Update to Freundel investigation

By Jonathan Munshaw
Towerlight
October 20, 2014

http://www.thetowerlight.com/2014/10/update-to-freundel-investigation/comment-page-1/

Director of Communications Ray Feldmann told The Washington Post that the University did not know about these trips to the synagogue for Freundel’s class, and that they were unauthorized by the school.

Original story

The University has indefinitely suspended Associate Professor Barry Freundel with pay, following his arrest outside his home in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14.

Freundel was charged with voyeurism for allegedly setting up a hidden camera disguised as a clock radio in a ritual bath, to which he pled not guilty.

“Dr. Freundel has been suspended from any and all faculty duties and responsibilities, pending the outcome of that investigation and associated criminal proceedings. At this time there is no indication that these activities occurred on the Towson University campus. We are concerned about the serious nature of this matter, and we are providing support and counseling resources to members of the campus community,” Director of Communications Ray Feldmann said in a statement Wednesday.

The University’s policy on appointment, rank and tenure of faculty says that the University president reserves the right to fire or suspend a faculty member “for moral turpitude, professional or scholarly misconduct, incompetence, or willful neglect of duty.”

Freundel teaches classes in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Replacement faculty members are being found to teach his classes.

Senior mass communication major Nicole Coniglio said she toured Freundel’s synagogue last fall for a religious studies class she was taking.

While there, Coniglio said she and other students on the tour were asked to shower in the mikvah, the ritual bath Freundel is accused of videotaping. Coniglio declined, but two of her classmates, who were Jewish but not Orthodox, accepted.

In a statement issued after Freundel’s arrest, the National Capital Mikvah said “the Mikvah is committed to providing uninterrupted, safe access to its ritual bath for women who need to use the facility for taharat hamishpacha (family purity) reasons.”

Coniglio said other students were invited over the course of the semester, and another group was invited in another class she is taking this fall with Freundel, although she did not attend a second time.

She said her impression was that Freundel wanted students to use the mikvah for the experience, and she said she never felt pressured to use it at any point.

“He basically said that not all Orthodox synagogues have [a mikvah], so it was kind of a rarity,” she said. “He told us he was instrumental in getting it to his synagogue, he was proud of it. He proposed it as a special opportunity, something that you wouldn’t be able to participate in every day.”

The court documents allege that Freundel taped at least six women in the ritual bath, with some of the recordings dated for June 2, 2014. After his initial court appearance on Oct. 15, he was released without any monitoring pending a status hearing on Nov. 12.

Freundel is a well-known rabbi in D.C. at the Kesher Israel synagogue that has several high-profile members, including Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and former Democratic senator Joseph Lieberman. He has been suspended without pay from his synagogue.

Kesher Israel released a statement the night of Oct. 14 that stated, “This is a painful moment for Kesher Israel Congregation and the entire Jewish community. At this challenging time, we draw strength from our faith, our tradition, and our fellow congregants. Upon receiving information regarding potentially inappropriate activity, the Board of Directors quickly alerted the appropriate officials.”

At this time, Towson’s Hillel has declined to comment on the story.

Freundel also serves on the executive committee of the Rabbinical Council of America.

Coniglio said Freundel used the tour as a learning opportunity outside of class. Students who went on the tour were also able to sit in on a conversation between Freundel and women who he was working with to convert to Judaism.

Freundel also took the group of students out to a restaurant after the tour and paid. Coniglio’s group was all women, but she said the class was predominantly female and everyone in the class was invited at some point throughout the year.

When Coniglio first heard of Freundel’s arrest, she was “completely, completely shocked.”

He was originally arrested on Tuesday outside his home, and police officers were seen hours later leaving his house with what appeared to be computers and hard drives.

The charging documents state that there is a recording of Freundel’s voice and face while he is positioning the camera in a room where women, and sometimes men, will disrobe prior to using the mikvah, and that police found instructions to the camera in his bedroom.

In the past, Freundel has invited students to his synagogue for his classes. Any students or alumni who may have been impacted are encouraged to contact Towson University Police at 410-704-2134, who are assisting D.C. police in their investigation.

The Towerlight will update this story as more information becomes available.