Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of mikvahs, Jewish ritual baths.
Mikvah
The Latest
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Opinion Why the Mikveh Scandal Cuts So Deep
The sordid story of the Washington rabbi accused of spying on naked women in his synagogue’s ritual bath is more than just a local scandal, an Orthodox scandal, a conversion scandal. It is a Jewish scandal, tearing deep into the heart of a religious hierarchy that is dominated by men who are rarely held to…
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Fast Forward Women’s Yeshiva Says Male Rabbis Don’t Have To Oversee Converts in Mikveh
In the wake of voyeurism allegations against a prominent Orthodox rabbi, the head of an Orthodox yeshiva for women is arguing that male rabbis needn’t be present for a female convert’s ritual immersion. Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Maharat in New York, is preparing a teshuva, or Jewish legal opinion, arguing that…
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Fast Forward Tiny Cameras Found in Rabbi Freundel’s Towson University Office
Tiny cameras and memory cards capable of holding hundreds of thousands of images were found in the Towson University office of Rabbi Barry Freundel. The devices, memory cards and flash drives, as well as a photo of naked women and a handwritten list of names, were found in the rabbi’s office on the campus near…
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News How a Stunned Synagogue Faces Up to Sins of Rabbi Barry Freundel
There is no playbook guiding Modern Orthodox congregations on what to do when their rabbi is accused of abusing congregants and of violating their privacy at the most holy and intimate of moments. But when the venerable Washington congregation Kesher Israel got the news on October 14 that its spiritual leader of more than 26…
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Fast Forward Rabbi Barry Freundel Urged Women To Take ‘Long Showers’ and Mikveh ‘Dunks’
(JTA) — When Rabbi Barry Freundel asked Bethany Mandel to take a “really long shower” before a “practice dunk” in the mikvah prior to her formal conversion to Judaism, the whole request seemed a bit odd, she says. For one thing, Freundel instructed her to skip the pre-mikvah checklist, which includes things like cleaning out…
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Life Did Rabbi Freundel Build Mikveh for Own Fantasy?
Photo by Nir Keidar/Haaretz (Haaretz) — When I first heard about Rabbi Barry Freundel’s arrest on grounds of voyeurism, I was upset, but not horrified. If the allegations are true, I thought, we have a case of a sick man who couldn’t control his sexual urges. Sad. Especially since he carries a title that would…
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News Rabbis Barry Freundel and Leib Tropper Ensnared in Scandals Tied to Conversions
A prominent Orthodox rabbi is disgraced, accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior towards converts. That may sound like the scandal now toppling Barry Freundel, the prominent Washington, D.C. rabbi who pled not guilty on October 15 to allegations that he secretly videotaped women showering in the antechamber of his synagogue’s mikveh, or ritual bath….
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Fast Forward Israeli Chief Rabbinate Will Review Rabbi Freundel’s Conversions
(Haaretz) — The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is reviewing the validity of conversions performed in recent years by Rabbi Barry Freundel, the Orthodox American rabbi charged with secretly filming women in his synagogue’s ritual bath, Haaretz has learned. “We are appalled by the accusations against Rabbi Barry Freundel and wish to stress that the acts attributed…
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