Nathan Lewin

Hundreds will – or should – write about the astounding accomplishments of Julie Berman during his life.

In Print / Op-Eds

My Role In The Rescue Of Jews From Egypt During The Six-Day War

I felt removed from important American decision-making. But I noticed that there was a subject that received little discussion or attention from the career foreign-policy experts at the State Department.

Yale Respects Muslim Values but not Jewish

A tale of two policies: The religious rights denied to Jews by Yale in 1998 have now been granted to Muslims in 2023.

Features

A Battle Won On Purim

Time to ‘Shackle’ Israel’s Supreme Court

The court is primarily responsible for the criticism that now calls for a legislative remedy.

In Memoriam / In Print

The Unforgettable And Irreplaceable Richard Berenson Stone, z”l

His name may not appear in the index of chronicles of Jewish life over the past half-century, but his influence as “rey-eh David” – the intimate of rulers – was felt and appreciated immediately.

In Print / Op-Eds

Sheldon Silver, z”l: ‘A Prominent Person Is Different’

A Democrat legislative colleague commenting on his death called him one of the strongest forces for progressive issues in the New York State Legislature.

Government / Holocaust / Japan / Travel

The Sugihara Exclusion: Israel Bites the Hand that Fed Jews

Israeli bureaucrats have denied visas for the son of a righteous gentile to attend a Jerusalem ceremony in his father’s honor.

The Sugihara Exclusion: Israel Bites the Hand that Fed Jews

Israeli bureaucrats have denied visas for the son of a righteous gentile to attend a Jerusalem ceremony in his father’s honor.

Religious Observance Redux

Interestingly enough, I may now win a case I argued 43 years ago in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Poor advocacy: Kosher Slaughter Badly Defended

Jewish law was sensitive to animal welfare long before Western civilization—typified by the European Court of Justice—ever recognized it as a concern worthy of human attention.

In Print / In Memoriam

Rabbi Dr. Isaac Lewin, zt”l – My Father – On His 25th Yahrzeit

My father’s favorite toy was his portable Hebrew typewriter. I would fall asleep each night on the living-room sofa of our one-bedroom apartment to the clickety-clack of that machine.

In Print / In Memoriam

In Memory Of My Mother, Peppy Sternheim Lewin, a”h: The Woman Responsible for Sugihara’s Famed Visas

All who knew her benefited from her wisdom. In fact, her wisdom saved thousands of Jewish lives.

In Print / Op-Eds

Are Rabbis Less Deserving Than Michael Cohen And Michael Flynn?

A group of Orthodox Jewish men – many of whom did not expect that violence would be employed – were recruited to assist in the performance of a religiously-encouraged venture.

Headline / Op-Eds

Would Netanyahu’s Trial be Different in an American Court?

No one will ever know whether a randomly selected group of Israelis would have charged the Israeli prime minister with committing crimes if Israel had a grand-jury procedure.

No Question is TOO Political for Israel’s Supreme Court

What is surprising, however, is that the Israeli public—not thought to be easily dominated—accepts boundless judicial rule.

Interviews and Profiles

Respecting Chanukah And Yom Kippur: Reflections Upon the Death of Justice John Paul Stevens, 99

Stevens agreed to call off the arguments...and ever since then, the Supreme Court has not sat to hear oral arguments on Yom Kippur.

Supreme Court Agrees With Halacha On Christian Cross

In a 31-page opinion issued last week, seven justices of the United States Supreme Court confirmed a view of religious crosses maintained by leading rabbinic scholars from the thirteenth century to our day.

Front Page / From the Paper

Thirteen Outrages In The Rubashkin Prosecution

In denying a request from an AgriProcessors employee that she recuse herself from his criminal case, Judge Reade did not disclose to him or to Rubashkin’s trial lawyers that she had participated in the planning of the raid.

Op-Eds / From the Paper

Will Defeat In The Jerusalem Passport Case Turn Into Victory?

The Passport Office should immediately withdraw and repeal the special regulations in the Foreign Affairs Manual that instruct how to designate “country of birth” for citizens born in Jerusalem. A renewed passport for any U.S. citizen whose current passport specifies “Jerusalem” should automatically say “Israel.”

Headline / Analysis / From the Paper

Double Legal Standard: Anti-Muslim Bias Is Obvious, Anti-Jewish Bias Doesn’t Exist

10 federal appellate judges eradicated a presidential directive designed to protect the safety of US residents because the judges discerned religious prejudice against Muslims in the president’s motivation.

Justice Scalia As Talmudic Scholar

“Talmudic sages believed that judges who accepted bribes would be punished by eventually losing all knowledge of the divine law.”

‘Getcha’: The Misguided FBI Agunah ‘Sting’

Payment was not, apparently, an essential ingredient in the allegedly criminal conduct the FBI intended to punish if the “Getcha Sting” had succeeded in luring participants into a “forced Get.”

My Rabbi Needs Legal Aid

"Rabbi, how will you answer 2 Jewish men when they ask that their wedding be performed in our shul?"

The Jerusalem Passport Case: Where Do We Go From Here?

In a 1936 majority opinion, Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland said that the president is “the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.”

First Person / Op-Eds

The Trenton Trial: Was It Kidnapping To Free An Agunah?

FBI’s undercover agents contacted ORA (Org. for the Resolution of Agunot) pretending to be an agunah

Obama Sees Khamenei The Way Gandhi Saw Hitler

Obama’s approach to evildoers echoes Gandhi’s fatuous and muddleheaded pleas to his “friend” Hitler

A Disgraceful Precedent

Roosevelt sneaked out of the White House through a rear exit rather than meet with the 400 Rabbis

When My Father Fought The Anti-Semites In Lodz: A Brief Tribute on his Yahrzeit – 28 Menachem Av

In the Thirties it was common for anti-Semites to call on Jews to “go to Palestine!”

Assert Your Right To Observe Yom Tov

Federal and local laws protect your right to workplace accommodations for your religious observance.

Are Christian Invocations Constitutional?

The inauguration of an American president has, since 1937, always begun with an invocation by a clergyman

Menachem Elon: The Sweet Revolutionary

The late Israeli Supreme Court judge Menachem Elon, was a pioneer of Jewish and Israeli law.

Playing For A Higher Authority: The Inside Story Of Beren Hoopsters’ Kiddush Hashem