About The 21 Wives of Goel Ratzon: True Crime Story
The 21 Wives of Goel Ratzon stands as one of the biggest cult stories in recent memory, yet remains largely unknown outside its origin country of Israel. This story unfolds the disturbing saga of Goel Ratzon, a 59-year-old from Tel Aviv whose arrest in 2010 revealed a secretive cult that included over 20 women and 50 children.
Born an illiterate Yemeni immigrant, Ratzon came under the scrutiny of Tel Aviv’s police force following an outcry from families who had tragically lost their teenage daughters to his cult. These girls, some as young as 16, abandoned their education and families, entranced by the teachings of Ratzon. Portraying himself as the Messiah and claiming to possess every masculine attribute a woman could desire, Ratzon’s enigmatic figure pledged women from all walks of life to erase their egos and join his polygamous family. Oftentimes, whole families were lured to become Ratzon’s wives, such as a mother and her three teen daughters. Ratzon had also infiltrated a wealthy suburban high school by posing as an energy healer and indoctrinated many of its students to join his cult, some ended up as his wives too.
The question that loomed after Ratzon’s conviction and 30-year prison sentence was: How did a working-class, uneducated man so profoundly enchant intelligent, beautiful women, compelling them to bear him up to 9 children each, and fund his opulent lifestyle?
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Author Bio:
Hadas grew up in a well-traveled family, owing to her mother's career as a diplomat. Her childhood took her across South Africa, Spain, Israel, Greece, and Turkey, immersing her in diverse cultures and histories.
In 2019, amidst the coronavirus lockdown, Hadas developed a keen interest in true crime and criminology, leading her to pursue a specialization in psychology with a focus on criminology. Her primary interest lies in the realm of cult psychology.
She is particularly fascinated by the intersection of faith and submission and has extensively studied many recent cult leaders whose victims predominantly belonged to the secular, self-reliant millennial generation.
This fascination led her to choose Goel Ratzon, a notorious yet globally obscure cult leader, as the subject of her first project. Hadas believes that many compelling true crime stories remain untold due to language barriers. She is dedicated to bringing these stories to a global audience, shedding light on these lesser-known narratives. Currently, Hadas resides in New England, US, with her family and two dogs.