Richard (Rick,Ricky) Andron ~1980
This morning’s online Forward has more details about Richard (Ricky or Rick) Andron, an alleged molester named in the Yeshiva University (YU) sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit.
The latest Forward story raises facts which are familiar to those who read the comments in the Frum Follies article, “The Third Man- Richard Andron.” Andron was a regular at Baruch Lanner’s NCSY events and used that connection to molest other boys in their homes where he was given hospitality and in his apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where he invited boys to sleep over, plied them with porn, and then molested those he could.
The article also mentions that Andron taught martial arts classes to teens at the “Jewish Center.” This is the synagogue whose pulpit was once held by Rabbi Norman Lamm, President Emeritus of Yeshiva University. I have also received reports that Andron taught martial arts classes at the prestigious upper-east-side modern orthodox school, Ramaz. If so, Andron operated with impunity for years in four different key institutions of modern orthodoxy, Yeshiva University’s MTA high school, the Orthodox Union’s National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), the extremely prestigious upper west side synagogue, the Jewish Center, and the prestigious upper east side Ramaz school.
Andron’s career was enabled by two of MO’s most notorious molesters, Baruch Lanner and George Finkelstein. In fact, the scope of Andron’s activities makes the rest of them look like pikers.
I can see some MO defenders saying, “But they forced him out of those activities, into therapy, and into marriage and a move to Boca Raton in the mid-eighties.” My response is “maybe.” As I pointed out in, “An Open Note to Rabbi Kenneth Brander about Richard Andron,” Andron was allowed to work with youth in the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS) until he finally “resigned” and agreed to never attend their activities after the lawsuit naming him was filed. However, Rabbi Kenneth Brander knew of his history when he allowed him to do youth work at his synagogue. Brander is now a vice president at Yeshiva University.
The adverse publicity about the suit has finally affected YU. I am not talking about their conscience. I am talking about a punch to their financial gut. While they may beat the lawsuit, the adverse publicity is hurting their fundraising plans. This in turn led to a downgrade of their bond rating.
Andron opens another window of vulnerability for YU: federal criminal trials. The statute of limitations (SOL) for state-level criminal charges by child sex abuse (CSA) victims passed long ago. However, there is no SOL for these charges at the federal level. It is likely that Andron knowingly transported boys over state lines to his home for the purpose of sexually abusing them. He lived on Manhattan’s west side and regularly went to NCSY events in New Jersey. He regularly invited boys to his home. The drive between the location of most of Lanner’s events and the upper west side is a short one over the George Washington Bridge. Lanner’s Etz Chaim NCSY region also included parts of Pennsylvania (e.g., Scranton).
Any federal prosecution will further damage the reputation of key modern orthodox institutions. It will be a long-lasting PR nightmare stretching over years between the investigation and the trial unless Andron quickly pleads guilty. MO PR folk will try to spin Andron as a one-off who was stopped and forced into therapy. But, journalists, like the Forward’s Paul Berger, will draw attention to many other allegations and to those involved in protecting Andron over more than thirty years.
In my experience, indictments and trials always bring more victims out of the closet, even in cloistered Hasidic communities where the price of identifying yourself as a victim is much higher. Thus far we only know of about a half a dozen victims who have spoken to attorneys and reporters. I am guessing there are many more and we will be hearing more from them in the coming months, and perhaps, if there is a federal indictment, over the coming years.
ACTION NOTICE: If you are a victim/survivor of sex abuse by Richard Andron and crossed state lines in connection with this abuse, please consider contacting the FBI. You can find their local contact information in any directory. You may not be sure if your abuse qualifies for federal prosecution. Don’t try to figure it out on your own. They are the experts. Even if your case does not qualify for prosecution, and even if you are reluctant to testify, the information you share with them may help them build a case involving another victim.
FRUM FOLLIES by Yerachmiel Lopin 
I have backed off commenting for a bit but I want to fill in some info. Ricky was not close with Baruch Lanner. In NJ NCSY in those days, there were two groups, the Lanner group, and the Nate Segal group. Segal was Lanner’s assistant director. Ricky wasn’t particularly close to Nate either, but was friends with some of the “Nate” guys like Moishe Zucker and Jordan Most. Ricky also came from a long time wealthy family. I was friends with Ricky, but always turned down invites to his house. I first heard allegations about his behavior in the mid eighties but it was only one story, and the parents were on top of it. Maybe that was the final straw. NCSY stands for National Conference of Synagogue Youth, by the way. I don’t remember if Ricky had a car, but I know in those days kids would take busses into the city. The towns in PA in NJ NCSY were Reading, Wilkes Barre, and Allentown. Monsey, Washington Heights, Haverstraw, and Newburgh were the NY chapters that were part of NJ NCSY. I was from Monsey. I was involved in NJ NCSY from 1975 until 2001. The last ten years I attended only the Regional Shabbatonim and National Conention, for which I coordinated all the music, as well as gave sessions. I was a Chapter and Regional Board member, NCSY’er of the Year in 1980, a chapter advisor for three years, in oe of which my chapter was Chaper of the Year. I am a member of Ben Zakkai, the NCSY Honor Society. I say all this for two reasons. First, to establish my credibility. Anyone in NCSY in those years knew who I was. I had a lot of access because I did a lot of technical work, especially up to 1988. Second, because even though I came to grips a long time ago with Lanner’s crimes, and in the lead up to the Jewish Week and afterward tried to be of some help with reforming NCSY, these recent stories have left me with the feeling that for ten years at least, much of what I built my life on was basically a big fat lie. I recognize myself in the stories some have shared in the various comments here about people who “drank the Kool Aid,” or “Lannerians.” I hope that some of my contemporaries in NCSY who have not yet raised their voices will do so now. A lot of my time inNCSY was great, a lot of friendships from then I still have today, but looking back, I realize even then that as spellbinding as he could be, there were times when we on the “inside” were scared of Baruch all the time. He would insist on total loyalty, and would force us to all get our own phone lines in our houses when it was not common for families to have more then one line, he would call us late at night, he would have bizarre conversations, especially with the girls, insisting we profess our love for him. You were expected to stay up as late as necessary to finish Regional Board work, and if you didn’t would be subject to his explosive temper or corrosive sarcasm. I was a high school kid when he called me a “piker” because my parents didn’t want to rent a tuxedo for Regional banquet, and when he called me an asshole for some other infraction. I did love him, but he was scary. He used to hit me and others in Frisch and NCSY, often in the groin. He would throw erasers filled with chalk at the girls, aiming for their breasts and joking about it with the class, and once while learning the sugya of taaroves at a Shabbaton to help prepare some of his students at Frisch and Stern college (yes, they let him teach the Stern students. Epic fail) he threw a Sefer at one of the Stern students studying with us squarely in the breasts and really hurt her. He stopped hitting me one day when it occurred to me to hit him back. All with a big smile, as if we were all in on the same joke. I know this thread is about Ricky, but I did want to give some context.
