A Rabbi Baruch Lanner Sukkot

A friend writes:

Guess who showed his face in Boca Raton on Sukot.
It was "Rabbi" Baruch Lanner - convicted sex offender.

He was greeted by some people as royalty. Others
kept their distance.

He wandered around the synagogue and I felt like
warning people to watch over their children.

Lanner was in town to visit his son and family.

Boca Raton is the home of Rabbi Perry Tirschwell
who was formerly Lanner's chief disciple and testified
on his behalf at the trial.

The other person testifying for Lanner was Rabbi Matt Tropp.

Lanner looks like a tired broken old man.

He shouldn't be allowed to enter synagogues without
a full time escort.

After all, doesn't he still deny his guilt.

The Case Of Rabbi Baruch Lanner.

Comments

[alternative childcare]

Perhaps Lanner might be inspired by the example of his disciple Gafni who not only denies and attacks the many women who have come forward against him, but still gets set up (by women!) with further opportunities to prey upon the kind of spiritual seekers he finds most easy to seduce:
http://www.lotuslounge.us/Lotus_Lounge/Events/Entries/2008/10/8_Integral_Journey_of_Love.html

They should all go on the road together, Gafni, Winkler, Lanner, think of all the damage they could leave scattered across America, like a punk rock tour.

[jewishwhistleblower]

Keep these monsters away from our vulnerable and out of our shuls.

Man raped girl in shul on Yom Kippur
Oct 16, 2008
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1222017551235
...
The girl's father reported the incident to police after Yom Kippur and the suspect was caught in Jerusalem's town center on Wednesday. The suspect, who has a record of previous sexual offenses, was remanded in custody until Sunday.
...
Also Thursday, another Jerusalem resident was arrested on suspicion of raping, sodomizing and indecently assaulting his young daughter.
...
After the arrest, three of the man's daughters from a previous marriage filed complaints to police, saying he had raped them when they were young girls.
...

[ohel former employee]

Lanner isn't hiding in Fairlawn? Perry & Matt,I'm certain,publicly warned parents early in the davening. These are the rabbis who lead us;how inspiring to have Tropp & Tirschwell giving cover to Lanner.

[Un-Orthodox and Unimpressed]

What do you have against Lanner? He isn't Chabad and isn't Haraidi.

[steve]

L.A. rabbis start their own FREE version of Hechsher Tzedek:

http://tinyurl.com/4m3sbh

[critical_minyan]

Although Baruch Lanner is guilty, the fault for his crimes lies not only with him but with Yerachmiel Begun and Miami Boys Choir.
If Kol Ishah, a woman's singing voice, can entice a man and lead him to sin, what must a whole choir of young pre-pubescent soprano boys due to Orthodox Jews who take the strictures of Halacha seriously and already have predilections toward that temptation.
Miami Boys Choir is performing over chol hamoed. I think a protest is in order.

[Archie Bunker]

Lanner currently resides in Elizabeth - not Fair Lawn.

[critical_minyan]

Miami Boys choir is performing tonight in Lodi, NJ, only a short distance from Elizabeth. The police should do a sweep and get all the Haredi pedophiles at once. Any man above the age of 22 attendng by himself, should be suspect.

[Un-Orthodox and Unimpressed]

You seem to hav e a thing for the miami boy choir. Is there something you are trying to tell us?

[rabbidw]

I don't know where to put this and this seems as good a spot as any. I noticed that our old friend LIPA appeared today in Newark with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Some questions.
1) What happened to the ban?
2) How could anyone hire him knowing there might be a ban?
3) How come the circus itself isn't banned at the very least brcause it is Minhag Goyim?

[meyer]

1) What happened to the ban?

(Supposedly), he didn't sing. He was hired to act, not sing.

2) How could anyone hire him knowing there might be a ban?

See above.

3) How come the circus itself isn't banned at the very least brcause it is Minhag Goyim?

It certainly isn't "recommended". At least not among the frummer Chassidim and litvisher.

[ohel former employee]

Harry Maryles is a coward who won't post names of sexual predators and their enabling rabbis.

http://haemtza.blogspot.com/

[Yochanan Lavie]

Perry Tirschwell is a serious mental case. He davens like he is gulping air, or like a shark tearing chunks of flesh (exaggerated mouth movements). Refuah shelaimah to him and all Lannerians, except for Lanner himself, who got off too easily.

