Brooklyn swears in nation’s first female Hasidic judge
Rachel “Ruchie” Freier made history in Brooklyn last week when she became the first-ever Hasidic woman to become a judge in the U.S. during an installation ceremony at Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday.
“When Ruchie decided to run, I don’t think there was anybody anywhere who thought Ruchie was going to win,” said Hon. Noach Dear, who served as master of ceremonies for the event. “They said that Borough Park is never going to vote for a woman for judge. They got that wrong. One of the things I said to them [was] ‘Did you meet her yet? Meet her and tell me then.’ I met her a few years ago, and I said to myself that this is someone who is outstanding, she’s really good. She’s prepared and ready.”
Judge Freier, who graduated from Brooklyn Law School and founded an all-female EMT agency Ezras Nashim, was sworn in by her uncle David I. Schmidt, former justice of the Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term. Hasidic performer Lipa Schmeltzer also performed the national anthem and “God Bless America” in Yiddish at the ceremony, where there were no shortage of friends and colleagues on hand to congratulate the new judge.