Jordan, thank you for the information. It would be helpful if you could also submit this as a comment on the post, about Lanner’s manipulative tactics. I have updated post to correct NSCY.
The funny thing is cannot find any uses of the full name, National Conference of Synagogue Youth, on their website. When did they stop using their full name.
I have also noticed that the OU avoids using the full name, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. I suppose there is a logic. They long ago stopped feeling they were accountable to their constituent congregations.
NCSY is also so top-down that calling it a conference would be awkward.
The OU stopped using the full name in the last 5-10 yrs. I believe they changed it as part of rebranding their Teen Kiruv movement. NCSY & the OU first tried to come up with a new acronym for NCSY (I sat in quite a few meetings where replacements for “National Conference of Synagogue Youth” were thrown around). When it was realized that NCSY as a brand was universally recognized and totally changing the NCSY name was useless and renaming the teen kiruv program would hurt future funding & fundraising efforts the OU decided to leave it as NCSY with no meaning behind the letters.
Wow, this brings back memories. I personally was never a regional president or on regional board, but I sure do remember the long hours they put in and their separate phones lines (which I did not know were installed at Baruch’s behest. Ironically, having their own private phone lines and being so “busy” gave these kids a lot of status as “important” NCSYers, and I can’t say I was never, ever a little jealous). I also remember a local friend who later became regional president saying how Baruch insisted on being told he was loved, all the time. As I implied in an earlier thread, Baruch built up certain people to have a lot of social status that they may not have had otherwise. While a lot of these kids were smart, they were not the prettiest/handsomest or the coolest. [Obviously, I’m not referring to Jordan with that last sentence :)]
I realized a lot of this when the Jewish Week article came out. As I read name after name, all the names of his accusers were of popular or choshuv NCSYers. It’s obvious in retrospect that he didn’t pick on the popular kids as his abuse victims; rather, he took certain kids and made them popular and also made them his special victims. When the article came out I turned to my husband (who I met at t he first NCSY shabbaton I ever attended) and said “You weren’t anyone in NCSY if you weren’t abused by Baruch Lanner”. Today, it’s all clear.
I meant to say I was never a chapter president; I was certainly not a regional president. The chapter presidents also put in a tremendous amount of work and had a lot of status.
I just want to say I have a lot of admiration for the Lanner survivors. It takes real conviction not only to speak up about what you saw and knew, but also to retain a strong faith in Judaism despite the disillusionment of realizing the “big lie”.
Not all retained their faith in Judaism or remained Orthodoxly observant. That was clear from the original Jewish Week article.
Yes, I know, but many did and even went on to become rabbis and teachers. Regardless of anyone’s religious orientation, testifying in court and speaking to the media took guts.
Sorry, that’s me. My old screen name popped up.
Absolutely. A lot of those who became rabbis or went into chinuch were inspired by Baruch. It’s not too much of a stretch to say many hoped to make him proud.
Yerachmiel,
I am wondering if you are able to waive your single screen name rule for people who have valuable information to contribute to the blog and who have a very valid reason for not being able to use a single screen name.
You may not be aware that there are some molester advocates out there who follow blog comments and not only try to out the victim advocates writing the comments but also try to cause them harm offline. There are supporters of Bryks, Torah Temimah, and others who are behind this. They attack even if the molesters being blogged about are not the ones they are connected to. You would not believe what they have tried to do to people who they suspect of contributing to anti-molester blogs. Their actions are criminal.
Certainly. But here are the ground rules. 1. communicate your dual names to me in private (by one of the methods listed on the upper right of the screen). Do not say the same thing with both names, that is sockpuppeting. Try not to switch back and forth in the same exchange, though I realize it might happen for good reasons, especially where you already started with your real name in earlier posts and threads.
For more specific issues and questions, please contact me privately.
Unfortunately, it is more than just the ones you’ve noted. There is a was against anti-abuse advocates. For example, look at the few articles that support convicted Rabbi Weberman. They all are connected to families of those who support Rabbi Hershey Worch and their friends.
It may interest your readers that there is a case out of the UK involving allegations of incest and gang rape in the Orthodox community that some bloggers/advocates have chosen to ignore to date. See for example: http://www.daattorah.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-guidelines-for-reporting-abuse-cases.html
It was revealed in court recently that “the Orthodox Jewish man accused of leading the gang rape of his teenage daughter is a convicted paedophile, who was found guilty in April of sexual offences against his two young stepdaughters.”
See: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/109428/defendant-rape-trial-a-child-abuser
If their actions are criminal, then YOU need to expose THEM.
They stopped using the full mames for the same reason we watch SNL and eat (or not) at KFC. Some pr firm said to simplify the name.
