Noach Dear z”l [who passed away April 19th 2020] was a master of disguise. To the general public he seemed to be a loud, brash politician. To those who knew him personally, and the hundreds of strangers he helped without any thought of reward, knew him as a person of extraordinary kindness and compassion, who used his connections to help others. His aron, along with four others, was on a private plane to bring him to kevurah in Eretz Yisrael. A non-Jew had to approve the flight and its human “cargo.” He looked at the documents and said, “Noach Dear? He helped me,” and cleared the flight without hesitation. As a judge on the State Supreme Court, he earned the praise of the New York Times – no friend of Orthodox Jews – for defending the rights of simple people, mostly minorities, against banks and corporations.
But there was another element to this servant of Klal Yisrael, his outstanding p’nimius. Without fanfare, he davened vasikin every day. On Thursday nights he said the entire Sefer Tehillim. His Shemoneh Esrei at Minchah and Maariv stretched over two minyanim and the intense concentration on his face testfied to his kavanah.
It was a great loss to our community when he was term-limited out of the New York City Council. On one occasion Mayor Ed Koch tried to intimidate Council members to vote for an initiative that contradicted Torah law. Noach asked HaRav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l what he should do and he followed the Rosh Yeshiva’s directive in spite of personal risk. Over the years he was close to
and consulted the Klausenberger Rebbe, HaRav Gifter, and others zt”l of the previous generation. For many years he was close to and guided by the roshei yeshiva Harav Dovid ztz"l and HaRav Reuven Feinstein shlit”a.
He was an outstanding public servant and a servant of Klal Yisrael. Most politicians guarded their favors very carefully, not using them excessively, Noach was not the regular politician. He would
not care to reach out to the same person, time and time again if it can help someone.
He fought for the downtrodden as much as the VIP person. Chasidish, Litvish, Mizrachi, Sefardi, frum or non frum. He would help anyone as much as the VIP person.
His son in law, R’ Aron Hertz, told me that he received a call from his shver, Noach. Already in distress from the virus, just before being intubated, Noach was reminding his son in law to make sure he delivers Erev Pesach Matzos to R’ Dovid Feinstein. All that was on his mind to do a Toiva and serve Talmidei Chachomim.
Peter Rebenwertzel, an askan, and close friend of Noach told me a story that a number of years ago he went together with Noach, to visit the then Vice President of the United States, Al Gore. the request, was to rescue 300 Sifrei Torah in the Middle East. It would seem to be an impossibility. Not with Noach. The Vice President said he would look into it and three weeks later it was done.
As recent as one month ago, Noach reached out to me and offered his help. I needed someone in the hierarchy of New York State to facilitate our operations in healthcare during the CORONA crisis. He did not hesitate for one minute. He made the necessary connections and in less than an hour I received responses.
not care to reach out to the same person, time and time again if it can help someone.
He fought for the downtrodden as much as the VIP person. Chasidish, Litvish, Mizrachi, Sefardi, frum or non frum. He would help anyone as much as the VIP person.
His son in law, R’ Aron Hertz, told me that he received a call from his shver, Noach. Already in distress from the virus, just before being intubated, Noach was reminding his son in law to make sure he delivers Erev Pesach Matzos to R’ Dovid Feinstein. All that was on his mind to do a Toiva and serve Talmidei Chachomim.
Peter Rebenwertzel, an askan, and close friend of Noach told me a story that a number of years ago he went together with Noach, to visit the then Vice President of the United States, Al Gore. the request, was to rescue 300 Sifrei Torah in the Middle East. It would seem to be an impossibility. Not with Noach. The Vice President said he would look into it and three weeks later it was done.
As recent as one month ago, Noach reached out to me and offered his help. I needed someone in the hierarchy of New York State to facilitate our operations in healthcare during the CORONA crisis. He did not hesitate for one minute. He made the necessary connections and in less than an hour I received responses.
The stories, will go on and on. Countless chasodim. Noach always getting the job done.
His critics would say he is too pushy, not polished, rubs people the wrong way. This was his biggest shvach, his greatest attribute He was ONLY able to accomplish the thousands of Chasodim thru his insistence and direct approach. He could reach out to the sergeant at the local precinct or if needed, call someone in the Government, or an Administration official close to the President of the United States. If the need was there Noach would get it done.
However, as much as we think we knew Noach we didn’t, any decision that he made politically, Halachically, personally, it was done with daas Torah. He accepted any decision that was issued by his Morah Horaah and Rabanim, R' Dovid Feinstein Ztz"l R’ Hanoch Leibowitz zt”l, R’ Zelig Epstein zt”l and others.
We shouldn’t just mourn and cry over this humble askan and his ability to have cared for every Yid that came his way, we should try to emulate his ways of helping a fellow Jew and never giving up, even when the chips are down. Instead, fight to get the job done.