[jewishwhistleblower]

It should not take this long. This predator could have been stopped earlier.

see: http://theawarenesscenter.org/Kramer_David.html
http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=6432

"According to various sources, allegations of child molestation were first made back in the early 1990s at the Yeshivah Beth Rivkah Colleges (Melbourne, Australia). It is believed that there were over 30 children who were sexually victimized. At first the school did nothing after being warned by a psychiatrist that David Kramer would harm himself. After a few days the parents warned the school that they would go to the police. It was at that point that the school allegedly shipped him off to Emanuel, Israel. It is believed that David Kramer has left a string of victims in New York, Australia, Israel and any where else that he might have traveled."
...
As a reaction to the case of David Kramer, Rabbi Ze'ev Smason was involved in the creation o of 'Our Precious Children' -- a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Jewish survivors of child sexual abuse in the St. Louis area.

Rabbi Smason shared:
"I was stunned both by the community resources and money that were gathered and collected for David Kramer and his defense fund AND the deafening silence when it came to verbal and monetary support for the child survivor, his family, and Our Precious Children. The family told me that every morsel of support that they did receive, though, was greatly appreciated. Now that the sentence has been handed down, we're all hopeful that there's a degree of closure and the child survivor and family can move on. There are other cases of sexual abuse and sex offenders here in our community. The obstinance of parents and clergy is stunning. For example, I warned one family who often hosts a certain "alleged" sex offender who was kicked out of his home by his wife. The husband of this host family said, 'we'll continue to keep having him over as a guest. I watch him carefully, and he doesn't show any interest in my children.' In another case, a family I know whose daughter was molested didn't report the abuse because ''our rabbi told us not to report it." The needs of the survivor and family require support both for rape crisis counseling, as well as encouragement from the community to let the survivors know that they are not alone."
...
A FORMER Yeshivah College teacher pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation and was sentenced to a seven-year prison term in the United States, The AJN learnt this week. David Kramer was jailed in St Louis, Missouri, in July, after a local psychologist and the community's rabbi raised concerns about his conduct.
Former Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Avrohom Glick confirmed this week, that for a short time in the early 1990s, Kramer had taught Jewish studies to boys in years 5 to 8. It is understood Kramer was asked to leave the school, and the country, immediately following an alleged incident, which was not formally investigated.
...

[jewishwhistleblower]

http://www.theage.com.au/national/sex-and-the-synagogue-20081001-4s4z.html?page=-1

Sex and the synagogue
Liz Porter
September 21, 2008
He seduced vulnerable women who came to him for spiritual enlightenment. Now Rabbi Hershy Worch is the one being exposed and shamed.
...
It is a poorly kept secret in the Jewish community that Lanner came to Melbourne in 1990 to be interviewed for a position as headmaster of a Jewish school. The interview was quietly cancelled after some calls to New York.
...
She points to the secrecy surrounding sexual abuse claims against the principal of the Adass Israel Girls School in Elsternwick. The school board paid for the principal, Malka Leifer, to return to Israel, sacking her after investigating alleged sexual offences.

But Rabbi Meir Kluwgant, president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, says that his organisation is now facing up to the issue and has arranged for a small group of professional legal and psychological advisers to offer confidential advice and support to abuse victims.

In the past few months, the council has been investigating - or attempting to investigate - claims of "inappropriate physical contact" as well as "improper financial transactions" by a "trusted" religious official in the Jewish community.

In a front-page article in the Australian Jewish News in late March, Kluwgant provided a special phone number and urged the man's victims to come forward. Twenty people came forward with information, he says, but nobody was prepared to sign a statement.

Kluwgant says confidential advice and assistance will also be offered to any former congregants of Worch who want to come forward.

"There has been a shift in the rabbinate towards addressing the issue (of clerical abuse) openly and frankly and publicly," he says.
...

[ohel former employee]

Tirscswell & Tropp are pathetic characters for defending &/or giving cover to Lanner & are behaving no differently than Rabbi Yudin of Fairlawn who hid Lanner in his basement.

These rabbis are no different than Shafran,Ohel,Torah Temimmah,the Orthodox Unioin ,the RCA.All do nothing or actively support this type of an excuse for a human being. Persons like Gafni,Matis Weinberg,Mondrowitz,Adam Melzer & his sex picture group,Tendler brothers--plenty of us know you are out there & many know what these beasts have done.

AND,HARRY MARYLES is a blogger & a coward who is using this petition to divert attention from those he worships...not God,btw,but people--rabbis who give cover to predators.Encourage MARYLES to show guts,print names & quit hiding behind his flawed & too often,mentally disturbed rabbis he follows.