I can try to cross post, but not until later. Tesyaa I don’t know who you are, but you seem to know me. Feel free to contact me if you wish, I am easy to find on Facebook. There were certain popular kids Baruch would cultivate if he felt that their family had money, or if he wanted their popularity would rub off on him. After the Jim Jones tragedy, he tried to limit some of the more cult like aspects of NCSY, and brought patents into the process more.
Hi Jordan – as you pointed out, everyone knew you 🙂 I’m not on FB and you might not remember me, but my husband grew up around the corner from you and you’d probably remember him. I don’t think I have much to add to the discussion other than my memories of NCSY and Baruch’s public role, along with my assessent of the culture from a vantage point of 30 additional years of maturity and experience.
I remember you doing the music, audio. I am from NJ, did not go to NCSY for very long, only around 1978-9. BL put his arm around me during one of his Havdalah seances. I can’t remember where the Shabbaton was. I remember that there were girls I knew from Cherry Hill/Philadelphia there.
I knew better that “rabbis don’t do that”. I freaked out and he called me a cry baby and told me to go call my father to come and pick me up. While I called, he was outside watching me, talking to another “leader”, ridiculing me loudly so that I could hear.
I had to call collect which was a big deal because my parents did not have money so I was upset about that also. I remember dialing and shaking like it was yesterday (but I can’t remember where the Shabbaton was or whether it was 1978 or 79,or even what season it was. I definitely blocked it out). My father did come to pick me up after what seemed like forever. I waited outside while everyone else was inside having fun. I felt terrible and stupid.
In 2000, when the whole Lanner story was in the news, I told this to a woman who was one of the chaperons in NJ back in the 70s and she remembered the incident but also could not remember exactly when or where it had happened.
After this happened, my father made calls to people he knew to find out what was going on and would not let me go to NCSY again.The reason my father told me was because NCSY proselytizes kids with Jewish fathers and non Jewish mothers.
Hm. LSS was involved in Or Chadash region of NCSY for a year or two when I was in 11th-12th grade, but I don’t recall running into either Ricky or Lanner at their events. I did meet Chaim Sober at one of their “Spring Regional” weekends. I also met the guy who, 7-8 years later, introduced me to my wife.
Ricky I would see at Ramaz on Monday nights. I was hanging around waiting for the Scout meeting to start (Troop 613 Manhattan, mostly drawing from Ramaz and MDS) at 7, he would be getting out of teaching karate around 6 or 6:30. He would sometimes strike up a conversation, and asked a few times if I’d like to come over, with a bunch of other guys, and spend the night. I wasn’t sure, and my parents were a bit leery of an older single guy inviting HS boys to stay overnight. I asked a classmate who was part of Ricky’s circle about it, and he said that if I was at all uncomfortable, I shouldn’t go. I’ve been trying to remember, and I think this would have been 10th grade, 1980-81. I recognize some of the names Jordan mentions; they were YU student advisors at the old Sophomore and Junior-Senior Seminars.
Another glancing blow with history, like the time I was in the jury pool for El Sayyid Nosair, got called up for voir dire, but they got a continuance and we were sent back to the main jury room. And similarly, one I thank God I avoided.
I wonder if Ramaz rabbi Haskell Lookstein knew about Andron. This past week when reached by reporters for comment he lavished every praise on YU and insisted they be immune to criticism..
I know that RJJ (Rabbi Jacob Joseph yeshiva) on the lower east side (and now in Staten Island) was founded with Andron money early in the 20th century. Andron himself graduated from RJJ in the early 60s. Going into the 80s his family was regularly honored at their dinners. I wonder if any of the readers of this blog know whether Richard (Ricky) Andron was honored at any point in the 80s or later. If any of you collect those sorts of dinner programs, etc it would be great if you could share the information so there can be documentation.
I am interested in this as part of a larger question. What role did/does Andron money play in his being treated with kid gloves until just a few weeks ago.
There has never been any such thing as “Andron Money”. This is not a wealthy family.
http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/magazine/glimpses-ajh/the-founding-of-the-rabbi-jacob-joseph-school/2008/09/03/
Maybe not Andron money, but certainly Andron family leadership.
As I have learned more about the Boca Raton Synagogue community, I see factors besides money in determining influence. The early families who built the community starting in the late eighties have a lot of influence. The very wealthy, early or late comers all have too much influence compared to the ordinary members of the community.
I’m a member living in this community for many years with my family. Here’s what I have to say:
Rabbi Goldberg and Rabbi Brander are politicians, nothing more. They receive enormous salaries and benefit packages at the expense of families scraping by that give out of the goodness of their hearts. Then when they donate some charity to a needy family, everyone talks about what tzadiks they are. Yeah, right.
They are nothing more than ‘rock star rabbis’. They are laughable, but bring home the big bucks. Gone are the days of respectable rabbis like our parents and grandparents knew (or were). Today, it’s all about MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. They should hide their heads in shame for who they are and what they know, the criminal behavior they condone.
BRS and the shtetl it sits in is rampant with scandals. They’re just kept very, very quiet. Speaking about what goes on here is not lashon rah or chilul ha’Shem. Committing the crime in the first place, then covering up for it is the ultimate chilul ha’shem. Fraud is endemic to BRS. It’s everywhere. Most congregants don’t even try to hide it anymore. They speak about it like it’s ‘business as usual’. And guess what? Our illustrious rabbi(s) know about everything that goes on in their little shul. They pretend not to know about the teenage disease on Montoya Circle of drug and alcohol abuse, but they cannot hide their faces forever. Just like they knew about a pedophile loose in the community and chose to ignore WARNINGS, phone calls, pleading from members and begging parents.
Rabbi Goldberg needs to step down. So does Brander, even more so. They are birds of a feather. Rabbi Goldberg was brought in because he was easy for Rabbi Brander to manipulate. So the whole entire congregation loses out because BRS still belongs to Brander, no matter what anybody says. I’d like to see Rabbi Goldberg try to make a decision on something important without Rabbi Brander’s approval. Fat chance.
