“When I was in law school, I made a deal with Hashem. If He would help me get through law school without compromising my standards, I would do my best to give back to the community.” And that’s exactly what Freier has done.
During her annual trip to Meron on Lag Ba’Omer in 2008, Freier met a woman who came to daven for her 16-year-old son who was “on the streets” after being expelled and rejected from numerous yeshivos. It was after speaking to him and “countless other boys in the same predicament” that she founded B’Derech – a GED program for chassidish young men.
In 2011, a group of women from her community who were licensed EMTs extended to her an invitation to join their meeting. Though they were precluded from joining Hatzolah, the all-male emergency corps, they still wanted to offer their services to the women in their community. After listening to their story, Freier became a licensed paramedic herself and was tapped as the director for Ezras Nashim, which she describes as “the first all women’s volunteer EMT Corps that responds to emergency calls by women.”
Freier holds an advanced EMT license and completed a full year of training in Northshore LIJ (now Northwell). “My medical training as a paramedic gave me a better understanding of the law as well as cases with personal injury, trauma, and vehicular accidents. I gained a broader perspective on public advocacy, emergency medicine, and public health law,” she added.
According to Freier, the inspiration for her activism stemmed from her admiration of Sarah Schenirer, the pioneer of the Bais Yaakov movement.
“Sarah Schenirer was a true pioneer of her day, as I learned from Carry Me in Your Heart: The Life & Legacy of Sarah Schenirer by Pearl Benisch. She (Sara Schenirer) faced a lot of opposition starting a new educational system for Jewish girls in Europe, but stayed true to her belief in how the movement would benefit klal yisrael,” Freier said.
Her message to Orthodox girls and young women: go for your dreams and be proud of who you are, but don’t compromise your religious standards.
Freier continued, “Sara Schenirer taught her students that a Jewish daughter needs a dress with two pockets to carry the following sayings: in one pocket, ‘Kol kevudah bas melech penima – the honor of a princess is inside’ (Tehillim 45:14) that represented the importance of modesty, on the one hand. And in the other pocket, ‘Es laasos leHashem heiferu es torasecha – If it for the sake of Hashem, they have made a void in the Torah” (ibid. 119:126). Baruch Hashem we are living in a beautiful day and age where there are so many opportunities we can take a part of. And we should.”