Tagged Kesher Israel

Barry Freundel’s former DC synagogue trying to move past mikvah trauma

Rabbi Avidan Milevsky, gesturing, leads a Sunday morning Talmud class after services at Kesher Israel in Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2015. (Uriel Heilman)
January 3, 2016 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Though it’s been more than a year since Rabbi Barry Freundel was hauled away in handcuffs for installing secret cameras at his synagogue’s mikvah, his crime still casts a shadow over his longtime Orthodox congregation, Kesher Israel. Three civil lawsuits are pending against Kesher by women… Read more »

After Freundel scandal, Washington Jewish women reclaim mikvah with mural

After months of work, the mivkeh was dedicated at Orthodox synagogue Oveh Sholom on Aug. 16, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Suzanne Pollak)
August 21, 2015 / Suzanne Pollak, Washington Jewish Week via JTA

WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week via JTA) – When prominent Washington rabbi Barry Freundel was arrested last year for secretly videotaping dozens of women using the mikvah adjacent to his Orthodox synagogue, the sense of sacredness of the ritual of mikvah immersion was shattered for some local Jewish women. Local artist Rena Fruchter recently… Read more »