As soon as the news hit that a prominent Washington D.C. rabbi was arrested on suspicion of installing a video camera in the women’s mikvah dressing room all sorts of cries went up from people on every side of this issue. Of course everyone is on one side or another of this issue; there isn’t anyone who doesn’t have an opinion when there are rabbis and voyeurism involved.
On the one hand, who is Rabbi Barry Freundel? I never saw his picture in the Yated so he’s no gadol.
On the other hand, he’s made many geirim and giyoreses and they must consider him a gadol to feel comfortable in their Jewishness.
On another hand, innocent until proven guilty, right? And if one is under the protection of Agudah then even after being proven guilty one is still innocent, right? So what’s the problem?
The problem, of course, is that having this story in the NYT is a chillul hashem.
Wait! Don’t tell me you thought the problem is the women who are feeling very violated right now, not knowing in what state of undress their favorite rabbi has seen them while wanking off. Of course that’s not the problem! Show me one posuk in chumash, or one gemarah, or even a medrash, that says that you’re not allowed to watch women in the mikvah through a camera that’s broadcast over to your house. Right? I didn’t think so.
So the only problem with this whole thing is the chillul hashem that the silly board of directors of Congregation Kesher Israel made by going to the police instead of dealing with it internally, per the direction of the gedolim via the mouth of Agudath Israel and Avi Shafran. It’s as if Hashem himself were accused of looking at people while they dress and undress, and the Shulchan Aruch’s statements notwithstanding, I’m sure Hashem doesn’t do that.
Luckily for Torah True™ Jews, Congregation Kesher Israel is in Washington D.C., a place one only visits to ask for the early release from prison of one’s brethren, and Rabbi Barry Freundel has a trimmed beard and doesn’t wear a white shirt and black suit, which guarantees that the torah he learns does not penetrate his neshama to make him a better person.
It seems that in order for a crime to be a chillul hashem it has to fill the following criteria:
- The perpetrator has to be a black hatter or chassidish
- The crimes must be against goyim; crimes within the family are our business only
- The news has to be spread on the frum news network
Therefore, unlike that time when Avi Shafran compared financial crimes to sexual assaults in order to minimize the latter. And then went on to say he was ready to condemn a rabbi as a “stupid fellow” for defending a sexual abuser, he was ready to condemn that rabbi until he saw that it was a fellow ultra-Orthodox rabbi, at which point he instead sat down and penned a defense of the rabbi and a condemnation of the newspaper that criticized the rabbi (very convoluted, I know, but we’re talking yeshivishe lomdus here); unlike that time, neither Shafran, nor anyone else from the crack sexual abuser defense team at Agudah will come to Rabbi Freundel’s defense.
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Find out more about when sexual abuse by rabbis is a chillul hashem and when it isn’t at 4torah.com
I think it’s important to remind everyone to not throw out the mikvah with the bathwater.
Brilliant! But how did you get the fabulous pic of him winking?! Or was he posing specially to demonstrate the Tanachic references to winking?
Rabbi Freundel has a twitch in his right eye.
The biggest problem to come about from this story is that women will think three times now before going to the mikvah, and chalilah some might stop going altogether because of this. All these women who are kvetching about mikvah in the Forward are barely frum anyways, a true ayshes chayil doesn’t ask question from hashem. No real frum woman will stop going to the mikvah because of this.
Putting aside the issue of chillul Hashem, I seriously think there needs to be renewed emphasis on thing things like yihud and shemirat negiah. Why risk temptation and suspicion?
And not just for Modox. I’ve seen Litvish and hassidish charedim be inappropriate with unrelated people of opposite gender.
in happens in every segment of Jewish and Gentile society
Agreed, it does indeed, Reb. Pinchos. But only Jews are obligated for the halachos of negiah, yihud, etc.
very sad for the ladies violated, her rabbi’s wife and family and that community.
hopefully the new Rav and the board will implement measures so that such violations never reoccur.
Crazy for shiksas, this old horndog Rabbi..Wonder if Lieberman and Lew joined Rabbi Freindel for avircle jerk watching the bootleg video CONVERSION.SHIKSAS GONE WILD.
Nothing like a good old fashioned chillul hashem to get issru chag off to a flying start
this actually made the news on Chol Hamoed
10/14
http://forward.com/articles/207342/rabbi-barry-freundel-arrested-suspected-of-peepi/
“The synagogue hired the well-knwon Gibson Dunn law firm to handle legal fallout from the arrest”
“well-knwon” indeed
. Every day this story gets even worse. He should have been thrown out years ago. The R.C.A obviously went out of their way not to throw him out of their organization. This is par for all Rabbinical groups who protect their favorites.
I was placed in my first congregation by Yeshiva University as well as my second. Both were conservative synagogues belonging to United Synagogue of AMERICA. That was the practice at that time.
I was blacklisted by the RCA and YU because I had served in conservative synagogues and they would not place me nor recommend me for Orthodox congregations. When I took my final Rabbinical position, The president of the R.C.A. at that time called me every Saturday night threatening that I leave my current Conservative congregation or I would be brought before the R.C.A. RABBINICAL COURT. My crime was being in a conservative congregation. I was blacklisted for all intent purposes of serving in an orthodox congregation. In addition the president of the RCA at that time told my wife and I that we would burn in Hell and that they would make certain that if I went public about being asked to leave my shul they would ruin the shidduchim, future marriages, of my children. My family is orthodox. I did go public and thank G-d my children are married to orthodox individuals. I have served 40 years in the rabbinate, 26, in my current synagogue. We moved into an orthodox community and my wife and I walk 2 miles each way to synagogue. My children were raised in an orthodox community and attended Yeshiva University . I am too old to be as angry as I was when I was young. I raised one and a half million dollars for Yeshiva UNIVERSITY and taught public speaking there the for ten years. In addition I raised $25,000 for the RCA. I resigned from the R.C.A, FOR THE CRIME OF BEING IN A CONSERVATIVE CONGREGATION Freundel should had been ousted years ago. This was a cover up by the R.C.A.
At first I urged people to wait for proof before judgment. Now that the proof is in he deserves punishment and the RCA should stop dancing around the issue and admit there was a cover up.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg