On May 15, Barry Freundel, the Washington, D.C., rabbi at the centre of a voyeurism scandal, was sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to secretly videotaping 52 women at Kesher Israel Synagogue, where he long served as rabbi. The decision brought some closure to this dismal incident, though no amount of jail time can erase the abuse Rabbi Freundel reportedly inflicted upon more than 100 women. The fact that many of them were in the process of converting to Judaism when he recorded them in Kesher Israel’s mikvah complex makes this story that much more tragic.
The Freundel case highlighted significant problems in the Orthodox conversion process in America, including oversight and the absence of women in leadership roles. And while the lessons learned from this sordid affair will not be easily implemented, they must be pursued nonetheless, for the sake of Rabbi Freundel’s victims and the community at large.
In the moments before his sentence was read, Rabbi Freundel offered an apology. “I was wrong. I am sorry,” he said. “I did terrible things. I make no bones about it. I was in a terrible place.” After the sentence was delivered, many in the courtroom applauded.
But as the Orthodox community tries to move forward, yet a new scandal has emerged. On Friday, the New York Times reported on accusations against Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, the veteran leader of the modern Orthodox Riverdale Jewish Center in New York. According to the Times, Rabbi Rosenblatt would often invite young male congregants to join him at the gym for a game of squash, followed by showers and trips to the steam room and hot tub. These intimate sessions began in the mid-1980s, soon after Rabbi Rosenblatt joined the Riverdale Jewish Center and continued until as recently as a few years ago.
Some of the boys who accompanied Rabbi Rosenblatt on those occasions, as well as others who met with the rabbi in private settings, claim he acted inappropriately. One says he caught the rabbi “gawking” at his naked body. Another alleges Rabbi Rosenblatt touched him inappropriately. A third claims the rabbi “tried repeatedly to persuade him to change into a bathrobe,” the Times story reveals.
As early as 1988, questions began to arise about Rabbi Rosenblatt’s outings. Parents complained to the rabbi himself, to the synagogue president, to another Orthodox shul near Columbia University where he was working toward a PhD, to Yeshiva University, whose seminary students interned for Rabbi Rosenblatt, and eventually to the Rabbinical Council of America. And yet, the rabbi continued taking young men to the gym.
The Freundel decision and the Rosenblatt allegations emphasize the need for better rabbinic oversight. When a rabbi is left to perform conversions alone with vulnerable women, and when families warn for decades about the actions of another rabbi and receive nothing more than promises that the matter will be handled internally, something is wrong.
People need to be able to trust their rabbis. Rabbi Freundel showed how that trust can be abused, and if the accusations against Rabbi Rosenblatt are proven true, then another prominent rabbi will have betrayed his profession.
The question becomes: Who is watching over the rabbis? — YONI
