WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington City Paper
Posted by Perry Stein on Oct. 15, 2014
District police removed a black Sony Dream Machine radio clock and camera as evidence on Sunday from Kesher Israel in Georgetown—the modern orthodox synagogue whose rabbi was arrested Tuesday on voyeurism charges.
Police arrested Rabbi Barry Freundel at his nearby Georgetown home Tuesday and he is expected to appear in D.C. Superior Court this afternoon.
According to the police incident report, a 35-year-old woman reported seeing Freundel plug in the electronic device in the showers in the mikveh—a bath used in orthodox Jewish rituals. Freundel said, according to the report, that he was using the device for ventilation in the shower area. Women often use mikvehs for spiritual cleansing and purity after child birth and menstruation. mikvehs are also used by men and people converting to Judaism. During this spiritual cleansing, all clothing must be removed.
If the allegations are true, it could mean the rabbi was spying on people in his congregation while they were partaking in a religious ritual.
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