By Suzanne Pollak and Geoffrey W. Melada, JTA/Washington Jewish Week Rabbi Barry Freundel, the former spiritual leader at a prominent Washington synagogue, pleaded guilty to 52 counts of misdemeanor voyeurism. The plea Thursday means that Freundel could be sentenced to a maximum penalty of 52 years in prison and orderedContinue Reading
Rivy Poupko Kletenik, JTNews Columnist Dear Rivy, I’m very disturbed by the “mikvah peeper” scandal in D.C. First of all, what is going to the mikvah about, and how does it work? Who is really in charge of the mikvah, women or men? Is there any chance a man/my rabbiContinue Reading
By Uriel Heilman, JTA World News Service NEW YORK (JTA) – Tzipporah Laura LaFianza and her family have been living as Orthodox Jews for four years now. They reside in a heavily Jewish suburb of Washington, go to shul every Shabbat and keep a strictly kosher kitchen. But they’re notContinue Reading
By Elana Sztokman, JTA World News Service MODIIN, Israel (JTA) — With the news that Rabbi Barry Freundel, a prominent Orthodox rabbi, has been arrested for peeping at the naked bodies of his female congregants through a secret camera in the mikvah, or Jewish ritual bath, many disturbing questions areContinue Reading
By Uriel Heilman, JTA World News Service I understand you’re considering converting to Judaism. Shalom aleichem! What sort of conversion would you like? If Orthodox, the answer is no, no, no. Tradition dictates that prospective converts be rebuffed three times as a test of their true commitment. For a moreContinue Reading
