On any given day, Orthodox women around the world visit the mikvah, in search of spiritual purification. None would ever imagine that their most private moments in a ritual bath would be spied upon and videotaped, yet over 150 women were victims of this despicable crime.

Such a crime is disturbing under normal circumstances, but when the predator turns out to be an Orthodox Rabbi, it’s truly unreal.

Rabbi Barry Freundel, former leader of Kesher Israel Congregation and a former advisor to Senator Joe Lieberman, was sentenced yesterday to 6 1/2 years in prison for his perverted behavior. Because the 3-year statue of limitations had expired for many of the victims, he is only serving time for 52 victims and the punishment equates to roughly 6 weeks per victim.

Frankly, that is disgusting. How many weeks, months, even years of terror will these women suffer from? I can guarantee it’s more than 6 weeks! For some, it may last a lifetime. Not only have they lost their trust in humanity, many have lost their faith, too.

To further complicate things, some of the victims were converts to Judaism, who were totally unfamiliar with customs and rituals and would’ve followed anything the Rabbi instructed them to do.

As a community, we tend to hero worship our Rabbis (I will readily admit that I’ve done this at times). While the overwhelming majority of Rabbis are caring, helpful, and of the highest integrity, they are still just people. And as we all know, people are not perfect. I wonder how many individuals suspected Rabbi Freundel was up to no good and made excuses or pretended it wasn’t happening. Thankfully, one brave lady who was a mikvah attendant, came forward and reported him.

In the Reform community, nobody visits the mikvah, so I have no personal experience with the practice. I have respect for any woman that chooses to go, but I’ve never felt it was needed. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the practice, I’m sure every woman would agree that the practice should never be violated.

The Orthodox world, which is very slow to change and resistant to modern concepts, has been devastated by this crime. Many are now calling for female leadership and more transparency—both of which I fully support.

We should always remember that predators come in every shape, size, religion, and color. Nobody is above suspicion and public safety must be protected at all costs. Blind faith should only be put in God, never Man.

To every victim of Rabbi Freundel, I would say how sorry I am for such unimaginable suffering and I would encourage them to hate the man, not the religion. Don’t let one horrible person separate you from Judaism and the Jewish community. The community cares about you, God cares about you, and you are not alone.

Anyone is welcome to share personal experiences of a Rabbi abusing their power. Because of the sensitive nature, anonymous comments are fine.