And,Rabbi Saul Berman,after supporting Gafni,when are YOU Mr. big shot rabbi going to speak publicly of your misguided ego based judgement and when will you do teshuvah to begin aiding in the battle to stop these predators?

When is David Mandel going to open his files for the authorities to determine if Ohel is giving cover to Mondrowitz & his type?

[critical_minyan]

I blame the ban on Kol Ishah for these scores of sexual predators in the frum community.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Critical: it's not kol ishah alone, IMO. The extreme seperation of the sexes has fostered a homoerotic culture, that is homophobic at the same time. Men bathing together (mikveh), dancing together, not talking to girls, same-sex education including boarding schools, newspapers that don't portray women.

This is not unique to frumkeit. Homosexuality in English "public schools" is so legendary that it is proverbial and appears in literature, etc. ["public schools" in the UK are actually upper-crust same-sex boarding schools].

The non-Orthodox movements have the opposide problem. Men are leaving synagogues in droves. In the Reform seminaries, most of the rabbinical and cantorial candidates are women. Even the leadership of those movements are discussing the "feminization" of religion. It's not that they don't want equality. They just don't want to loose their men. (Also, unfortunately, society values things that men value).

What is the solution? I am not a prophet, but here's what I think:
No more extreme segregation.
No more kol ishah. It's not in the torah, and the (Orthodox) Yemenite tradition fully sanctions the diwan (religious songs sung by women, in mixed company).
Leadership roles for women. If you don't want to call them rabbis, call them poseketot (decisors) or menehelot ruachaniot (spiritual directors).
However- here I'm not PC: men lead the service exclusively, and be counted in minyanim exclusively, so they consider it their macho duty to participate.

Camille Paglia, a literary and social critic, stated in "Sexual Personae" that men are disproportionately artists and leaders because of their desire impress potential mates (often subconscious). She was excoriated, despite the fact that she personally is lesbian and a feminist. She was just telling it like it is, in her opinion. Other thinkers believe the male drive is due to the fact that they are subconsciosly jealous of women because men can't have children. Men need to develop a purpose in life; women inherently have one (even if they cannot or will not exercise it, as individuals). As a male, I think there is a lot of truth to those pov's.

Religion can civilize men, and help channel their impulses positively. This is what Freud called "sublimation." Too much testosterone can create a homoerotic environment. Coupled with homophobia, men can act out by "feminizing" men weaker than them, as in prison. Hence, rabbonim and teachers victimizing boys. Too much estrogen, and men feel uncomfortable, and leave. There has to be a balance.

[ohel former employee]

Most of these predators are NOT homosexual.They are simply interested in dominating & controlling the victim,verbally or physically. What they do is assault at the least or rape.They are sexual predators:men,women--who care's so long as Gafni types & matis who as people love CONTROL & DOMINATION can get off on that violent act--not really a sexual act,but a violent attack.

Well,Matis,Melzer & buddies,Mondrowitz,Gafni,etc.--we know exactly what you sickos are up to up to the very minute.

[Yochanan Lavie]

The Baruch Lanner song: 50 Ways to leave your bochur (with apologies to Paul Simon):

The problem is all inside your keppie, he said to me
The answer is easy if you take it halachicly
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be frei
There must be fifty ways to leave your bochur

He said it's really not my habit to be a moser
Furthermore I hope my meaning won't be lost or be unkosher
So I repeat myself, at the risk of not being yosher
There must be fifty ways to leave your bochur, fifty ways to leave your bochur
Chorus:
Just slip out the back, Yaakov, make a new bracha, Yehuda
Don't need to be a Goy, boychick, just listen to me
Hop on the subway, Shlomo, don't need to be labeled a "homo"
Just drop off the key, Avi, and get yourself frei
(repeats 2x)

He said it grieves me so to see you in the jail
I wish there was something I could do to make you get some bail
I said, I appreciate that, then would you please explain about the fifty ways

He said, "why don't we both just sleep on it," in Yiddish
And I believe, before Schacharis you'll begin to see the chiddush
And then he kissed me and I realized he was very late for kiddush
There must be fifty ways to leave your bochur, fifty ways to leave your bochur

chorus

[critical_minyan]

kol ishah is a symptom. the real problem is the constant imposition of new chumrahs compounded with the timidity of the orthodox rabbinate to speak up in favor of normalcy in sexual relations in the public sphere.
Rabbis are scared to give Kulahs, so the most radical of the sexual exclusivists are steering the ship.

