Suit filed against rabbi accused of spying on mikvah

Kesher Israel (center), located at 2801 N Street, N.W., in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The synagogue is a contributing property to the Georgetown Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. Photo courtesy of AgnosticPreachersKid via Wikimedia Commons
Kesher Israel (center), located at 2801 N Street, N.W., in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The synagogue is a contributing property to the Georgetown Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. Photo courtesy of AgnosticPreachersKid via Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of women who were allegedly visualized and/or recorded while they were naked using a mikvah. (Case #14-008073, Superior Court of the District of Columbia).

The case involves Rabbi Bernard Freundel, a widely-recognized religious figure and spiritual leader at the Orthodox Jewish synagogue Kesher Israel. In October, Freundel was taken into custody and charged with voyeurism after it was discovered that he allegedly placed hidden cameras in the synagogue’s mikvah, including one concealed in a clock radio.

According to the lawsuit, Freundel would use the hidden cameras to secretly record women as they used the ritual bath in the nude. The mikvah is a sacred fixture for followers of Orthodox Judaism, and is used as part of the cleansing process when a person converts to Judaism or by women after birth and after menstruation. Law enforcement officials have estimated that possibly hundreds of women had their rights violated by Freundel in this way.

Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.’s lawsuit provides any and all women who used any portion of Kesher Israel’s mikvah the opportunity to hold those responsible accountable for Freundel’s egregious invasion of privacy during a time in which they were most vulnerable and closest to their faith. The lawsuit has been filed against Kesher Israel Congregation, the National Capital Mikvah, and the Rabbinical Council of America.

Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. is a Washington, D.C. plaintiff’s law firm of more than 40 years standing.

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Statement from National Capital Mikvah (from its website)

The National Capital Mikvah (NCM) terminated Rabbi Barry Freundel as the Rav Hamachshir (Supervising Rabbi) of our mikvah. This termination follows the NCM’s initial suspension of Rabbi Freundel immediately after his arrest on voyeurism charges.

The NCM was constructed nearly ten years ago with the goal of providing the downtown Washington, D.C. community a warm, welcoming mikvah under Orthodox supervision. Members of the NCM Board, together with our volunteer shomrot (attendants), worked hard over the years to create a sacred, private, beautiful space where women could fulfill the mitzvah of mikvah in a positive environment.

We strongly condemn Rabbi Freundel’s alleged actions. They breached not only the sanctity of our holy space, but also the trust placed in him by the NCM Board and our community.  From the police reports, it appears that Rabbi Freundel exploited the access to our mikvah afforded by his religious position to violate the privacy of women who trusted him.

The Board of the NCM is deeply saddened by the consequences of Rabbi Freundel’s alleged conduct.  We remain concerned about the impact on his victims and will continue to do all we can to assist and support those who are suffering.

We are determined to come together as a community, to move forward, to heal, and to re-claim and re-dedicate our sacred space.  In furtherance of that goal, the mikvah retained a technical surveillance counter-measures firm that performed a complete search of the mikvah and found no surveillance devices.  We also consulted with Rabbi Gershon Grossbaum, an internationally renowned mikvah expert, who supervised the construction of our mikvah.  Rabbi Grossbaum visited the NCM last week and confirmed the continuing kashrut of our facility.

The NCM Board is deeply grateful to all the volunteers – including our board members, trustees and shomrot – who have continued to work tirelessly these past weeks to meet the needs of our community during these trying times.  We are confident that together we will ensure that our mikvah remains a warm, welcoming, positive environment for married women to fulfill the mitzvah (commandment ) of taharat hamishpacha (family purity law). We look forward to a vibrant future serving the women of Washington, D.C.

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Preceding provided respectively by Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. and the National Capital Mikvah

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