Rabbi Barry Freundel Won’t Move Out of Kesher Israel Synagogue’s House
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Josh Nathan-Kazis January 29, 2015
The Washington, D.C. rabbi charged peeping at his synagogue’s mikveh has refused to move out of the synagogue-owned house where he and his family had been living, the congregation said in an email to congregants today.
Rabbi Barry Freundel has pled not guilty to criminal charges of surreptitiously videotaping women showering and changes at the mikveh adjacent to his synagogue, Congregation Kesher Israel.
Freundel was arrested in October and fired by the synagogue board in late November. The synagogue gave him until January 1 to vacate the rabbinic residence on O Street in Georgetown. According to the synagogue’s email, he has not moved out.
“We were informed in late December that Rabbi Freundel did not have plans to leave the house,” the synagogue wrote to congregants in today’s email. “So, we began informal conversations to resolve this issue with Rabbi Freundel and his attorney, but to no avail.”
Kesher Israel’s contract with Freundel requires that all disputes be handled at a rabbinic court. The synagogue said it had begun proceedings against Freundel at the Beit Din of America, the leading Modern Orthodox rabbinic court.
Kesher Israel is a target of at least two civil lawsuits related to Freundel’s misconduct. Both charge that the synagogue should have taken action earlier to remove him from positions of responsibility.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
