Community MagazineOctober 2021

24 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Judge Gina Levy Abadi, an Orthodox woman, will be the newest judge to join the Kings County Supreme Court. She says she is the first in this position to be the child of parents who both were Jewish refugees from Arab lands. “I think it was very important for the Orthodox community to get an Orthodox Jew in,” Levy Abadi says, “because there were so many that left the bench.” She proudly adds that her deep understanding of her community’s practices and beliefs “help me make a better decision than, maybe, someone else would have made.” “They Put Every Penny Toward Our Education” Justice Levy Abadi credits her professional accomplishments to her parents’ passionate commitment to education. Originating from authoritarian Middle Eastern countries, they wanted for her what they could not receive. Her father, David, a native of Egypt, and her mother, Ivette, originally from Syria, both fled the persecution in the 1970s, arriving in the United States as refugees. As youngsters, neither was afforded the opportunity to complete high school. Ivette’s school burned down, and classes discontinued after that. David’s father died at an early age, and David was tasked to find gainful employment in ninth grade to help the family. “Education was very important to give their children, because they were never able to complete even high school,” the justice says. “My father came to this country and took a very humble job. He didn’t have the education to go work in an office and ‘wheel and deal.’ They did what they could. They put every penny toward our education. That’s always in my mind, what he and she both sacrificed for us.” About a quarter-century ago, Levy Abadi graduated from Brooklyn College, and later, from Brooklyn Law School, something she says bucked the norms at the time, when women in the community mostly focused on family over professional life. “I’m proud to say, now, more women go to college… Again, because my parents didn’t finish school, they wanted me to have something to fall back on.” Helping, Instead of Imprisoning She worked as a law clerk for 17 years under Justice Donald Kurtz in the Civil Court, and later in the Supreme Court. She then became a judge of the Kings County Civil Court, a position she filled for six years. In 2019, she served as a civil court judge, and later that year, as criminal court judge. There were times, Levy Abadi noted, where she was especially proud of rulings that were less punitive and more compassionate. In one example, a serial thief with a drug abuse problem kept returning to her court, and rather than cycle him in and out of prison, she steered him towards counseling. “I’m proud of the times we can get people help, so they aren’t coming back to court every week. Sometimes, throwing them in jail – we try that, and they go out and steal again, because they have to pay for their drugs. That’s a lot of cases that I saw. So, I’m proud when I can help them.” Juggling Career, Family & Religion Over the course of the Levy Abadi’s career, being religiously observant required some skillful scheduling maneuvering. • AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JUDGE GINA LEVY ABADI • THE FIRST ORTHODOX SEPHARDIC WOMAN TO JOIN THE NY SUPREME COURT DAVE GORDON