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SHOCKING REPORT: Girls Raped in Ritual Ceremonies Reveal the Horrors – Investigative Report by IsraelHayom:
Victim. Binding. Punishment. Correction. Redemption. Prayers. Chants. Ecstasy.
Extreme pain. Torture. Humiliation.
Destruction of personality and soul.
Testimony after testimony after testimony—women who suffered organized abuse in childhood, including group rape during religious-style ceremonies, often by people they knew—sometimes their closest family members.
Over the past few months, we spoke with these women, some of their relatives, and trauma experts in Israel and abroad. What emerges is disturbing, with descriptions that are difficult to read.
Israeli Police: “The matter is known and under investigation. Naturally, we cannot provide further details.”
In a clear voice and direct words, Emunah (a pseudonym, as are all the victims’ names in this article) recounts the horrific abuse she says she suffered as a child: organized sexual abuse, including horrifying “religious” ceremonies in which devout people—some of them her relatives—offered her as a sacrificial victim for spiritual elevation or redemption.
Emunah is not alone. More than ten women aged 20–45 describe a deeply troubling phenomenon that raises serious concerns that, like in many other countries, organized child sexual abuse is happening in Israel—right under our noses.
“Maybe the world knows about rape, about incest, but this—the world doesn’t know,” Emunah says. “These acts were kept secret for years, maybe because of how insane they are… It was always extremely strange. Like there was an inner logic to it, but it was completely insane… Strange things were happening, normalized through ritual. There was a schedule—when to say which verse, how things were ‘supposed’ to be done…”
Each woman we spoke with has a different story. They come from all over Israel, from north to south. Some are students, others work and raise families, and some are barely surviving.
They didn’t know each other, grew up in different communities and sectors—yet the ritual abuse stories are eerily similar, forcing us to listen and not look away. Some were abused in educational settings, others at home, in religious schools, or synagogues.
This article presents only a small fraction of the hours of interviews and information, and parts of it are difficult to read. All of the women fear that organized child sexual abuse continues to this day.
Ayelet: “It’s always a dark place. There are six to nine men. They tie my hands and feet to a bed, stand in a circle, mutter prayers or blessings, and there’s always a rabbi leading it. There’s a ritual—and each one rapes me.”
“Blessed is He who releases the forbidden.”
Testimony after testimony from women who, as children, suffered organized ritual abuse, including group rape.
We met them over recent months. We also spoke with family members, mental health professionals, and trauma experts in Israel and abroad.
We gathered information about organized ritual child abuse, a recognized phenomenon around the world.
The picture that emerges is troubling and demands a deep and serious investigation by law enforcement.
“This is a religious-national mission—to expose this phenomenon and seek the truth,” says a therapist from the religious community who is familiar with the details.
Dr. Naama Goldberg, CEO of the nonprofit “Not Standing By – Supporting Women in Prostitution”:
“Sometimes the stories are so shocking, you question the speaker’s credibility. But since so many similar reports come from unrelated victims across Israel, it seems they’re grounded in reality.”
Most of the women we met come from religious or ultra-Orthodox communities, though secular testimonies also exist.
This is not about one sector—it’s about some of the worst crimes imaginable happening in a hidden, parallel world that looks invisible, but is very dark.
Several rabbis’ names appear repeatedly in the testimonies. Multiple complaints filed across Israel were closed quickly.
Even past suspicions of an organized abuse network in Jerusalem were met with police investigators lacking the tools or knowledge to act effectively.
Korin, whose daughter Eden was abused: “There’s a whole community covering this up. Many people have things to hide. Eden talked about six men who raped her—and they all kept it secret. You can’t fight a whole community.”
“Not Fringe People”
“I remember a red pentagram on the floor. When it was in the forest, it was marked with a hoe, surrounded by lit candles. The rabbi would say: ‘Blessed is He who releases the forbidden.’ Men would pray with prayer shawls. Sometimes they wore black, and the rabbi wore a white robe.
There were men and teens, about 16–17 years old, who participated in the rituals for spiritual elevation. They prayed to Baal Peor.
“One time, they asked me to dig a hole and laid me in it. Other times, they injected me with something and said, ‘Now you’ll feel better,’ and my body went limp. They repeated Psalms like ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ They told me, ‘You’re special, you’re chosen,’ and then… I remember a lulav, Hanukkah candles, a shofar.”
Limor (pseudonym) grew up in a religious-ultra-Orthodox home. She says her father was always violent toward her and her mother. She had to be hospitalized several times due to injuries from the abuse.
She says her father took her to the ceremonies—arranged by relatives, as seen in many other accounts.
Sometimes the ritual was in a forest, other times in a closed apartment. She sometimes saw and heard other children being abused too. Many stories mention other victims. In some cases, women also took part in the abuse.
Dr. Anat Gur, psychotherapist and expert in trauma treatment, head of the Bar-Ilan University trauma therapy program:
“Organized child rape is one of the most horrific things I’ve encountered. It’s likely much more widespread than we think. It’s happening in places we least expect.”
Boaz (pseudonym), a senior religious community therapist, agrees:
“The abusers are often not fringe figures. One patient told me, ‘Understand—he’s the one who blows the shofar on Rosh Hashanah.’ The shofar is a spiritual symbol—the one blowing it is meant to be closest to God. And he told her she was evil, and that he was helping her atone in this life. Do you grasp the distortion?”
“A Crime Without Witnesses”
In addition to the women who dared to speak to Israel Hayom, professionals know of other victims—men and women—who report sadistic ritual abuse in childhood.
The content is similar. Most abuse began very early, often at home—by a father, grandfather, or other relative. In other cases, it occurred in schools or treatment settings.
Dr. Gur: “Those who experience this suffer unimaginable damage. That’s part of the problem—it’s hard to expose, because the victims are so shattered that it’s hard to believe them. The more sadistic and early the abuse, the less likely the perpetrator will ever face justice—because no one can testify.”
The perpetrators shatter the soul, making this a crime without witnesses—which, of course, allows the abuse to continue.
Dr. Joyanna Silberg, international expert in dissociative disorders in children and adolescents, and former president of the International Society for Trauma and Dissociation, worked for five years with 70 children in Israel suspected to be victims of organized abuse.
In chapter 14 of her book The Child Survivor, she describes the severe symptoms the children suffered due to physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse.
Mike