Someone wrote above about the YU culture of ‘helping the inner circle’. This is a bigger joke at BRS. If you’re not close to the inner circle at BRS, then you’re lost., avood, gone. BRS exists for the BENEFIT of the inner circle, the founding members, their families, and major donors buying political influence with Deutsch and Cantor.
It’s time to shed some light on illegal activities being perpetrated with the nod of approval from the shul, going all the way to the top. BRS is not a non-profit organization. It is a very profitable entity, but only for those closest to the tzalachat (plate). The least you can do as the rabbi and leader of this group of 600 families, is protect them from your friendly neighborhood pedophile. What does this rabbi say when paying congregants ask about a mentally ill sex offender in their community? The same thing all rock stars say: “NO COMMENT”!!!
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/180727/boca-raton-synagogue-demands-answers-on-accused-yu/#ixzz2Zepu0VhG
100% accurate in my opinion.
Rabbi Goldberg portrays himself as a “fighter” against molesters. He “gets involved” even in cases that are an hour away ie. in Miami. He calls the victims’ parents and promises to “help” by bringing the information to the police so that they do not have to subject their children to this.
I have experienced this first hand.
Reena, are you saying that he takes the info promising to inform the police, and then doesn’t follow through? That’s a very serious accusation, which should be brought out publicly. If you know that first hand, at he very least you need to inform child services at the very least.
I do not believe that any victim should rely upon a rabbi to inform the police. The victim and/or his/her parents should go to the police themselves.
I had an experience that I shared in detail with Yerachmiel Lopin a while back where I felt as though a whole group of rabbis, including Rabbi Goldberg were protecting an accused molester in Miami Beach.
I felt as they were taking the information, promising to inform the police and then using the information not to protect the victims, but rather to attack them.
I went to Yerachmiel Lopin with the details because I am mentally scarred and most likely overly paranoid as a result of the Orthodox community’s attack against my extended family that began the day after I went to the police to report what I had seen with Bendahan (I did ask Rav Sternbuch first, BTW).
Both Rabbis Brander and Goldberg have been protecting Andron all these years from what I am hearing.
Now Rabbi Mordechai Smolarcik aka “let’s make a deal Max” (who covered for Bendahan at Taub’s shul in Toronto and then came to Miami with him), is welcoming Andron.
“Jewsforjustice,”
Your diatribe against Rabbis Brander and Goldberg is pathetic. Since when is it a Jewish value for Rabbis to be poor?These Rabbis are Tzadikim who give of their time, energy and resources to deal with every problem the families in our holy community have to face. Thank god we have them. For the hours they put in, the problems they deal with and the community they build, they deserve every cent and more!
Your jealousy and pettiness comes through in your words. Just because you don’t earn as much as your Rabbi doesn’t mean he should earn less. What? Should the Rabbi’s salary be determined by the lowest salary in his community? Own up to your personal shortcomings and recognize your Rabbis’ success and value. Be proud we have such talent servicing our community.
You say these Rabbis aren’t Rabbis, but politicians. These Rabbis need to be politicians because people like you force them to be with your incessant whining. The proof they deserve their fair salaries is the fact they have to deal with and service people like you. They earn every cent. Our parents’ Rabbis were just as much a politician and the fact that you don’t realize this speaks to how naive you are.
Just because the Rabbi doesn’t publicize the various “scandals” in the community doesn’t mean he’s covering them up. He addresses them from the pulpit plenty.
Your bitterness over the “inner circle” doesn’t speak to a culture at BRS but to your feelings of an outsider and your insecurities. Maybe you feel left out because your cynical attitude precludes people from including you.
We all appreciate our Rabbis and all they do for us. If I had a vote, my first one would be to give them a raise for how well they’ve handled this situation.
My contact with a number of individuals in Boca Raton convinces me that Rabbis Brander and Goldberg definitely do not have din echad (one rule) for the wealthy and others. They are both rabbis who seem to have a double standard. The pulpit talks is all good and well. But Judaism is not a religion whose obligations can be met by talk alone. The ordinary folk felt Kenny Brander looked right past them, even when they tried to engage him. Brander definitley comes across as someone very ambitious whose gaze was always directed upward (and i don’t mean to heaven). I gather the pattern continues under Rabbi Goldberg who does have a different personality, but the basic pattern was set by Brander and he still has his hand in the community.
A ‘fighter’? Now that’s a joke. The only thing he fights for is his $300K/year pay/benefit package. Sorry, that might be a low number. At least be a ben-adam and fight to protect children at ANY cost, instead of ‘being like the goyim’, the Catholic priest sodomizers. By being silent, it’s what these rabbis have become.
@JewGirl. Thank you for your response. Two points- a) I am paid very well in the medical field, so I earn at or above said rabbis. There is no jealousy here, and we are hardly ‘outsiders’! b) My family or I have ever asked Rabbi Brander nor Rabbi Goldberg for any favors, not political, not for money, not for a challa on erev Shabbes. Nothing. If I have never whined to either rabbi, then why would you include me in your group of whiners? You wrote about the rabbi’s success? There was no success. It was a political appointment and you should own up to this fact. Rabbi Goldberg was not chosen because he was the best for the community. He was chosen because he was the best for Rabbi Brander.
Wondering if you have children, and if you do, and they were molested incessantly by Lanner or Andron, how you would feel about your elitist rabbis and their halachic cover up.
Good day.
An Open Note to Rabbi Kenneth Brander about Richard Andron
Posted on 07/15/2013 by Yerachmiel Lopin
Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Tonight, on the eve of the 9th of Av many people will be mixing the ashes of mourning for the destruction of the Temple with their searing memories of innocence allegedly lost to Richard (Rick or Ricky) Andron at YU, NCSY, and perhaps, even your own former venue, the Boca Raton Synagogue.
