Jewish law institute launched in DC

By Janine Zacharia
The Jerusalem Post
Nov. 9, 2002

Jewish legal experts have created a new institute that will educate jurists
and others about 2,000 years of Jewish law and promote the application
of the teachings to contemporary legal disputes and other modern-day
issues.

The launch of the Washington-based National Institute for Judaic Law
was marked Tuesday night with a kosher dinner at the Supreme Court
attended by 200 people, including three Supreme Court Justices - Ruth
Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, and Antonin Scalia.

US President George W. Bush sent greetings and applauded the institute
for promoting an "understanding of Judaism's rich tradition of legal thought."

"As we face new challenges and welcome new opportunities, our society
must continue to promote good character and strong values. Through the
study and teaching of Jewish law and philosophy you are contributing to
a growing culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility in America,"
Bush wrote.

Scalia, in a letter to the institute's founder, Noson Gurary, wrote that
"Jewish law is certainly one of the oldest and most highly developed
systems" and explained why the comparative study of legal traditions
was beneficial.

"The idea is to make Jewish law more accessible to everyone," said
Washington lawyer Alyza Lewin. Both Lewin and her father Nathan
Lewin are helping establish the institute.

Last year, Alyza Lewin filed a brief to the Supreme Court based on the
Talmud's take on capital punishment when the court was readying to
hear a case on the constitutionality of the electric chair.

"Legal scholars often like to know what other legal traditions have said
about certain issues," said Alyza Lewin. Filing that kind of opinion is only
part of the institute's mandate. It will also promote the teaching of Jewish
law, develop curricula on Jewish law that can be integrated into traditional
law school courses, and serve as a resource for anyone wanting to know
what the vast Jewish legal tradition has to say on various issues.

The institute's first project, already underway, explores how Jewish law
can be applied to modern-day issues surrounding corporate ethics, an
idea spurred by the recent corporate scandals involving Enron and
Worldcom.

[ Comment: the justification being the heavy involvement of
Jewish criminals in those examples? (Mere sarcasm, of course)]

Gurary, who teaches at the State University of New York at Buffalo,
thought up the idea of the institute about nine months ago. "By
demonstrating the philosophy of Jewish law and its moral values,
we can bring a little beacon of light in this world," Gurary said.
"I think this is what we need now, in this day and age."