Dear Friends We have taken the extreme step of banning one of our active participants in order to protect the vulnerable among us. This group was formed as place where the second generation of the COG/Family could be themselves, socializing in a safe environment under the expectation that all other group participants were from the same background. Sadly, this has not been the case. Because many of you have been online friends with Elisheva Offenbacher and a number of others have met her in real life, we are offering an explanation—and possibly a bit of a warning—to protect those who may be at risk. Elisheva has done a very good job of assimilating our culture and our speech and often speaks of our experiences as if they are hers, but facts bear out that she has not ever been a part of the Family. To some degree or other we all know someone who knows someone who knows someone within this tight-knit culture of ours. Our degrees of separation are very small. However, we have not been able to find anyone who knows Elisheva’s family or who can corroborate any of her (ever evolving) stories. The furthest back we have been able to place her is 2009, about a year or so after the “Not Without My Sister” book was published. The more contact she has had with our community, the more her “memories” grow and adapt based on the stories that she assimilates from us, but there are also huge holes in those same memories—things that any one of us would remember because they were integral to our culture. More or less, the experiences that she relays are those that she has been told, and if told of something that was never part of family culture, she will relay that as fact she experienced as well. Her earliest stories about cult life are that her parents joined in Seattle and that they left when she was four. Her stories now include having still been part of the cult until she was seven, and having traveled to India, South Africa and Ireland. However we have verified through public records that Elisheva was living in the United States for at least the period between 1979 - 1986. If there is anyone who is able to corroborate any of her story, then please, by all means step forward. At the least it would be possible to know that she was at one point—no matter how young—in some way a part of the cult. Over the past several years Elisheva has lived with a number of SGAs, staying with and being fed for free, often having had trips paid to these locations by SGAs as well, only to then move on and spread lies and rumors about those with whom she’d been staying while remaining very sweet to the faces of her previous hosts. Because we are such a close community, it was only a matter of time before people began to question inconsistencies, lies would be uncovered, notes exchanged, stories swapped and the truth came to light. The experiences shared among those with who have gotten to know Elisheva personally for extended periods are consistent one to the next. We are not the first tight-knit community that she has infiltrated and taken advantage of. She also did the same with the Jewish community who, like us, tend to be very welcoming to their own and take care of each other. She was eventually outed and shunned and found our community shortly thereafter, but does still use the Jewish community in other locations as a way to get money and free places to stay and or eat. In addition to many claims that she has made regarding education, prior work experience and so forth (all of which are demonstrably false) sickness has been a big part of her story. But, no proof exists to any of the claims she has made—in fact, daily inconsistencies point to quite the opposite. This in and of itself—particularly in light of the fact that she has used our community without ever likely having been a part of the family—is disconcerting, but becomes more so because it is the suspicion of a number of individuals who have had a chance to know her for lengthy periods that Elisheva is mentally unwell. The facts and experience brought to bear here are not said out of malice. It is the belief of those who know Elisheva that she has not done or said what she has out of calculating evil, but rather out of a desperate need to belong and be accepted, and that that this was possibly triggered by a traumatic experience in her youth. She can be a very sweet and loving individual who also has no qualms about using our community to get what she wants, who turns on those who no longer give her what she wants, and who repeatedly sees herself and portrays herself as a victim. She has also been very thorough in her outreach to individuals in our community, using the FB groups as a way to increase her expanding circle of influence while exaggerating the level of friendship she shares with others, giving the appearance of being better connected and closer friends than she is. It is likely that she is currently looking for her next “home,” and the next individual who will take her in under their wing. Given Elisheva’s history and the risk we believe she poses to the sga community we have decided to take the actions of banning Elisheva from all SGA online sites and informing you of this information. We would recommend those who may know her or have her as a FB friend to not have further contact with her, though this remains up to the individual. She has been known to get very hostile and verbally attack those who confront her, and will attempt to lie and discredit anyone who challenges her. If she does try and contact you, please ignore her and let us know immediately so we can document it in case we need to go to the authorities. Please let anyone else know who you think has contact with her and has not been informed. Peter Frouman Juliana Buhring Sarafina Martin Kylie Gillis Elisabeth Longman
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 12:20:43 +0000
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