Eliezer Berland

The National Library of Israel catalog lists Berland as born in 1937, but the available material provides little further information about his childhood, family or education.[1]

Berland became a leader in Breslov Hasidism and founded and headed the Shuvu Bonim yeshiva in Jerusalem.[2][5] A 2018 profile reported that Berland gathered thousands of followers over the years, many of them baalei teshuva—people who became religiously observant.[2]

Estimates of the group’s size differed. In a 2018 report, activists opposed to Berland put Shuvu Bonim at 200–300 families, while his aides estimated 800–1,000 families.[6] These were competing estimates rather than an agreed count. The National Library catalog also reproduces a book’s promotional claim that Berland had attracted “tens of thousands of secular Jews” to religious life over more than 50 years; the figure is not independently verified in the available material.[1]

Some Breslov rabbis publicly rejected Berland’s leadership. A 2018 report said that 30 Breslov rabbis issued a statement urging people to distance themselves from him, and that a Breslov rabbinical court had also issued a ruling against him and his followers.[6][2]

In May 2025, Israel’s High Court rejected a petition seeking to prevent Berland and Shuvu Bonim from taking part in the state-subsidized Lag Ba’omer torch-lighting at Mount Meron. The court’s stated reason, as reported, was that the petition had been filed only three days before the event, leaving too little time for effective judicial review; the report did not say that the court ruled on the petition’s substantive arguments.[7]

In 2013, Berland left Israel shortly before he was expected to present himself for police questioning, amid allegations of sexual offenses against female followers, including a minor.[5] Over the following years he travelled through Morocco, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and South Africa. Reports said Moroccan and Zimbabwean authorities expelled him; after a Dutch court ruled that he should be extradited to Israel, he was placed under house arrest, later reached South Africa and was extradited from there. He landed in Israel in July 2016 and was arrested on arrival.[5]

The sexual-offense investigation followed a 2012 allegation by a follower, who said he had seen Berland in an immodest situation with a girl from the community. The follower was beaten by other followers, and police then investigated and gathered further testimony from women. Berland’s lawyer denied the allegations at the time.[8] In November 2016, Berland pleaded guilty under a plea agreement and was convicted of two indecent-act offenses involving women and one assault offense. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, with the term counted from his April 7 arrest in South Africa.[3]

The agreement provided compensation of 25,000 shekels to each of two complainants named in the indictment and the same amount to another complainant. The prosecution said the agreement reflected evidentiary difficulties concerning complainants who were not included in the final indictment. An amended indictment removed the more serious allegations involving a minor complainant and an adult complainant.[3] At sentencing, Berland said, “I regret from the depths of my heart all the damage I caused to any man or woman either directly or indirectly.”[3]

In 2020, police arrested Berland after hundreds of people filed complaints alleging that he had taken money from followers through paid prayers, pills and promises of cures or other outcomes.[9] During a search of his home, police found boxes of powders and pills reportedly supplied to followers as “wonder drugs”; laboratory checks identified some as ordinary pain medication and candy, including Mentos.[9]

In 2021, Berland pleaded guilty to a revised indictment and was convicted of obtaining things by fraud, exploitation, attempted threat, tax offenses and money laundering.[4] The case included eight occasions in which people seeking spiritual help were told that payments of 5,000 to 20,000 shekels would help a sick relative recover. In some instances, further payments followed when the patient did not recover; the court document said Berland knew he could not cure ill people.[4][10]

The conviction also covered unreported income from activities including pidyon nefesh payments, blessings, advice and home gatherings, and the use of other people and organizations to conceal funds and assets.[4][10] The State Attorney’s Jerusalem District office said Berland had concealed income of tens of millions of shekels and had obtained money from people in distress with promises that included recovery from illness, resurrection of the dead and release from prison.[10]

The 2021 indictment’s attempted-threat offense concerned a recorded message Berland sent to followers while detained in Tsalmon Prison. The prosecution said he instructed them to “beat them to death, break their bones,” referring to people whose conduct he considered contrary to Torah law.[4] The court imposed an 18-month prison sentence, a fine of more than 2.4 million shekels, victim compensation and a one-year suspended sentence. Berland entered Ayalon Prison in October 2021 and was administratively released in December, after having spent time in custody and under electronic monitoring.[4][11]

In 2021, while Berland was serving his prison term, police detained and questioned him as a suspect in investigations into the 1986 disappearance of teenager Nissim Shitrit and the 1990 killing of Avi Adiri. Police accused Berland of sending followers to kill Shitrit, but two of his followers—not Berland—were indicted in that case. The reporting said no one had been indicted in the Adiri killing at the time.[9][11]

Berland was later released from remand in connection with the investigations. Ynet reported that the inquiry concerning him reached an impasse and that prosecutors charged other people, including former Shuvu Bonim associates. The available reports describe allegations and investigative steps, not a conviction of Berland for either killing.[11]

Berland’s public standing combines his role as a Breslov leader and yeshiva founder with his criminal convictions and disputes over his conduct and authority. Some Breslov rabbis urged followers to distance themselves from him, while reporting described an active community that continued to gather around him after his release.[2]

The available accounts distinguish the 2016 and 2021 plea-bargain convictions from wider allegations made during investigations. The 2016 agreement narrowed the charges, and reports on the older killings describe Berland as a suspect who was released, not as someone convicted in those cases.[3][11]

A December 2025 roundup reported that members of Berland’s group entered Nablus overnight while trying to reach Joseph’s Tomb. It said security officials reported that their car rammed into a Palestinian and that footage showed the incident.[12]