by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

December 4, 2008

Judge Joseph H. Lerner of South Orange and Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., a national Jewish leader when his native Newark was the center of an active and influential Jewish community, died on Nov. 22 at age 94.

His son, Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, described his father as an avid Zionist who served as national vice president of the Zionist Organization of America and traveled with the ZOA to Palestine on a mission to promote statehood for Israel.

Rabbi Lerner, whose magazine is a fixture on the Jewish Left, characterized Judge Lerner as “a lifelong Likudnik,” adding that his own views were nevertheless shaped by his father’s incorruptibility and his criticism of the Jewish establishment of his day.

Judge Lerner served as attorney for the Draft Board in World War II, as a municipal judge in Newark, and as director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control division in the administration of Gov. Brendan Byrne (1974-82).

Judge Lerner was active with his first wife, Bea, in many Democratic Party events, including attending a star-studded 1960 gala for then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy at the Newark Armory.

Lerner’s parents were both Russian immigrants to Newark, where he was born. His father, a rabbi from the Bratzlav hasidic movement, led Newark’s Orthodox Congregation Anshe Sfard Linas Hazedek on Prince Street.

Judge Lerner received a bachelor’s degree from Upsala College and a law degree, with honors, from Rutgers Law School.

Judge Lerner, who lived in the Weequahic section of Newark, rejected the Orthodoxy of his parents and joined Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, where he and Bea raised their family.

In 1960, the Lerners joined the Jewish migration to the suburbs. They moved to South Orange and joined Conservative Congregation Beth El of the Oranges and Maplewood (now known as Congregation Beth El). He served on the synagogue’s board of trustees and as its men’s club president and remained a member for 40 years, even after moving to Florida.

On the national stage, in addition to serving as national vice president of the ZOA, he sat on the board of the Anti-Defamation League.

Michael Lerner remembers how his father opened their Newark family home to the community, whether for meetings of the Zionist Council of Essex County, which Judge Lerner served as president, or to officiate at weddings.

“He used to marry people in our living room — sometimes it was three or four couples in the course of a Sunday,” said his son. “They were people who couldn’t afford big weddings; they would go to the judge, and he would offer our place.”

Michael Lerner also recalled his father’s sense of humor.

“He always had two or three jokes. That’s why he was in such demand as a speaker for Israel Bonds and UJA and the Zionist movement. It was for his jokes,” said Michael, who recalled his father going from synagogue to synagogue to urge people to give money to Israel Bonds.

And he remembered his father’s love for local Jewish bakeries, among them the Bergen Bake Shop. “Every night on his way home from court, he would stop off to get delicious cakes and breads. And he knew if he wanted a good apple turnover, you went to one place, but if you wanted something chocolate, it had to be the Bergen Bake Shop.”

The younger Lerner, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., said his father’s outlook on the local Jewish community had a formative impact on his own perspective.

“My father was critical of the federation and the materialistic orientation of the organized Jewish community, even though he was a part of it,” he said.

And he said his own view of government is “a reaction to the way I saw him being treated by political leaders.”

Lerner said lawyers would often come to the judge’s office and plunk money on his desk, seeking favorable treatment of a client. “My father would say, ‘What’s this for?’ They would say, ‘I’m representing blah blah blah.’ My father would refuse. I got a very strong message about how corrupt our judicial system was.”

Later, according to Michael, the state bar opposed his father’s pending appointment to the state Supreme Court.

“They said he was too tough a city judge. What they meant was he didn’t take bribes. It had a dramatic effect on my politics,” said Lerner.

Bea Lerner succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease in 1992. In addition to Michael, Judge Lerner is survived by his second wife, the former Joyce Roman; his daughter, TV comedy writer and playwright Trish Vradenburg of Washington, DC; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

In accordance with the deceased’s wishes, the family requests that any donations in his memory be made to either Tikkun magazine or the National Alzheimer’s Association.

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