UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Lauren Markoe | October 20, 2014

WASHINGTON (RNS) In the days since a prominent Orthodox rabbi was charged with spying on naked women in his synagogue’s mikvah, Jews who oversee the ritual baths across the country are rushing to reassure that the same scandal could not happen under their watch.

Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, executive director of the New York-based Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, said she’s heard about people checking for hidden cameras in mikvahs. She’s learned of some mikvahs where security firms have been brought in to assure that the space is as private as its clients — most of whom are women — expect.

District of Columbia police arrested Rabbi Barry Freundel on Tuesday (Oct. 14) at his Georgetown home, not far from Kesher Israel, the synagogue he has led since 1989. Freundel, 62, has pleaded not guilty to charges of voyeurism and spying…