Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Orthodox Jewish organizations reach $14.5 million settlement with victims of voyeur-rabbi Barry Freundel
Victims of a prominent Orthodox rabbi who spied for years on women in a ritual bath in Washington, D.C., have reached a $14.5 million settlement with four Jewish organizations, the rabbi's former synagogue announced Tuesday.
The settlement, which must be approved by a judge, could close a legal chapter in the scandal that rocked the Orthodox Jewish community, regionally and nationally, because of the prominence of Barry Freundel, and victims' allegations that national Orthodox rabbinical bodies could have done more.
Freundel placed a hidden camera in a mikvah, a ritual bath Jews use for various purposes, including as part of the conversion process. Many of the victims were conversion students of Freundel, who had a reputation as one of the most stringent and impeccable rabbis for conversion in the modern Orthodox movement, a more liberal segment of Orthodox Judaism.
The scandal sent Freundel to prison and left the Orthodox community reeling over converts' allegation that they are often treated disrespectfully in the community — which they said allowed Freundel to exploit his power over them.
According to a news release Tuesday from Kesher Israel, the Georgetown synagogue that Freundel led, victims had sought $100 million. It said some of the Jewish organizations had sought to dismiss the cases, arguing that they had "no prior knowledge of Freundel's illegal actions" and were not at fault. The release stated that after the Jewish groups sought to dismiss the case, the victims entered into settlement discussions.
Freundel's victims were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
The Jewish groups named in the suit were: Kesher Israel Congregation, the National Capital Mikvah, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Beth Din of America, according to a letter from Rabbi Elazar Muskin, president of the Rabbinical Council, and Rabbi Mark Dratch, its executive vice president, that was addressed to victims. It wasn't immediately clear if that letter, which was provided to the Post, had been sent or if it was a draft.
Kesher and the National Mikvah — located adjacent to the synagogue — argued in the release that they were the ones who brought to light Freundel's crimes. A woman cleaning the mikvah discovered the camera in 2014.
The letter was addressed to: "All females who were videotaped by Rabbi Bernard Freundel AND/OR who disrobed, either partially or completely, in the ritual bath and/or associated facilities operated by the National Capital Mikvah, Inc. (regardless of whether they were videotaped) between July 1, 2005, and October 14, 2014."
The letter says there are classes of victims who will get different payments, including $25,000 for people who federal prosecutors confirmed had been videotaped, and $2,500 for people who took off their clothes in the mikvah "one or more times" between 2005 and 2014 "and suffered actual emotional distress after learning of Freundel's videotaping."
Freundel was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for videotaping without their knowledge 52 women. His release is expected in 2021.
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