Rabbi Brander, how in G-d’s name, knowing his history as an abuser, could you give him access to youth by letting him regularly organize and work with children to lead the singing of Anim Zmiros and Havdalah? When individuals challenged you about this you would acknowledge his prior history but insist he was now cured. Did you also assign an alcoholic in remission to be the bartender at celebrations?
Rabbi Brander, you are now the Dean of Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future and YU’s Vice President for University and Community Life. We Jews have long memories. Why else would Jews be on the floor tonight mourning the destruction of the Temple over two thousand years ago? Do you envision a future for Judaism that ignores the recent catastrophic destruction of the innocence of thousands of children.
Rabbi Brander, I urge you to ignore the lawyers and answer to a higher authority. Please acknowledge your mistakes, give an honest accounting of what transpired, apologize for any needless hurt you caused to victims of Richard Andron, accept responsibility for repairing what you can, and promote a future of zero tolerance for abuse.
Please don’t wait until after the last moment when the exposes have piled up and the lawyers tell you an apology will help ease the financial burden of a settlement. Do these things now for the right reasons. Do it for an honest accounting of the Jewish past and for a genuine opening to a better future for our children. If none of these reasons appeal to you, do it to salvage your reputation. But do it.
UPDATE 7-18-13: The Forward reports that members of the Boca Raton Synagogue are asking for explanations for Andron’s role as a youth leader. The Forward also confirms what I wrote about Rabbi Brander knowing about Andron’s history.
This is rabbi that led BRS and picked his successor, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg. Two very wise men, covering up criminal pedophiles actions. Let us now see how the liability insurance kicks in when the lawsuits are filed against YU, BRS (possibly), and the rabbis personally.
In the future, please use a link instead of pasting a whole post into a comment field and briefly summarize it. I of course agree with most of what you pasted since I wrote it. But it disrupts the flow of the comments and makes it hard for readers to get to your main point, the only thing you wrote, which is the last paragraph. The way you posted it also confuses readers about what I wrote and what you wrote. Thanks.
No problem, : )
I am new at this and it’s the first time I’ve ever written to any Jewish publication, so I’m a little rusty.
@Yerachmiel: Bullseye on your comment about din echad. Those words do not exist in BRS.
@Reena. Your father was a very, very wise man. I would have done same.
Rick Andron has been welcomed into the Young Israel of Boca Raton by Rabbi Eliyahu Rabovsky.
Rabbi Rabovsky has stated the board of directors of the Young Israel of Boca Raton is not allowed to bar Rick Andron from the synagogue and threatened to expel any member who embarrasses Rick Andron. Rabbi Eliyahu Rabovsky states he considers Rick Andron a Baal Teshuva and fully supports him.
Rick Andron’s wife Sue runs a kosher catering hall which frequently has children’s party’s such as Bar Mitzvah’s. The local Rabbinate has not barred people from using the hall even though he will have access to children there.
The Boca Raton Synagogue has welcomed in Allan Danton a transvestite into shul. He is currently allowed to go to the synagogue and pray on the women’s. Members of the shul have not been warned about him. The Rabbi’s at this point refuse to expel him stating the gedolim state he should be allowed to wear a dress and participate as a woman.
Is this Dr. Alan Danton the same Dr. Allan Danton that was running a pill mill in Broward? If I am wrong, I stand corrected. The article below says, “….but on this day he was dressed as a woman.” This might be the same person.
Do you know what a pill mill is? Do you know what Oxycondone is? Do you know what pill mills do to people’s lives? Of course you don’t. It’s more important for Rabbis Rabovsky, Brander and Goldberg to be politically correct and allow criminals to sit next to us and our children than ban them for their criminal ways.
On Shabbat we read the Torah, and this Torah commands us to obey laws and act like b’nai adam, not animals. Why are Young Israel and BRS supporting pedophiles (against Torah), transvestites (against Torah), and a multitude of other horrendous, illegal behavior. Be careful, or these rabbis will wind up like the ones in Deal, NJ. Behind bars.
A Broward County pain clinic shut down because of neighborhood complaints has opened again in the same neighborhood, but now its future is in question after a raid by law enforcement. Investigative reporter Carmel Cafiero is on the case with this exclusive report.
WSVN — An alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies descended on a clinic that opened a few months ago in a corner of northwest Broward.
Our camera was rolling as boxes of records were seized patients questioned and some arrested by members of a task force made up of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Florida Highway Patrol – Florida Department of Law Enforcement and all led by the drug enforcement administration.
The name on the building is Dr. J.A. Danton. Originally the J stood for Jack but on this day he was dressed as a woman and according to state licensing records, he has changed the first name on his medical license to Jacalyn.
Carmel Cafiero: “Dr. Danton what do you have to say about what’s taking place here at your clinic today?”
Dr. Danton: “It’s a travesty.”
Carmel Cafiero: “In what sense? Aren’t you running a pain clinic?”
Dr. Danton: “No I’m not.”
Carmel Cafiero: You’re not? Why are all these people coming from other states then to get oxycodones from you?”
Dr. Danton: “You’ll have to talk to my lawyer.”
Dr. Danton looked very different the first time we saw him. It was last summer and he appeared to be examining a patient outside the clinic. At that time it was located in this small office building.
Rick Fiorello: “This is absolutely ridiculous. Right next door to a kids daycare here. Are you kidding me?
As 7 News first reported, residents and business owners were disturbed by the number of people VIP family health associates clinic brought into their once quiet neighborhood.
Darby Kinni: “We get a lot of people loitering, coming in and out all day long and standing in line and sitting on the steps and coming in from other states and it’s really strange.”
One afternoon, when BSO deputies started questioning customers, this woman had to be taken away on a stretcher. This man got arrested and this woman went after our camera.
Carmel Cafiero: “Don’t touch the camera lady.”
The clinic lost its lease and neighbors thought the drama would soon be over, but it moved into another building just down the street and it was business as usual until the raid.
And as neighbors came by time and again they thanked agents for taking action.
