Judge Rachel Frier, the founder of the Ezrat Nashim women’s empowerment nonprofit, spoke at the Arutz Sheva Jerusalem Conference in NYC.
“Without God’s help, I could never do all of this,” she commented, speaking of the rigors of her career, nonprofit, and both children and grandchildren.
“To those who say they can’t do it – I say take one day at a time, and never compromise your values, never compromise what connects you to G-d to succeed in the secular world. Most people thought that it would hinder my success if I remained Jewish and Hassidic, but it actually earned the respect of my colleagues. The act that gets the most comments is that I don”t shake hands with men. At the very first moment, I say, ‘Please forgive me, I don”t shake hands, I”m Hassidic, but I could be your friend.”

Judge Frier also spoke about the NGO Ezrat Nashim: “When I was going through my journey, many people told me it”s impossible. Naysayers were everywhere. They said I”d never get to law school, and even if I did, I’d never graduate, and I kept on saying, ‘if G-d wants it to happen, it will’, and I didn”t let them distract me.”
“When I got to law school, it was the first time I had ever seen the secular academic world. I promised G-d that if He helped me through law school, I would help others. It started with a phone call that asked for a woman haredi lawyer. When I met these women and heard their cause, I thought if I went through law school for this alone, it was worth it.”
“There were a couple of men that tried to stop us. Most of the men and Rabbis understood, but there were some who tried to stop us, and they made a big mistake. They tried to tell us we couldn”t make it. I said, ‘Really?’ We can raise families but not do this?”

“We”re not saying we’re the same as men. We don”t need a secular concept to tell us how powerful we are, the Torah gives it to us. I”ll prove it. What determines if you”re Jewish? Your mother. Sometimes men push us down, but that”s not the religion, and if anyone tries to stop women or stop me, I won”t let them.”
Judge Frier says that she sees no issues between Jewish and secular law. “Jewish law and secular law do not contradict. I”m a judge in a secular court, so for the issues that come before me, we use secular law, and the Torah recognizes secular law in secular matters. All the concepts of Torah I grew up with help me. In the Torah, the judge sits is equated to G-d, so that”s why I”m here, G-d put me here. I do a lot of praying.”
Judge Frier isn’t sure how she’ll continue her work: “I don”t know. I pray that G-d leads the way for me. He knows best what”s next for me.”