First Hasidic Female Judge Sworn In — to ‘God Bless America’ in Yiddish
(JTA) — Rachel Freier of Brooklyn officially became the first Hasidic woman to be sworn in as a judge in the State of New York.
Freier, a mother of six and former lawyer who practiced commercial and residential estate law, was sworn in Thursday as the Civil Court judge in Kings County’s 5th judicial district, CBS reported.
Freier won in September the vote in the district, which encompasses the Brooklyn communities of Kensington, Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace, among others.
Present at Freier’s swearing in ceremony the Hasidic performer Lipa Schmeltzer, who performed the song “God Bless America” in Yiddish while wearing a white suit with colorful doodles, the vosizneias website reported.
After graduating from high school, Freier, 51, who is also known as Ruchie, worked as a legal secretary and paralegal to support her husband’s Talmudic studies. She is a graduate of Touro College and Brooklyn Law School, and founded the all-female EMT agency Ezras Nashim.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!