Elad shares how he grew up a secular Jew with Israeli parents and went on a spiritual journey, seeking meaning and community. This led him to a Hasidic community where he found “beauty, truth and beautifully true people.” Over time, though, he realized that ongoing acceptance within this religious family required a “total sublimation of my selfhood.” He describes the painful journey into a spiritual home, through disillusionment and, finally, walking away from the beliefs, people and places that had been his home to return to his authentic self.

Find Elad on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/EladNehorai/ and

On Substack https://eladnehorai.substack.com/

Trigger Warning: Explicit mentions of sex and death threats. In addition, due to these episodes containing stories that involve cults and other types of coercive control that may be disturbing to some, listener discretion is advised.

You can find Living Cult Free on social media, especially on Instagram, at living_cult_free Our website is livingcultfree.com where the mission is to support the creative expression of survivor stories and empower advocacy through education.

At the website above, you can:

• Contact us to share your story
• Meet who runs and collaborates with Living Cult Free
• Make a donation to help further Living Cult Free’s mission

Thank you for your support!

©2024 Living Cult Free

Intro & outro by Jon Snow; Original Music by Esther Friedman

Editing and production by Vanessa Hennessey

Huge thanks to Living Cult Free’s intern, Nikki Kattamuri, and the Living Cult Free Board of Directors

Music and sound by:

Ashot Danielyan, Jerome Chauvel, Fae Spencer, UNIVERSFIELD, Sergei Chetvertnykh, Piano Amor, ArctSound, and Sergii Pavkin

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of Living Cult Free. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. Please keep in mind that each episode is recorded long before it is shared live and the views and perspective of the storyteller may have changed. The Living Cult Free name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.