A rabbi and his wife are engaged in a court battle over his alleged involvement with prostitutes and her role in a sting operation to catch him.

Long Island rabbi Avraham Rabinowich, who is even alleged to have hired prostitutes on Shabbat – after services - was secretly filmed by a private investigator. The investigator had been hired by his wife Dr Amora Rachelle during a custody fight.

The father-of-three is the vice president of the Long Island Board of Rabbis and a highly respected rabbi in New York's Masorti Jewish community.

The case dates back to 2006, when the rabbi was filmed in a hotel room with two women.

Dr Rachelle, who said "since when are prostitutes kosher?", also told the New York Post that she was particularly angered by her supposedly pious husband's failure to take the women to a mikvah (ritual bath).

The case continues at the Manhattan state Supreme Court.