Jack Tokatlian: “I am so happy. I guess this is the end you know.”
Rick Fiorello: “This is great, I mean, I feel good about it. I just want my neighborhood back to the way it was. That’s all.”
And although Dr. Danton insists he’s not operating a pain clinic, this man who refused to give his name, he had come a long way to see him.
Carmel Cafiero: “Why would you come all the way from Ohio to go to a doctor here?
Ohio man: “Because I can’t get anything back home, but it don’t matter.”
Carmel Cafiero: “Well, when you say anything, you mean pills.”
Ohio man: “No I mean pain management.”
Here’s how Dr. Danton describes his practice.
Dr. Jack Danton: “There are no other doctors that have a program that I developed and these people are all coming so I can wean them off of drugs. They’re not coming to get drugs, they’re coming here so I can help wean them off drugs without withdrawal and that’s all I have to say.”
Carmel Cafiero: At this point, the clinic appears to be out of business although no charges have been filed against the owner or the doctor. Authorities refuse to discuss the raid except to say it is part – of an ongoing investigation.”
Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/features/articles/investigations/MI90559/#ixzz2Zj3A6utJ
Is it alright to sell drugs in a pill mill to non-Jews? Is that okay? Or do they have to be sold to our neighbors for it to be considered ‘wrong’? I’d like to know if this is the same Dr. Alan Danton, the one in the dress:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/actions/2011/fr0930_3.htm
If I’m wrong, please accept my apologies.
I am only interested in Dr. Jack Alan Danton/Dr. Jacalyn Ann Danton’s medical disciplinary history and associates in that regard. I only use this person’s earlier name as some of the disciplinary history is under the original name.
This doctor is 67 years old and has a troubling disciplinary history in Pennsylvania (including fraud charges) and now Florida. I have only done an initial search. News articles are readily available here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Dr.+Jack+Danton&hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF-8&tbm=nws&source=lnt&tbs=ar:1&sa=X&ei=44PsUYPfHsKK4wSkmoDACw&ved=0CBoQpwUoBQ
I have done research/a profile of another Orthodox doctor that was alleged to be running a “pill mill”.
See: http://jewishwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2005/07/part-of-rabbi-jeremy-hershy-worchyori.html
I would certainly be interested if the two doctors had crossed paths. The Ungar-Sargon family are supporters of Rabbi Hershy Worch and every article/editorial I’ve seen to date defending convicted child molester “Rabbi” Weberman is linked in some way to a member of the Ungar-Sargon family or a close associate..
So why does rabbi Goldberg allow this man/woman into the shul? What do you tell your little son or daughter about this aberration of nature? Is BRS a reform temple? Or is it an orthodox shul that stands by it’s morals and fights for what it believes in (and pretends to tell others what to believe in?). You can’t have it both ways.
Should be: Ungar-Sargon family or a close associate.
Philadelphia Daily News (PA) – August 19, 1997 – 13 LOCAL
FIVE YEARS FOR DOC IN SCAM
A local physician was sentenced yesterday to a 63-month prison term, without chance of parole, for involvement in a $5 million insurance swindle that fed off bogus accident claims. Dr. Jack A. Danton, 50, who had a medical office on Tyson Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia and another in Southampton, Bucks County, also was fined $375,000 by U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak. The five-year and three-month prison term was the minimum punishment required by Danton’s sentencing…
Philadelphia Inquirer – January 14, 1997 – R04 NEIGHBORS
EX-EMPLOYEE TESTIFIES AT TRIAL OF DOCTOR FOR INSURANCE FRAUD \ JACK DANTON OF HUNTINGDON VALLEY IS ACCUSED OF INFLATING THE CLAIMS OF PEOPLE INJURED IN ACCIDENTS.
“You admit to nothing. You say nothing. You don’t remember.” That was the advice Dr. Jack Danton gave to two of his secretaries in March 1992 after learning that a federal grand jury was investigating him for possible medical insurance fraud and might question them. “They have ways of trying to break down your resistance,” he warned the women. Danton’s words that early spring day did not fall on deaf ears. FBI agents were listening through a hidden microphone worn by…
Philadelphia Daily News (PA) – August 19, 1997 – 13 LOCAL
FIVE YEARS FOR DOC IN SCAM
A local physician was sentenced yesterday to a 63-month prison term, without chance of parole, for involvement in a $5 million insurance swindle that fed off bogus accident claims. Dr. Jack A. Danton, 50, who had a medical office on Tyson Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia and another in Southampton, Bucks County, also was fined $375,000 by U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak. The five-year and three-month prison term was the minimum punishment required by Danton’s sentencing…
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/actions/2011/fr0930_3.htm
…
Registrant Actions – 2011
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 190 (Friday, September 30, 2011)]
[Notices] [Pages 60900-60922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25231]
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Drug Enforcement Administration
[Docket No. 11-14]
Jack A. Danton, D.O.; Decision and Order
On June 17, 2011, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Gail A. Randall issued the attached recommended decision.\1\ Thereafter, the Government filed exceptions to the ALJ’s decision.
…
Sadly, none of this surprises me. Another doctor here has plead guilty in a pill-mill case, and is asked to lead the services in the Boca Raton Synagogue Shteibel minyan on a regular basis.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-09-24/news/fl-steven-pearlstein-plea-20120924_1_pain-pills-pearlstein-prescription-drugs
Click to access 12071113ESOs.pdf
The sanctions can be found here:
http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-steven-pearlstein-x6ylm/background-check#BackgroundBackgroundCheck_anchor
A friend of mine complained to the rabbi, but nothing was done. Leaders of the Shteibel minyan told my friend that he had done teshuva, so he was the most appropriate person to lead davening because he was a baal teshuva. (Maybe this was the same logic behind the way Andron was dealt with.) He is pending sentencing and continues to lead davening here.
