In Times of Fear, Will We Respond with Courage and Faith?

B1 THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017 Judge: ‘It’s the American dream,’

EW YORK — In some ways, Rachel Freier has a background that might be expected in a new civil court judge. She is a real estate Nlawyer who volunteers in family court and in her community, where she serves as a para- medic. But Freier started work last week as something quite unexpected. She’s believed to be the first woman from Judaism’s ultra-Ortho- dox Hasidic community to be elected a judge in the United States. Aproudproductofaworldwithstrictcus- toms concerning gender roles and modesty, the new Brooklyn civil court judge started college as a married, 30-year-old mother of three children and had three more before graduating. A pathbreaker who embraces tradition, she has sometimes had to explain herself to both outsiders and fellow believers. “My commitment to the public and my commitmenttomyreligionandmycom- munity — the two can go hand in hand,” she says. At a swearing-in ceremony last month, she vowed to uphold the Constitution and pledged to illuminate the Hasidic world for her new colleagues. “This is a dream,” she told the gathering. “It’s the American dream.” There’s no official tally of American judges’ religions, but experts aren’t aware of any Hasidic woman before Freier win- ning a judicial post. It is extremely rare even in Israel for Hasidic or other ultra-Orthodox women to hold any elected position. Freier, a political newcomer whose uncle is a former judge, won a three-way Demo- cratic primary and the general election in a swath of Brooklyn that includes the heavily Hasidic Borough Park neighborhood. Her election is “a step for the ultra-Ortho- dox community at large,” showing it’s open to women making progress on the politi- ‘My commitment to the public and my commitment to my religion and my community — the two can go hand in hand,’ said Rachel Freier, cal ladder, said Yossi Gestetner, a longtime above, apparently the first woman from Judaism’s ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community to be elected as a judge in the United States. Below, Hasidic political activist and public relations in 2011, Yochevev Lerner, right, demonstrates a cardiopulmonary resuscitation technique to Freier during a women’s-only CPR training consultant who co-managed Freier’s cam- session in New York. AP files paign. Hasids and other ultra-Orthodox groups ize “I was completely devoted to our religion together make up only 6 percent of America’s and our tradition, and this was something I estimated 5.3 million adult Jews, according wanted to do regardless,” she says. to a 2013 Pew Research Center study. “I didn’t want to ever be considered some- Dating to 18th century Eastern Europe, one who was turning away from my commu- Hasidism combines stringent adherence to nity,” but rather to work within its structure, Jewish law and a joyful belief in mysticism. she said. FollowersoftenspeakYiddish,weartradi- That has sometimes required finding cre- tional dress including beards and sidelocks ative ways to resolve issues. for men and wigs for married women, and An appeal for help from boys who had separate men and women in contexts rang- chafed in Orthodox Jewish schools, for ing from buses to classrooms. example, led Freier to found a program that “The very idea that an ultra-Orthodox helps young men get general educational woman could be a judge” is notable, said development diplomas. SamuelHeilman,aCityUniversityofNew Then Freier was enlisted to represent York sociology professor who studies Ortho- Orthodox Jewish women who wanted to join dox Judaism. an all-male volunteer ambulance corps, aim- Under the strictest interpretations of Jew- ing to aid fellow women during childbirth or ish law, women can’t be judges or largely gynecological emergencies. even witnesses in the rabbinical courts that After ambulance corps leaders rebuffed weigh various disputes in Orthodox commu- the idea, which a well-known Orthodox nities. (Freier notes that her new post is sepa- Jewish blog called a “new radical feminist rate from those tribunals.) agenda,” Freier helped the women launch Freier, 51, nicknamed Ruchie, started their own volunteer service and joined it her- working as a legal secretary after high self. school. College wasn’t customary for Hasidic Shewasstilltakingherturnoncallthis women, though it has since become more past week. common. After graduating from a women-only, Ortho- School, finishing in 2005. If there’s a message she hopes her election But when her husband, David, got a col- dox Jewish-friendly program at private Some other Hasidic Jews questioned sends, it’s “don’t give up.” lege degree,Grand she Rapids aspired Press to one - of01/26/2017 her own. Touro College, sheCopy went Reduced on to Brooklyn to 80% Law fromwhat original she wasto fit doing. letter Butpage they came to real- “And don’t let go of yourPage standards.” : B01

INTERFAITH INSIGHT Intimesoffear,willwerespondwithcourageandfaith?

