UPDATED: Alleged Mikvah Voyeur Rabbi Refuses To Leave Synagogue-Owned House, Despite Being Fired And Told To Leave

Freundel is currently facing six separate voyeurism charges related to six separate victims, all secretly videoed naked as they prepared to immerse in the mikvah (ritual bath) next to Kesher Israel that Freundel controlled. Freundel could serve as much as six years in prison if convicted. But there are thought to me close to 100 victims overall and more charges could still be brought against him.

Above: Rabbi Barry Freundel

This was just tweeted by Bethany Mandel, one of alleged mikvah voyeur Rabbi Barry Freundel's victims:

Just got an email from the Kesher [Freundel's former synagogue] president that Rabbi Freundel refuses to leave the house owned by the shul. He's basically squatting. Wow.

Freundel, Kesher Israel's former top rabbi, is currently facing six separate voyeurism charges in Washington, DC related to six separate victims, all allegedly secretly videoed naked as they prepared to immerse in the mikvah (ritual bath) next to the Kesher Israel Modern Orthodox synagogue that Freundel controlled. Freundel could serve as much as six years in prison if convicted. But there are thought to me close to 100 victims overall and more charges could still be brought against him.

He was fired from his Kesher Israel job December 1 and was told he must move out of the synagogue-owned house he lives in by January 1. However, Freundel, who was arrested in mid-October, has refused to do so.

Update 3:18 pm CST – The Washington Post reports:

…a religious court [beit din] is being convened to deal with the dispute, the synagogue said Thursday.

News of the dispute was sent to Kesher Israel synagogue members via an e-mail from their president, Elanit Jakabovics. In the e-mail she lays out a bit of the developing legal stalemate between Rabbi Barry Freundel, once a leading national Orthodox rabbi, and Kesher, a small synagogue dotted with prominent Washingtonians.

The synagogue demanded Freundel move out of the Georgetown house, where he and his family have lived since the late 1980s, by Jan. 1, but he did not, the e-mail said. “We were informed in late December that Rabbi Freundel did not have plans to leave the house,” it said.…

Efforts to reach Freundel and his attorney, Jeffrey Harris, were not immediately successful Thursday, but a member of Kesher leadership said the rabbi — whose salary has been suspended since his October arrest — had asked for more time. The two sides talked, the person said, “but they made unreasonable demands, and we walked away.”

The terms of Freundel’s contract with Kesher Israel require that he — a civil law professor up until his arrest — deal with legal disputes through a religious court, called a beit din. He had been a national and regional leader of a type of beit din that oversees conversions, called a conversion court. Orthodox Jews, and people of other faiths, sometimes try to deal with non-criminal issues through their own dispute resolution systems before going to a secular judge.

Jakabovics said Kesher opened the case against its former rabbi on Wednesday with a national body called the Beit Din of America.…

Several longtime Kesher Israel congregants said Freundel recently agreed to give his wife, respected D.C. Jewish educator Sharon Freundel, a religious divorce, called a get. No one could name a single congregant who is communicating with Freundel.…

Related Posts:

All Rabbi Barry Freundel Alleged Mikvah Peeping Posts.

Comments

[Yosef ben Matitya]

must be comfortable and free.

[frank lopez]

another chazzer that don't fly straight

[Fresser Rebbe]

well, liste, he needs more time to disconnect all those hidden cameras.

on another note, it may be an idea that this Rabbi and Rabbi Karp from MD should share a cell together.

[Kosher Ham]

This is a man who can't think straight or long term. His "squatting" will probably cost him a longer, harsher sentence, than if he showed some respect for laws.

[tucsonjew]

He is feigning craziness for a plea deal. This is part of it

[Alter Kocker]

Where is the sheriff's dept. If someone is squatting in a house that is supposed to be used as a parsonage by a current Rabbi, or for that matter if the congregation wants to re-decorate, then a visit from the Sheriff should be sufficient to get the squatter to move.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

well, liste, he needs more time to disconnect all those hidden cameras.

Fresser Rebbe ,
u got a strong point there. :-) unless the shul demands that just like mezuzos, he should leave the cameras in place for the perusal of next rabbi.
but hold on a minute, did he live in the community mikve? :-)

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Where is the sheriff's dept.
OMG AK, u want the shul to be meuysering him?

[Fresser Rebbe]

Reb Yoseph Ben Matitya; listen, i think that he is very Makpid on the Mikvah Mitzvah, that he is always ready, even at home, he is ready. so the shul's house may not be the official Mikki pool, however the Voyeur Rebbe treats the house like the Mik, and that is why he feels SO connected to the place, and has no intention of leaving any time soon.

[Sarek]

Maybe people should surround the house and peer in all the windows. What's good for the gentz......

[Outcast Yid]

He should only squat over a hole in his prison cell.

[Shmarya]

The Washington Post is reporting Freundel's eviction is now an open case before the Beit Din of America. See above in the updated post.

[nachos]

If the rabbi losses, he will insist on a secular court evicting him. That is my prophecy.

[So what]

The rabbi didn't do any abuse
He just watched , you can see more on the beach or swimming pools
Please Forgive him

[Robert jacobs]

Smart man they want you to leave so badly puts you in a negotiating position. I am super impressed rabbi freundel good for you

[dapper danny]

So what... do you live in France or Germany? The beaches and swimming pools in the U.S. are generally not clothing optional.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

"So what" - I presume you have no idea about consent or privacy.

I am sure you are not female - otherwise, you would intrinsically not comment the way you did.

I say the above just to be nice, while in actuality, you are despicable.

[Robert jacobs]

Kesher people were so snobby and rude anyways. Chickens coming home to roost

[adams]

yeah I think he is playing up the insanity ploy, it's his best card at this point.

[Heblew]

Maybe Freundel installed cameras on the windows of his neighbors' bathrooms. When he said he needed more time, he was being completely honest. He needs to destroy more evidence and also enjoy the final footage from this sorry saga.

[Jessica40]

I don't believe the synangogue's version of this story. They claim they are going to the Beit Din because the his contract stated they have to resolve disputes there but his contract has been terminated and in any case, issues such as a eviction could still be brought to a civic court. Their trying to protect themselves because they're facing lawsuits and going to civic court would mean they would have to open themselves to scrutiny and it would set a precedent. They don't want to have to be subject to a civic court as that would acknowledge it's authority. I think they are are also trying to paint themselves as victims for the lawsuits. If they wanted him out they could get him out.

Shmarys-

ask a DC lawyer if they are legally prohibited from taking him to civic court for eviction. I'm willing to bet you not.

[former DC-er]

Eviction through the court system can take a long time. It depends on lot on the local jurisdiction (every state and county can have their own rules), but the timetables are usually measured in months, and more liberal jurisdictions (like DC), usually have stronger tenant protections which means it takes forever to evict someone. Yes, Kesher could go the regular route, but their contract says all disputes should be handled in BD, and in this case even the slowest BD will still be faster than DC courts.