32 women must have really worn him out.

Best wishes,

Jerome

[Yochanan Lavie]

Dr. Dave: I know Mencken was an anti-Semite and an Anglophobe (I am an Anglophile), but he was an important man of letters who coined many bon mots. He is a guilty pleasure of mine (though I'd prefer to have Goel's guilty pleasures...).

[Yisroel Pensack]

Goel Ratzon...Now I finally understand the halachic term "Goel Ha-Damn." Cain y'hi Ratzon.

[Rachel]

32 women, and he looks like he's been wearing the same clothes for days. Yes, I know, the women are busy with...other things, but still.

[Yisroel Pensack]

32 women, and he looks like he's been wearing the same clothes for days. Yes, I know, the women are busy with...other things, but still.

Posted by: Rachel | February 16, 2009 at 06:20 PM

It's a miracle that they got a pic of him with his clothes on.

[Rachel]

--It's a miracle that they got a pic of him with his clothes on.--

Let's take a moment to thank G-d for small favors.

[Yisroel Pensack]

Amen, Rachel!

[bob]

""They are not stupid, just very extreme," he said. "Maybe they fear that the exposure might affect their way of life, and they're acting tactically. I don't think it was the TV report - they wouldn't agree to do it unless they thought that it might benefit them in any way. "

Evil people ALWAYS brag and document their banality.