6 victims who were held in the 'Beer Miriam Seminary' in Jerusalem under conditions of slavery are suing the state, claiming that it failed to act to prevent their harm - despite complaints and evidence submitted to the authorities • Instead of taking responsibility for a decade of neglect, the police and the Ministry of Education are spending tens of thousands on opinions that would refute their claims of disability based on mental distress
Six women who were held in the Be'er Miriam Seminary in Jerusalem, headed by Rabbi Aharon Ramati, under conditions of slavery, filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel claiming psychological damages following the affair known as the 'Ramati cult'.
According to a report by Dor Sommer On site ''The most hellish place'', This is evident from two documents on the website of the Accountant General of the Treasury, including communications between the Ministry of Education and the police with a diagnostic psychiatrist.
The women are claiming disability due to the injury and actual difficulty in functioning. According to the women, they continued to be harmed even though the police and the Ministry of Education already had evidence of what was happening at the seminar, but the bodies did not act quickly and in effect abandoned them for over a decade.
The lawsuit was filed in August and was heard in the Lod District Court. Five of the plaintiffs attached psychiatric opinions on their behalf, and therefore the state ordered five counter-opinions from psychiatrist Dr. Dafna Schlesinger Keshti.
The cost of the opinion is 45,000 NIS, which will be paid by the Israel Police and the Ministry of Education.
According to the Ministry of Education, the opinions include "examining the plaintiffs as necessary, assessing their psychiatric condition, examining the alleged causal connection, and assessing the requested degree of disability.".
The defense expert will conduct an examination of the victims with the aim of reducing the amounts of compensation they will receive.
The contract was signed for a period lasting until February 2032 - a prospect for a lengthy process.
The police document clarifies why the state is going to such lengths: According to police sources, the exposure of the Israel Police alone could reach "significant amounts of over 2.5 million shekels.".
What did the victims complain about?
The 'Ramati Cult' affair first came to light in 2013, when Yedioth Jerusalem published testimonies of neglect, deplorable living conditions, and religious extremism forced upon the students.
But the place was known even before: Rachel Lichtenstein, CEO of the Israeli Center for Victims of Cults, said that it was "known to the center since 2010" - since parents' testimonies began to arrive.
According to her, the place had distinct cult characteristics - a disconnection from family and society, and a perception that the truth was only found there. As early as 2011, Rabbis Har"sh Elyashiv and Har"a Yosef zt"l signed a letter calling for people to stay away from the place.
The involvement of the Ministry of Education as a defendant is not surprising: 'Beer Miriam Seminary' operated for years under the guise of an educational institution for women, and in a raid on the premises in 2015, its compliance with Ministry of Education standards was examined, among other things.
The feeling of helplessness in the face of the authorities recurs in the testimonies: A relative of two sisters who lived in the cult said that they contacted the police with evidence, but "it wasn't enough for them." According to her, one of the sisters was required to come and testify in person.
According to police suspicions, among the cult's victims were about ten children, most of them under the age of five, and some were allegedly held in isolation in a shelter. Children aged 5 to 11 were suspected of experiencing severe abuse. The original indictment also charged Ramati with assaulting a minor - a charge that was deleted in the plea agreement.
The picture of life at the seminary emerged from testimonies published over the years. According to the original indictment, Ramati instructed the women to avoid contact with their families and to cut off contact with any man except him, and in some cases even encouraged the issuance of restraining orders against the parents.
It was also alleged that he demanded permission from them to leave the building, disparaged conventional medicine, ordered women who suffered from ecstasy to pour boiling lead into water to ward off the "evil eye," and conveyed a message that it was permissible to physically punish children - including by putting a sahug in their mouths.
He pledged to compensate the women.
Ramati was convicted in 2024, in a plea bargain, of only one offense - keeping 11 women in slavery - and was sentenced to community service; the other counts in the original indictment were dropped.
As part of the settlement, he pledged to compensate the women with 110,000 shekels together.
Ramati has denied the allegations against him over the years, saying in the past that "no one believes it's true.".
Through his attorney, it was stated that he has no part in the currently operating seminary.
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