Kesher Talk

What would Rashi do? A group of Jewish lawyers and legal scholars have formed the National Institute for Judaic Law to promote understanding of Jewish law among students and the general population.

One important legal mind who already has expressed an interest in Judaic law is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The Institute's director discussed Jewish law with Scalia a few years ago when the latter came to Buffalo to speak at his law school. The professor later received a letter from the justice noting the benefit of studying other law systems, especially one as developed as Jewish law.

“Knowledge of another legal system helped him to understand [the U.S. legal] system” better,” said the director of Scalia’s note.

The Catholic Scalia was one of three Supreme Court justices — along with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, both of whom are Jewish — who attended and delivered brief remarks at the institute’s kick-off event earlier this month at the Supreme Court. The 200-person event also included a sit-down kosher dinner, the first ever served at the nation’s highest court.

D.C. lawyer Alyza Lewin, who is helping to coordinate the institute, said the organization hopes to start a monthly luncheon program that will examine a particular issue, and is planning to hold a national conference on Jewish law and business ethics sometime next year.

posted by Howard @ 11/27/2002 08:12:28 AM