Teshuva, aheen, aher! I am a great believer in teshuvah. I am sick of folks who claim it for every Tom, Dick and Harry, or Reuven, Shimon and Levy at the drop of a post conviction rehab drive.
Besides, apart from teshuvah, there is the question of a ball tefilah needing to be someone acceptable to the community.
I think you should be directing your last post at Rabbi Rabovsky. I would like to see Rabovsky’s congregants leave his shul en masse, with him as the lone member, since he is at-the-ready to accept all alleged molesters, transvestites, criminals of fraud. If you open your mouth to complain, you will be ex-communicated. Does YI national know about these actions?
There is a dispute about the halachic sex status of an individual who undergoes sex reassignment surgery. If I recall correctly, Rav Auerbach ruled that that sex for purposes of halachah can be based on the post-surgical physical attributes.
“ball tefilah” is that a Freudian slip?
Yerachmiel, as I sit in the main sanctuary and listen carefully to the beautiful, melodious chant of the parsha, deeply concentrating, trying to connect my soul with the millions that have listened to this parsha before me, I’m filled with awe at the logic and uniqueness of Judaism. Then I listen to the rabbi’s drashah and how we should follow Torah to make our lives better, our community stronger, closer. When I get to the part about a man not wearing woman’s clothing, it doesn’t say anything about sex reassignment surgery or cutting off one’s penis. The Men of the Great Assembly did not think far enough in the future to solve the problem of this sickness. So the little rabbi that doesn’t want to take a moral stand, must allow this person into the shul to disrupt the harmony of the others. Our children must be exposed to members that run ‘pill mills’, commit crimes because they have ‘done their teshuva’. I’m not buying it. My voice will become louder and others will join me.
I think you would be better off focusing on the issues of abuse and financial malfeasance in your community which result in danger/damage to innocents and not confusing it with other issues which you do not seem to appreciate, have any sensitivity for or understand the halachot. These are issues which do not pose any real danger to you or yours. Do you really believe these are new issues? There haven’t been for example Hermaphrodites for thousands of years?
JWB, my argument is not with you. I want to know if you would feel comfortable sending my 6 year old daughter into the bathroom alone with this person. Next, there is clear and immediate danger with this same person (I’ve asked in above posts whether or not it is) that was involved in pill-mills, medical fraud, etc. If this is the samer person, then he/she is a danger to our community for many other reasons, not just dressing like a woman and using the women’s bathroom while my daughter is inside.
1) Perhaps you should not be sending your 6 year old daughter into the washroom alone period.
2) There is no evidence or basis to attack someone as a potential pedophile when there is no such allegation.
3) Again, I’ve given you a specific example of a Hermaphrodite. Which washroom should that person use the on your son uses or the one your daughter uses?
4) I do not understand what danger a person who lives as a woman and dresses as same poses to your daughter. Rather than demonstrate your ignorance, I suggest you either learn the halacha and science or find someone to assist you that is capable of that.
5) I have no further interest in discussing this issue as there is no toeles as far as I can see and many of the facts are unclear inwhat really should be a private matter.
The first comments pertaining to this post, made it sound like the good Dr. Danton was a transvestite. Later comments evolved suggesting that he/she is a transexual. Now you are claiming hermaphrodite. Well does anyone know? The only one of the three conditions mandating surgery is transexual. Transvestites in the women’s bathroom is highly disturbing, for he has a penis, And finally, a hermaphrodite is born with two sets of organs, or at partially mixed, and is a sad condition in no way caused by the said owner. A hermaphrodite deserves compassion, only, The other two are mental aberrations.(desrving of compassion? efshar).
So we have three appellations on the comment board, Does anyone know the ems, has anyone checked it out in the ladie’s room?? Has he/she ever been seen using a urinal.
There are those who get pleasure wearing female clothing, but they undergo no operations and probably legally, they can change their names to whatever they want.
So what is the scoop here? Being a hermaphrodite is not a travesty. it is a genetic defect……so
There’s something I don’t understand. Maybe someone can explain. I hate sexual predators as much as the next guy. I think they do terrible things, I think they should be punished. However, I don’t understand why everyone is so angry when a shul opens its arms to try to to help every jew. If a shul did not accept people who’ve commited sins (ie. cheaters, liars, thieves, people with strange predelictions etc etc), there would be very few people in shul. They say that pedophiles rarely get rid of the urge. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t overcome the urge. Isn’t it true that hashem does not give someone a test that he can’t overcome? Does everyone here not believe in teshuvah? I might not want my son alone in a room with a history of molesting boys. But a shul is not exactly a place where people hang out alone. It is a pretty public place and davening is with at least a minyan of people.
One last time: To do t’shuva one must ask mechilla and have it granted. I know for a fact that this was never done. No stop with this T’suva stuff.
@goodone::: “isn’t it true that hashem does not give someone a test that he can’t overcome?”
Well, indeed that would be not only a good one but a great one, were it accurate, , but if that was really the case, the suicide rates would be significantly lower..
People don’t always take advantage of the available tools that would help them cope with situations that might God-forbid lead to suicide – therapy, medication, acceptance, walking away, etc. I’m not saying it’s universal, but it would have helped in some cases I’ve known.
A local news truck was camped out last night in front of BRS, per a friend of mine. Here’s what they have to say about this story. There’s more to come. If BRS rabbis do not come forth with what they know, this story is going to continue to get bigger, and national:
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_s_palm_beach_county/boca_raton/boca-raton-synagogue-alerts-congregation-about-alleged-sex-abuse-by-a-member
know for a fact? there is only one judge who knows this for a fact. And its not any one of us.
Andron is not the only BRS founder who is a pervert. Another founder Steve Marcus was murdered while searching for homosexual prostitutes
Marcus, former president and founder of the Boca Raton Synagogue, was stabbed to death Labor Day weekend and dumped in a warehouse district in Oakland Park. That week, police charged two male prostitutes who have criminal records and drug addictions with Marcus’ death, in what appeared to be a clear-cut car hijacking and murder
http://jewishwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2005/01/rabbi-marcmordechai-gafniwiniyarz.html
To this day the BRS websites brags about him and Andron being founders.
