Mona's Testimony: Sexual Coercion Inside Bnei Baruch

Bnei Baruch Investigation · Entry point · Part 2 of 4

“They broke me until I began to believe their madness.”

Mona came to Bnei Baruch in search of safety. She spent sixteen years in the organization. When she left and spoke publicly, according to her testimony, the organization published her personal data and accused her of prostitution.

Sixteen Years

Mona describes a life of submission: unpaid work, constant loyalty checks, and a language in which personal doubt was declared a weakness of the ego. Every deprivation came with the same explanation: suffering was a sign of spiritual progress; refusal was a breach of the path to the Creator.

Years inside the group taught her to translate discomfort into a “necessary stage of growth.” Katya Sukhova describes dependency taking shape through the French group and unpaid work; Mona’s story is defined by duration: sixteen years inside the same environment.

The Trip to Israel

At one stage, Mona came to the organization’s Israeli center. There, the familiar terminology of “inner work” crossed into direct demands involving sex. In her public video testimony, she said she was required to have sexual relations with men from the inner circle, and that this demand was presented through their special spiritual status, as if submission to them confirmed her own spiritual path.

Inside the circle, refusal was treated as disobedience and contempt for the leader’s authority. When Mona described this period, she summed it up in one phrase: “They broke me until I began to believe their madness.” For her, the sentence describes years of adapting to a language in which violence could be renamed spiritual work.

After Leaving

When Mona left the organization and spoke publicly, according to her testimony, the group did not check her account. Her personal data were made public, accusations of prostitution appeared, and attempts were made to destroy her business.

In Mona’s description, the response targeted her reputation. After she left, her account raised a broader question: what happened to complaints and testimonies once they left the inner environment. The gap between a witness’s voice and external review is covered in a separate investigation.

Mona remains one of the few who did not back down. Her video testimony is publicly available. The organization did not respond to it on the merits.