WASHINGTON (DC)
The Daily Beast
Batya Ungar-Sargon
Kesher Israel’s congregation was rocked by a peeping tom scandal involving its prominent rabbi of two decades. This is how they worked to restore trust in the synagogue before it was too late.
A rabbi accused of creating his own live porn from the ritual bathing of women converting to Orthodox Judaism pled guilty to 52 counts of misdemeanor voyeurism in Washington D.C. last week. Rabbi Barry Freundel was the rabbi of the prominent Orthodox Synagogue Kesher until a woman noticed him fiddling with a clock radio positioned in the changing area of the ritual bath known as a Mikvah.
Kesher’s response was swift and thorough, a model for an institution amidst immediate crisis: They called the police, and the Rabbi was investigated and quickly fired.
Cameras were found in the clock radio, as well as in a tissue box, and a table-top fan.
It is suspected that Freundel, 63, spied on over 150 women, but only 52 cases fell within the statute of limitations for the crime, which is three years. Prosecutors said 52 women were recorded nude or partially nude on 25 different dates from March 2012 to September 2014. Sentencing will occur on March 15. The rabbi faces up to 52 years in prison—one for every count—as well as thousands of dollars in fines. He is also facing civil suits.
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