Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish affairs in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital.
Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish affairs in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital.
Washington
The Latest
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Breaking News Rabbi Barry Freundel, Accused in Mikveh Peeping, Seemed ‘Aloof’ to Washington Synagogue
(JTA) — Rabbi Barry Freundel was known to the Washington Jewish community as a champion of moral rectitude. But on Tuesday, the spiritual leader of Kesher Israel congregation for the past 25 years, was charged with the most intimate of transgressions: voyeurism. Freundel, 62, was taken away Tuesday in handcuffs, after uniformed officers and plainclothes detectives…
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News Orthodox Group Probed Alleged ‘Mikveh Peep’ Rabbi Barry Freundel
A national Orthodox rabbinic association recently investigated allegations of impropriety made against the rabbi accused of videotaping women at his mikvah, the Forward has learned. Rabbi Barry Freundel, spiritual leader of the Washington, D.C. congregation Kesher Israel, will be charged with voyeurism after a witness allegedly saw him installing a hidden camera above a shower…
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The Schmooze When Rabbi Freundel Did ‘Da Ali G Show’
(JTA) — Back in 2003, long before Rabbi Barry Freundel’s arrest on voyeurism charges, and long before Sacha Baron Cohen was a household name, the rabbi appeared on Baron Cohen’s “Da Ali G Show.” The rabbi was one of three religious leaders (plus an atheist) who agreed to appear on a panel, apparently unaware that…
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Opinion Why Barry Freundel Story Makes Me Physically Ill
Illustration by Kurt Hoffman Yesterday, prominent Modern Orthodox Rabbi Barry Freundel was arrested on charges of voyeurism. The police report obtained by the media indicates that he had used cameras to record women showering as they prepared to use the mikveh. Freundel should, and will, have his say in court. These charges are serious, though,…
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News Rabbi Barry Freundel Arrested — Suspected of Peeping on Women in Mikvah
Rabbi Barry Freundel, the spiritual leader of one of Washington D.C.’s most prominent Modern Orthodox synagogues, was suspended without pay by his congregation Tuesday after police arrested him on charges that he used cameras to peep on women in the synagogue’s mikvah, or ritual bath. Freundel, whose congregation includes Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and ex-Sen….
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News Rabbi Gil Steinlauf Wins Wide Support From Conservatives After Coming Out as Gay
(JTA) — Gil Steinlauf, a nationally prominent Conservative rabbi, made headlines this month when he announced to his large Washington, D.C., synagogue that he is gay, and that he and his wife of 20 years would divorce. As surprised as his congregants at Adas Israel may have been by the news, it was Steinlauf, the…
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Opinion Why Rabbi Gil Steinlauf’s Coming Out Is Watershed Moment for Jews
In 1977, Gerson D. Cohen, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, approved a petition by the Rabbinical Assembly to create a committee to study the role of women as spiritual leaders in the Conservative movement. The voices included were varied, some in favor of the ordination of women as rabbis, some opposed. It…
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Breaking News Rabbi Gil Steinlauf of Adas Israel Comes Out as Gay
(JTA) — Rabbi Gil Steinlauf struggled for decades with an identity that he only acknowledged publicly this week. On the Monday after Yom Kippur, Steinlauf, the married senior rabbi at Adas Israel — a large and historic Conservative synagogue in Washington, D.C. — announced that he is gay. In a letter sent to congregants, Steinlauf…
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