Douglas Kindschi when so many equated that term with ter- PresidentBarackObamaspokeaboutthe States Armed Forces, who had been recog- Director, Kaufman Interfaith Institute, GVSU rorist.” danger of fear. nized by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Patelgoesontorelateanincident50years “Fear can lead us to lash out against those Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. Will our religious faith prior in that same Chicago park, when Mar- who are different, or can lead us to succumb He is the first American soldier to be be tested in the months and tin Luther King Jr. was leading a march to despair, or paralysis, or cynicism. Fear can named as Righteous Among the Nations for years ahead? Standing for protesting housing discrimination. King feed our most selfish impulses, and erode rescuing Jewish servicemen at a POW Camp what is right, sometimes, also was fearful because of the racists who the bonds of community. It is a primal emo- in Germany during World War II. demands courage. had threatened violence. He was hit in the tion — fear — one that we all experience. When Edmonds, the Christian prisoner, Unfortunately, there has been an increase head and knocked down by a brick that was And it can be contagious, spreading through was ordered to identify which of the soldiers of hate speech and acts of hate in our current thrown his way. societies, and through nations. And if we let were Jewish, he ordered all of the troops to environment and our response may be put Nashashibi was aware of that incident it consume us, the consequences of that fear line up, all 1,000 of them. to the test. and, in fact, had been working to erect a can be worse than any outward threat.” The Nazi colonel said, “I asked only for the In a recent article, Eboo Patel, the inter- statue of King in that very area. Obama then spoke from his own Christian Jewish POWs. These can’t all be Jewish.” faith leader and founder of the Interfaith In Patel’s words: “In that same place, 50 faith, quoting from II Timothy: “For God has Sgt. Edmonds stood there and said, “We Youth Core, wrote about his fellow Chica- years apart, two men of different faiths notgivenusaspiritoffear,butofpowerand are all Jews.” goan, Rami Nashashibi, whose deep Muslim faced a similar question: Would their faith of love and of a sound mind.” (1:7) And the colonel took out his pistol and faith inspires him to work for social justice bethevictimoffearorthesourceofcour- Obamacontinued,“Forme,andIknow held it to the master sergeant’s head and in the poor neighborhoods of South Chicago. age? Thousands of fellow protesters were for so many of you, faith is the great cure for said, “Tell me who the Jews are.” While with his three children in his neigh- watching King. Three Muslim children were fear… God gives us the courage to reach out And he repeated, “We are all Jews.” borhood park, he realized that it was time for watching Nashashibi.” to others across that divide, rather than push Faced with the choice of shooting all the scheduled prayer Muslims do five times Despite his misgivings, he refused to people away. He gives us the courage to go 1,000 soldiers, the Nazis relented. aday. teach his children fear. So he put his prayer against the conventional wisdom and stand Through his courage and faith, Sgt. However, Patel wrote in Sojourners, it rug down and began his prayers. up for what’s right, even when it’s not pop- Edmonds saved the lives of 200 of his Jewish was just a few “days after the terrible terror- In Nashashibi’s words, “I want them to ular.” fellow soldiers. ist attack in San Bernardino, where extrem- understand that, sometimes, faith will be Sometimes, courage is also required to Inthedaysahead,manyofusmaybe ists calling themselves Muslims murdered tested, and that we will be asked to show stand up for someone else who is under faced with choices requiring courage as we 14 people and injured many more … He immense courage, like others have before us, threat. seek to protect and love those among us who found himself suddenly struck by fear at the to make our city, our country, and our world Obama went on to relate the story of the are being threatened in a potential climate thought of praying in public and therefore a better reflection of all our ideals.” late Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, of the of fear. being openly identified as Muslim at a time At the National Prayer Breakfast last year, 422ndInfantryRegimentintheUnited [email protected]