[Rachel Batya]

YL: I don't think the sexual abuse going on in the Orthodox world has much to do with segregating men and creating a homoerotic culture. To say so misses the point that men abusing boys is not about homosexuality any more than men abusing girls is about heterosexuality. It's simply the use of sex for power, control, violence, and degradation. It's in a category in itself.

To me, the biggest problem here is the authoritarian nature of many communities, frum and otherwise, in which men have a great deal of power, from the sages of old to the rebbes of today. When you have a hierarchical social and/or theological structure, an insular community that is terrified of the outside world and terrified of the truth of its own "inside" world, you've got a big setup for abuse by men, who are the majority of the people who molest children. This is what happened in the Catholic church: the priests were the authorities who were G-d's messengers and there was no room for argument or discussion with them.

On another "note": Great new song!

Yochanan, if you wouldn't mind, please email me at rachelbatya.batrivka@gmail.com.

[Yochanan Lavie]

CFE & Rachel: Perhaps you're right. I have heard that rape is a crime of dominance/violence, not sexual gratification. I am just thinking out loud.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that cultures that are homophobic are also homoerotic. What's the difference between a biker and a macho leather Gay? The cologne. (See also Islamic fundamentalism). I am not sure what conclusion to draw from that.

[maven]

As a health professional and someone who was around alot of these cases as result of my yeshiva life, I dont think it is correct to group all these abuse cases into one category. I'll offer two:

There are the more common types of seducers, these are found among the spiritual leaders of all religions, who get off on the seduction of seekers and students, much like Gafni, Lanner, Tendler, and many other lesser well known perps with only one or two congregational affairs :). These need to be removed from positions of power and teaching and then can be rehabilitated.

The pedophile rapists such as Kolko, Mondrowitz, Ben Zion Sobol, the woman from Australia, etc, this is a class of pathological criminals who need to be incarcerated and medicated, and are at very high risk of relapse.

In these latter cases the "religious" issue is why the community protected them for so long, and that's what so many of us are angry about.

As an aside, I agree with the writers who detected the strain of homoeroticism in the fascination with "pirchei" and "boy's choir" concerts (did you ever see how they dress them in these matching little sailor suits, etc?), there's a strong element of misogyny in this as well. I've commented on this before, there is a recurring situation that in the ultrafrum world, consorting with women leads to removal from the community, whereas homoerotic behavior is "understood" as a "tayvah" particularly in yeshivish environments. So there, if you are a 40 year old bochur and don't talk to girls, you are not viewed as having some kind of issue, but actually are viewed as a "good guy" and a "tzaddik" because "you don't talk to girls". I've dealt with several cases where those types of "bochurs" are forced to marry (usually to baalei teshuva, or gerim, of course) with disastrous outcome.

[Anonymous]

What a crappy song.

Lanner wasn't involved with guys.

What's with leaving your bochur?

Sometimes, your songs just suck.

[Shmarya]

Lanner wasn't involved with guys.

Yes he was.

[Rachel Batya]

Yochanan, pay no attention to the critic behind the pseudonym. The song rocks.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I saw him molest a (male) friend of mine. Kneeing a kid in the balls is sexual harassment.

[Anonymous]

Baruch Lanner was back in the Boca Raton Synagogue today.

He was given an aliyah.

A few people walked out in protest.

One rabbi loudly protested saying - "You don't give aliyahs to convicted sexual predators."

He was immediately attacked by two Lanner defenders.

One said that Lanner was an amazing talmid chacham (who incidentally led a class at the Boca Raton Synagogue) and had done teshuva.

When informed Lanner was in denial over what he did, the person backed down.

The other person said "What he did was no big deal. It's no worse than someone not talking nicely to his wife."

Most people when informed of Lanner's past were disturbed he was staying in Boca Raton without people being informed a convicted sexual molestor was in the area.

[Anonymous]

http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/flyer.do?personId=39003

[Rachel Batya]

--One said that Lanner was an amazing talmid chacham (who incidentally led a class at the Boca Raton Synagogue) and had done teshuva.--

It's simply incredible how much the term teshuva is thrown around when speaking about sexual predators with brilliant minds and charismatic teaching styles. It's as though the term means "He's really sorry--that he got caught."

Now that I've been properly educated by these paragons of Jewish moral authority, I will simply dispense with teshuva during the yamin nora'im next year. Instead of mending fences, I will simply keep asserting that the fences have already been mended and that, by the way, they never needed mending in the first place.

[Un-Orthodox and Unimpressed]

Who was it that said that the smallest pebble, held close enough to the eye, will block out the whole world?

