In 1992, 13-year-old Shai Fhima was living with his Israeli mother, Hana, in Ramsey, N.J. Under pressure from more religious relatives, Hana, a Reform Jew, agreed to send her son to a Brooklyn yeshiva run by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, the leader of a Hasidic sect, to study for his bar mitzvah. Helbrans and his wife told Hana that her son had a special "light" and would become a zaddik,
an inspirational leader, and urged her to let them raise him. When she refused, Shai disappeared and Hana did not see him for two years. For several years in total, the boy was hidden away by the rabbi and his followers in Israel, France and the U.S. Denholtz, a journalist (Balancing Work and Love), competently details the labyrinthine, headline-making legal maneuvers that ensued. Hana and her Israeli ex-husband were supported by two attorneys who worked pro bono for four years, as kidnapping charges were brought against Rabbi Helbrans. According to the author, who clearly sympathizes with Hana, there is no doubt that Shai was brainwashed during his time with Helbrans. He gave hostile courtroom testimony in support of Helbrans that broke his mother's heart, and accused her of physical abuse. The case was complicated by the fact that the Brooklyn D.A. did not want to alienate Hasidic voters. Although Denholtz strives for clarity and bases her account on research and interviews with principals (though Helbrans refused to meet with her), the complexity of the story is sometimes overwhelming. Rabbi Helbrans was convicted of kidnapping and served time in jail. Shai eventually reconciled with his parents. (Sept.)
