Barry Freundel
| Bernard Freundel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 16, 1951 New York City, New York, United States |
| Other names | Barry Freundel, the "peeping rabbi" |
| Occupation | Former rabbi and professor |
| Criminal penalty | 6 years and 6 months imprisonment, $13,000 in fines |
| Criminal status | Imprisoned in the D.C. Jail since May 15, 2015 |
| Spouse(s) | Sharon Freundel (divorced according to Jewish law) |
| Children | 2 sons and 1 daughter |
| Conviction(s) | Pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism |
Bernard "Barry" Freundel (born December 16, 1951) was the rabbi of Kesher Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C. from 1989 until 2014. Freundel was regarded as "a brilliant scholar," a "profound" orator and an authority in several areas of halakha (Jewish law), including eruvim, which he assisted in constructing in a number of cities, including Washington.
Freundel's career came to a sudden end when he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and charged with voyeurism. Kesher Israel immediately suspended him without pay and later notified the congregants that he had been fired. Similarly, he was also suspended from membership in the Vaad and the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the main professional association for Modern Orthodox rabbis in the United States. He also was suspended from his multiple academic positions. He 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. Towson University immediately opened its own administrative review of Freundel's conduct with students, while Georgetown University began its own investigation as well.
Freundel ultimately pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and fined $13,000.
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