Report: National Rabbi Board Knew of Misconduct Allegations Against Freundel in 2012

A national association of rabbis looked the other way when presented with accusations of unethical behavior by a prominent Georgetown rabbi, according to The Washington Post. The unethical behavior involves Georgetown Rabbi Barry Fruendel allegedly asking convertors to Judaism to perform clerical work; he also reportedly added as a co-signer on another convertor’s checking account.

DC Police are expanding their investigation of Georgetown Rabbi Barry Freundel, accused of secretly recording at least six women in a shower and changing rooms at his synagogue in Georgetown, Kesher Israel Congregation.

He pled not guilty to the charges on Wednesday, was freed without bond and was ordered to stay away from the synagogue, according to several media reports.

The 62-year-old rabbi at Kesher Israel Congregation was reportedly spying on womenin multiple locations, according to a report by The Washington Post. Freundel has led Kesher Israel, located at 2801 N St., since 1989.

The Jewish Daily Forward also reported last week that “a person who works in the travel industry told the Forward that they had informed the RCA earlier this year that Freundel, who is married, made reservations to stay overnight in a hotel with a woman converting to Judaism who was not his wife. The person declined to be identified, citing confidentiality rules.”

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) Monday said that since the arrest last week of Rabbi Barry Freundel of Washington, DC, it has been working assiduously to address the many challenges that its members and their communities now face.

“First and foremost, our hearts continue to go out to the individuals who were converted to Judaism by Rabbi Freundel whose trust was violated and who have worried about their personal status, said Rabbi Leonard Matanky, President, and Rabbi Mark Dratch, Executive Vice President.

Meanwhile, six women are mentioned in the original criminal complaint and police are now looking at the possibility there may have been more victims, after finding recording devices with more than 100 deleted files, according to the Post story.

Police were seen carrying items from the rabbi’s home, which is located near the synagogue, on Tuesday, according to Washingtonian magazine, which broke the story.

In all, police seized six external hard drives, seven laptop computers, five desktop computers, three regular cameras, 20 memory cards and 10 flash drives from the rabbi’s home, according to the Post.

Read the Washington Post story here.

PHOTO of Rabbi Freundel from synagogue Web site