During the next few years, Shabbat services were held at the homes of Gary and Mindy Lieber, Rick and Sue Andron, Steve and Linda Marcus, Ella Samuels and Yaakov Kronfeld in order to encourage people to buy homes on montoya circle. Shabbos services were also held in the Verde Elementary School. Albert Nawy prepared the laining of the Torah almost every Shabbat. High Holiday services continued to be held at the Boca Teeca Club house and a model home in Montoya Estates. Holiday services and celebrations, such as Purim, were also celebrated together
http://www.brsonline.org/about/beliefs
See post of August 4, https://frumfollies.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/rabbi-brander-dont-talk-about-ethics-in-australia-address-abuse-in-america/. If you can, respond to the call to action.
Here’s a preview of what’s going to happen at future Brander and Goldberg speeches if they continue to hide facts about Andron and/or others: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4415133,00.html
We still have Andron being welcomed at the Young Israel by Rabbi Rabovsky and members being told to leave if they have a problem with a pedophile rapist in the shul.
Board members who are Rabbis in Torah Academy of Boca Raton and Yeshiva Toras Chaim/Toras Emes pretend they never heard of the problem. Indeed they still plan on bringing kids up from Yeshiva Toras Chaim/Toras Emes on shabbatons and not telling the parents that the shul has welcomed a pedophile into the shul. Parents have no right to protect their children in their Chofeitz Chaim world it seems
Are any of the following convicted offenders on the State registry members of shuls in Boca?
http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/offenderSearchNav.do
Benjamin Berges
Howard Farber
Moise Gadoury
Aaron Goldstein
Eugene Hartman
Glenn Hauser
Jeffrey Hausman
Bryan Heitman
Stuart Kahn
James Karwoski
Richard Parker
Sally Ponder
Matthew Roth
Robert Trefz
A complete whitewash: YU’s ‘Investigative Report’ – http://www.yuinvestigationreport.com/report.pdf
Can you guess what’s in the report? Ziltch. Nothing that hasn’t already been written on the pages of The Forward, Frum Follies or covered in other media.
Brander and Goldberg are furious at what’s being written on these blogs. Just a few short weeks ago, Efrem Goldberg made his weekly tour around BRS giving his Shabbos speech. He was furious about comments online!
What I’d really like to know, Efrem, is why you are so diligently pursuing bloggers and posters here, but did not pursue the allegations in BRS against Andron for all the years you’ve worked there, both as a cohort of Kenny and now the rabbi in charge? Where is your diligence against the molesters? Where is your diligence against swindlers in BRS? It’s time to pursue them with the same dogged vigor you have against your fellow landsmen for writing words of truth in the “BRS Pedophile Forums”.
Go back to basics and be a real rabbi for all of the Jewish community, not just the ones writing you the fat checks. If you were to wipe out all of the financial malfeasance at BRS, like an ethical rabbi would, then the community at large would be more giving in their support. As it stands, your closest, inner circle are doing you the greatest harm. As long as you reject transparency of the finances in BRS, nobody will take you serious. Pedophiles, molesters, and con men, do something about it already.
Well Rabbi Goldberg has just announced that Jeff Klein who was announced to head a committee investigating Rick Andron for molesting children has instead created a new civility policy that allows Rabbi Goldberg to expel anyone who criticizes Goldberg or the board for any reason as being uncivil. Keeping people quiet it appears is more important than preventing pedophilia.
Meanwhile Goldbergs Shabbat Breishit drasha consisted of him reluctantly admitting that sex change operations are unfortunately prohibited by Jewish law but that anyone who criticizes Yaakov Danton for having one is ignorant. Being repulsed by a man dressing as a women is disgusting in Goldberg’s eyes and every jew who complained to him should be ashamed of themselves.
Reluctantly he announced that Danton has voluntarily decided to only attend the Boca Raton Jewish Experience outreach program until he moves and starts attending another Orthodox shul where people don’t know he is a pervert. Only the Rabbi at that synagogue will be allowed to know about Danton. The members of that shul will be denied the right to decide if they wish their children exposed to a man in a dress.
A neighbor mentioned today that Susan Andron and Richard Andron are back in town, living in Captiva in their home. They are back together as though nothing has happened in the past year. It must be a very special dynamic to live with an accused child molester. I can just imagine their conversations. Richard supposedly is not working, but she must need support from his trust fund, if indeed he has one.
I’m hoping that there will also be an investigation into the Captiva HOA, which for years has been run as Susan Andron’s personal little fiefdom. Although there are some very questionable relationships with contractors over the years, suspicious bid awards, and rules for everybody in the neighborhood but not for the Androns, these allegations have never been brought to the Palm Beach or State of Florida authorities.
It’s time to get these bad seeds out of the community once and for all. They have become quite the pariahs of BRS, even though Richard was given koved of Havdalah until the day he was asked to leave.
Reblogged this on LOSTMESSIAH.
I graduated from Frisch High School in 1982. Frisch needs to be held accountable for much of the abuse. It was at a Frisch freshman orientation, that was not surprisingly led by Baruch Lanner, and where Ricky Andron was a counselor, where I was introduced to both. The orientation was basically like a typical NCSY cult event with the Saturday night havdalah service turning into what is know as a “mussar” speach belittling everyone for being horrible Jews.
It was also where Andron was able to scope out his prey and befriend the boys he targeted.
I repeat that this was not an NCSY event but a FRISCH orientation. They should be held accountable, and as far as I know, they never were.
Oh, by the way, Lanner kneed my brother in the nuts once and he collapsed onto the floor while also attending Frisch. My mother reported it to the school and as far as I know, Lanner was never reprimanded or held accountable.