Pikesville resident Karen C. “Chaya” Friedman, an associate judge on the Baltimore City Circuit Court’s 8th Judicial Circuit, was recently appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as director of criminal justice innovation, development and engagement at the Department of Justice, according to media reports.
She will reportedly start in the new position, housed in the Office of Justice Programs, on Jan. 3.
A Brooklyn, N.Y., native, Friedman, 50, has served on the Circuit Court since 2014 and will step down at the end of this year.
Friedman served as a District Court judge from 2010 to 2014 and as a judge on the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore City from 2001 to 2010. She is one of a handful of Orthodox Jews in the nation who serve as judges, and the first Orthodox female judge in Maryland.
The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Friedman has served as a lay leader for such organizations as CHANA, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel, the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation for Jewish Education, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council and the Baltimore Jewish Council.
“We would like to wish a sincere mazel tov to BJC Board of Governors member Judge Chaya Friedman who has been appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as director of criminal justice innovation, development and engagement at the Department of Justice,” the BJC wrote in a Facebook post.
Friedman was the founder and co-chair of the Domestic Violence Interfaith Initiative. She is also the recipient of the Faith Award by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and the Rosalyn B. Bell Award by the Women’s Law Center.
Earlier this year, Friedman was inducted into the Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame. In addition, she was chosen three times as one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” by the Maryland Daily Record.
Friedman earned her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and her law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she graduated Order of the Coif and serves on the school’s Board of Visitors.
A Shomrei Emunah congregant, Friedman and her husband, businessman and community leader Howard “Tzvi” Friedman, are the parents of two sets of twins, and the grandparents of JJ and Lilly Charnowitz.
The Jerusalem Orchestra East & West, which arranged the program for young musicians, blends Western orchestral music with Middle Eastern traditions.
A Norfolk native, Frankle worked at Sinai Hospital, Camp Airy and privately for five decades.
Esther Greenberg, Leora Match, Kathlleen St. Villier Hill and Ben Gershowitz will be recognized for the contributions to the community.
For more than five decades, Dr. Rosenstein was known by local families as a trusted and caring physician for their children.