WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rabbi Barry Freundel was the rabbi of Kesher Israel in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. He was a man of power in his synagogue, and influence in the wider modern Orthodox world. But all of that went away when he was convicted in 2015 on voyeurism charges after spying on and filming…
A new play based on the real-life scandal involving Barry Freundel, the Orthodox rabbi who secretly videotaped naked women immersing themselves in a Jewish ritual bath, has sparked outrage among his victims. “Constructive Fictions,” written by graphic artist and copywriter A.J. Campbell, is currently being shown at a fringe festival in Washington, D.C. Before being…
In the past few years, the American Jewish establishment has spoken out against the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s refusal — sometimes retroactive — to recognize conversions and marriages performed by American rabbis, one of whom, most notably, oversaw the conversion of Ivanka Trump. For many American Jews, the chief rabbinate was, once again, being unnecessarily strict…
A ritual bath under construction in the Hasidic development in Bloomingburg has allegedly been defaced with Nazi imagery. According to Lonnie Soury, a spokesman for the Town of Mamakating, where Bloomingburg is located, the Anti-Defamation League received reports about the hateful graffiti from the builders of the mikveh. The ADL was not immediately reachable for…
At Narratively, Abigail Holtzman tells the story of Rachell Goldberg, who goes to a mikvah (specifically, Mikvah Chaim in Washington, D.C.) as solace during treatment for breast cancer. According to Holtzman’s reporting, visiting a mikvah for spiritual reasons, but beyond the times required by Jewish law, is “still kosher.” Kosher, and, for some, deeply meaningful:…
A new debate is playing out in New York City’s Orthodox community over the halachic status of an online app designed for women who wish to better observe the religious prohibition on intimacy during menstruation. The application, Tahor, allows for women to anonymously send photos of their bedikah cloths, used to check the vagina for…
Religious leaders, family members and politicians gathered in the Boston suburb of Sharon on Sunday to mark the groundbreaking of construction on a new mikvah (Jewish ritual bath) in honor of local terror victim Ezra Schwartz. Named Mikvah Mei Ezra (Mikvah Helping Waters), the new bath is part of a renovation project at the Mikvah…
JERUSALEM — The Religious Services Ministry in Israel has officially adopted a regulation that makes it optional for women to have an attendant present during mikvah immersion. The ministry and Israel’s Chief Rabbinate agreed to the change in June in a filing with the country’s Supreme Court in response to a suit filed last year…
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