IMHO, it would be a waste, if our rush to vilify (correctly so) the idiots who toss around the term 'teshuva' without regard to the volumes written on the subject by by giants of Jewish theology, we were to ignore the hundreds of thousands of Jews who really do work on teshuva and self-improvment and take it all very seriously. My hat is off to them.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I believe in the power of teshuvah. But molestation has an almost perfect recidivism rate. Yes, we should not villify those who sincerly repent. But Lanner has never even admitted his culpability, let alone repented.

[Rachel Batya]

It's ironic that when apologists throw around the word "teshuva" so carelessly as to empty it of meaning, they do so with reference to a crime for which one cannot do teshuva at all. Not only is the recidivism rate high, making repetition of the behavior almost a given, but there is also no way to restore to the injured party what was lost.

[Laurie]

I am the mother of one of Lanner's victims. Anyone who suggests that there should be rachmones on the adult perpetrator of a crime against a child and even has the slightest suggestion that whatever circumstance or behaviors in the frum world can/should explain such abominable behavior - should come explain their reasoning to my son and share with him how their rational makes sense. Please, you do it - I can't.

When did we decide as a frum society that we - adults - are not responsible for the choices we make? "Reasons" and "rationales" and explanations" and "possibiliteis" are all mere excuses. Either this is a crime or it is not. Either it is acceptable. Or it is not. Either we tolerate it ...or we don't. When did crossing a line become ok to the point that OTHER adults can look away and not take responsiblilty - not protect a child? When did Jewish life become so perverse that many ravs can know ...and none speak up? None of those in the know willing to put the welfare of a child ahead of hurting the reputation or parnasa of a fellow rav? The old boys club to be protected? How does their conscience allow them to look fellow Jews - anyone - in the eye and allow others to maintain respect for them - knowing what they know? What does it say about them? And what about those rabbis who stand behind them, protect them, defend them, excuse them, and sheild them? Those who deflect the complaints of the chidlren? These men who will protect a pervert but not protect the welfare and innocence of children? When did davening and shuckeling become more important than the welfare of our children? Pikuach nefesh...save a jewish soul??? So how do we as a Jewish community actually define "frum" or observant" or Orthodox? Is it only in Keeping Shabbat? Adhering to kol isha stringently? Does it include hurting our children??? Can these different elements possibly be combined? Please, someone explain to me...when does one no longer qualify to be considered observant - and therefore not be acceped in the community? Lanner and his ilk are lepers of a sort...they willingly and voluntarily pass their disease onto vulnerable "others" - defenseless children. And we should treat him as the leper that they ares and isolate them...not harbor them. I am eager to hear a rational for this behavior from those who believe there is one - then tell it to my son.

While these sick people...should they go to jail, can get counseling at the expense of the citizens...(and when the get out - go on with their lives) who covers the expense of the counselling for the victims??? How do you give back innocence? Who helps a child cope with his new rav...the one who may look like, resemble, talk like the perp and brings back a flood of memeories making concentration impossible? Grades go down. Whose responsible? Who reimburses the parents for time lost from work, for heartaches, for new family dynamics with a child who now acts out??? Who, out here, who feels any rachmones on the perpetrator has the same or MORE rachmones for a kid who now no longer trusts adults? Hates rabbis? And no longer wants to be Jewish. Families can be totally distrupted. Please...those out there who have suggested there are explanations and reasons...come talk to my son.
This should prove to be an interesting conversation!!!!!!!!!

[Quico]

Dear Laurie, thank you for your comments. Remain a good loving mother and take good care of yourself. I am Native American and I am also a survivor. I will pray for your child and for your family daily.

Quico Antonio
Yaqui Nation

[SemeticPower613]

Lanner and all his pervert disciples will hang high in the center of Jerusalem one day for us all to see. Heres the catch, you all get to wack them to death with aluminum baseball bats!!! Sounds fun?

[Dovid Moishe ben Chiam Feivel Ha'Kohain]

@SemeticPower613

Anger is an emotion that should be avoided. Proof is that you speak such nonsense in a fit of rage of what this man has done. We are not a barbaric people who would do that to someone in a city such as holy as Jerusalem or anywhere in the world! He has done his time, and now forever he bares the mark of "Sex Offender." Hopefully still he has done teshuvah for his horrible crimes which have broken both our country's laws and the law's of Ha'shem almighty, and he will not be allowed around minors under the age of 18. If you read this a year later I hope you will give this some thought.