Edited By: Fern Sidman
A beloved community activist and staunch advocate for Jewish rights
Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish communities were plunged into a sea of grief early Sunday morning when news emerged about the untimely passing of New York Supreme Court Judge and former NY City Council member Noach Dear, 67. Dear had valiantly fought for his life for the last few weeks while attached to a ventilator. He too was a victim of the deadly invisible enemy known as the horrific COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
Dear, a beloved figure throughout the Jewish community, was a native Brooklynite and as a child he was in Eli Lipsker’s Pirchei Agudath Israel Choir, and sang on the first New York Pirchei album. He attended Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and went on to Brooklyn College where he graduated in 1975 with a BS degree. He also attained a Masters in Social Work degree from Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work and a JD degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1991.
As a well respected and active member of the Jewish community of Midwood in Brooklyn, Dear always placed himself in the forefront of burning Jewish issues and was an ardent and vocal supporter of Israel. As a prominent member of the New York City Council from 1983-2001, he championed the issues of the communities he represented (Midwood, Bensonhurst and most of Boro Park in the 44th district) before the Council and worked tirelessly with his colleagues and former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, who gave Dear his ringing endorsement.
HaModia reported that Dear was known as an ardent advocate of protecting the morality issues which were close to the hearts of his constituents despite what other politicians held on these matters. In 1986 Dear voted against a civil rights bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodation. The bill passed anyway.
While serving on the Transportation Committee of the City Council, Noach opposed “dollar vans,” commuter vans which offered a transportation alternative.
After his tenure on the City Council, Dear was appointed as Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission for a seven-year term.
In 2008 he began his career on the bench, serving first as a civil court judge, then as an acting Supreme Court Justice in 2010, and finally in 2015 as a permanent justice in the Brooklyn Supreme Court, as was reported by the Jewish Press.
Dear’s civil court judgeship represented Brooklyn’s Fifth Municipal Court District, chiefly his old Boro Park base when he served on the City Council, as was reported by Matzav.com.
After serving in the civil court system for a bit over two years, Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau appointed Dear as a Supreme Court Justice largely as a result of his impressive accomplishments in consumer debt court. He quickly gained acclaim for cracking down on suits by debt collectors, as was reported by Matzav.
Dear became increasingly focused on consumer debt, and became the ranking judge in Brooklyn in consumer debt issues. He developed a manual for judges on credit card debt at the instruction of the state’s retiring Chief Justice Jonathan Lippmann. “I took this whole concept of consumer debt and turned it into a national issue. We changed the way we do business,” Dear told Hamodia at the time.
When Rachel “Ruchie” Freier made history in Brooklyn by becoming the first-ever Hasidic woman to become a judge in the U.S., it was Noach Dear who served as master of ceremonies for the event that was held at Borough Hall in downtown Brooklyn.
According to a December 2016 report in the Brooklyn Eagle, Dear said, “When Ruchie decided to run, I don’t think there was anybody anywhere who thought Ruchie was going to win. 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.”
Yeshiva World News reported that Dear’s name was splashed on newspaper headlines in 2017 when he was subject to an anti-Semitic incident on the streets of Brooklyn. A man began screaming anti-Semitic expletives at him as he was walking near Maimonides Hospital early in the morning. Dear ignored the man, entered his car and called the police.
Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who served the same general community as Dear on the state level, said, “This is such sad news. Noach was a champion, a fighter for his people and all of his constituents. He especially cared for the voiceless and powerless, and dedicated his every single day to making the world a better place.”
“Judge Dear had a certain energetic, colorful persona that epitomized the great diversity not only with respect to the Kings County Judiciary but also as a member of our Bar Association and Brooklyn Community at large,” said Brooklyn Bar Association President Frank Carone. “He will be sorely missed.”
Chaskel Bennett, a community askan, said Dear was a “legendary public servant & representative who understood that his position should be used to help the most vulnerable & downtrodden. He was respected & admired. To watch him pray was an experience. He will be deeply missed.”
