44 Facts About Barry Freundel

Bernard "Barry" Freundel was born on December 16,1951 and is an American former rabbi.

The leader of Kesher Israel Congregation in Washington, DC, from 1989 until 2014, Freundel was regarded as "a brilliant scholar," a "profound" orator and an authority in several areas of halakha, including eruvim, which he assisted in constructing in a number of cities, including Washington.

Barry Freundel's career came to a sudden end in October 2014 when he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and charged with committing voyeurism of several women in a mikveh.

Barry Freundel was assistant professor of rabbinics at Baltimore Hebrew University, where he was the rabbinic studies graduate program adviser, associate professor at Towson University and adjunct lecturer at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Barry Freundel ultimately pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and fined $13,000.

Barry Freundel was expected to be released on August 21,2020, but was released early on April 1,2020, due to COVID-19.

Barry Freundel received a master's degree in Talmudic studies from the Bernard Revel Graduate School and his semikhah from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, part of Yeshiva University.

Barry Freundel served congregations in Great Neck, New York, Norwalk, Connecticut and Yonkers, New York before assuming the pulpit at Kesher Israel, a prestigious Washington synagogue located in the capital's exclusive Georgetown neighborhood, whose members have included Cabinet secretaries and members of Congress.

Barry Freundel had been an adjunct at a number of universities in the past, including American University and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Barry Freundel had served as a visiting scholar at Princeton, Yale and Cornell and guest lecturer at Columbia and the University of Chicago.

Barry Freundel served as consultant to the Ethics Review Board of the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and consultant to the United States Presidential Commission on Cloning.

One day later, Barry Freundel was arraigned and charged with six counts of voyeurism, a misdemeanor, for allegedly filming women while they were undressing before immersing themselves in the National Capital Mikvah, an independent facility that Barry Freundel was instrumental in founding in 2005.

The day Barry Freundel was arrested, the president of the RCA, Rabbi Leonard Matanky, revealed that the Council investigated allegations earlier in the year that related to "ethical issues that came up regarding an issue with a woman," but no action was taken.

On October 20, the RCA issued a press release stating that it discovered in 2012 that Barry Freundel had coerced conversion candidates into performing clerical work at his home and contributing money to his rabbinic court.

Barry Freundel's arrest sparked widespread debate about how mikvaot should be supervised, administered and protected from predators.

Bethany Mandel, a writer who was converted by Barry Freundel proposed a ten-point "Bill of Rights" for converts.

Barry Freundel was named, together with another female convert, to a new RCA committee charged with reviewing the entire conversion process, and was later chosen as one of The Forward 50 in recognition of her initiative.

On December 2,2014, a student at Georgetown University Law Center, where Barry Freundel taught a seminar on Jewish law, filed a lawsuit against Kesher Israel Congregation, Georgetown University and the National Capital Mikvah.

The unnamed student had written a term paper on the mikvah, which received an "A" from Barry Freundel, who had convinced her to immerse herself at the mikvah on two occasions, both of which she presumes he filmed.

Barry Freundel sought class action status and claimed that the defendants turned a blind eye and failed in their responsibility to protect students from the rabbi, whose behavior she claimed was becoming ever more bizarre, and who was mistreating women subjected to his authority.

Barry Freundel was joined by Emma Shulevitz, a woman who had been converting to Judaism under Freundel's auspices and who had likewise been encouraged by him to take a "practice dunk," an anomaly that he said would help prevent any misstep on the day of the conversion.

The plaintiffs claimed that the RCA and Barry Freundel's synagogue were aware of his inappropriate conduct before the cameras were discovered in the ritual bath he supervised.

Barry Freundel claimed she gave Freundel power of attorney when she traveled abroad and asked him to ensure should anything happen to her, she would have a Jewish burial.

Barry Freundel believed he used her apartment as a safehouse where he filmed at least one victim of domestic violence.

On Friday, May 15,2015, Barry Freundel was sentenced by Judge Alprin in front of a packed courtroom to six-and-a-half years in prison and fined $13,000.

Barry Freundel was taken from the courtroom to the DC Jail, where he was put in isolation for 23 hours a day due to threats against him.

When he was unanimously fired by Kesher Israel's board on November 24,2014, Barry Freundel was given a grace period until January 1,2015, to vacate the synagogue-owned rabbinic residence, but one month after the deadline passed he still had not done so.

Barry Freundel acceded to her request for a get shortly afterwards.

Barry Freundel resigned from his tenured position at Towson University one week after pleading guilty.

Barry Freundel was named by The Jewish Daily Forward to its "list of the 50 American Jews who have had the most impact on our national story" in 2014.

In July 2015 an RCA review panel of six men and five women that was established in the wake of Barry Freundel's arrest released a list of nine recommendations to guide the conversion process.

Barry Freundel issued a public apology for his "heinous behavior" and "perverse mindset" on September 8,2015, the eve of the Jewish High Holy Days, which are marked by repentance and forgiveness for sins.

In July 2017, a morality play by a local Washington-area playwright, entitled "Constructive Fictions," which was based on the Barry Freundel scandal, ran at the Gallaudet University theater.

Barry Freundel was expected to be released on August 21,2020, after receiving a one-year sentence reduction due to good behavior.

Barry Freundel believed that according to the halakha, abortion is only permitted when a woman is in "hard travail" and her life is in danger.

Barry Freundel believed that there is no way, under Jewish law, to allow partial-birth abortion, since once the head has emerged, the baby is considered to be born.

Barry Freundel saw two issues with cloning humans from a halakhic perspective.

Barry Freundel did not view cloning as being prohibited by halakha, and even saw "becoming a partner with God in the works of creation" as a noble goal.

Barry Freundel did support regulation, and at a hearing urged the United States Congress not to prohibit human cloning, but rather to regulate it.

Barry Freundel argued that human knowledge and technology are inherently neutral, and it's what's done with them that is important.

Barry Freundel strongly maintained that a clone would be considered a human being under Jewish law.

Barry Freundel published an article entitled Homosexuality and Judaism in the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society.

Since Barry Freundel viewed homosexuality as an activity rather than a state of being, he advocated the kiruv approach - trying to make a less observant Jew more observant by following halakha.

Barry Freundel was the author of two books, eight journal articles and many op-eds.