We then decided to honor three representative Jewish federal judges in the courts below the Supreme Court. These were Judge Pierre Leval of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Judge Loren Smith of the United States Court of Federal Claims.
The date was cleared with Justice Scalia’s office and with the calendars of Justices Ginsburg and Breyer – November 5, 2002, which was, in the evening, the first of Kislev 5763. The finest glatt kosher caterer in Washington was lined up, and the invitations went out.
I had agreed to chair the event, and Rabbi Gurary left formulation of the program to me. An obvious subject for introductory comments was the obligation of every society subject to sheva mitzvos b’nai Noach – the Seven Noahide Commandments – to establish courts of law. What could be more relevant to an event in the highest judicial body of the United States than the biblical duty to administer justice? How could I introduce that subject?
The neshamos of Rav Meir Shapiro, zt”l, and of his very close friend and colleague, my grandfather Rav Aharon Lewin, zt”l, the rav of Rszezow (“Reisha”) and also an elected member of the Sejm and leader of Agudas Yisroel, came to my aid. With their inspiration I looked ahead to the Daf Yomi for the first of Kislev 5763. It was daf nun-vov (56) of Maseches Sanhedrin.
The bottom of a mud alef of that daf begins a discussion of the sheva mitzvos b’nai Noach, and it continues on the next amud with a discussion of Dinin – the obligation to establish courts to administer justice in civil disputes. How far does this obligation extend? The Rambam and the Ramban disagree on the precise nature of this mitzvah.
The audience was overwhelmingly Jewish so that the presence of some non-Jews in the group did not create any halachic problem in teaching Torah to the entire assemblage. So I prepared for distribution pages of the relevant Gemara and the marvelous ArtScroll translation and footnotes. I also included a biography of Rav Meir Shapiro and a description of his revolutionary idea whereby Jews all over the world would be studying the same daf each day.
After the several hundred guests (including the three justices and the three federal judges) took their seats that evening, I rose for introductory remarks. I said, “We will begin this evening with the tradition of studying Jewish Law.” I explained Daf Yomi and then said that “the folio for this evening is Tractate Sanhedrin, page 56. Students of Jewish Law all over the world are studying that folio this evening and tomorrow.”
I ascribed to Divine Guidance the coincidence that the Daf Yomi page happened to cover, on this night of all nights, “the existence of this court and lower courts in the federal and state systems.” We then read and explained the relevant passages on the daf. I told the assemblage, “You can go home and tell your friends and neighbors that not only did you enjoy a delicious kosher meal at the Supreme Court, but you also learned Daf Yomi at the Supreme Court.”
The justices then delivered their personal messages. Justice Scalia referred humorously to the fact that during the hiatus of 25 years when the Supreme Court had no Jewish justice he was the closest the Court came to a Jewish member because he not only could pronounce “yeshiva” but even knew what a yeshiva is. Justice Ginsburg spoke proudly of the fact that she has a mezuzah on her office doorpost and that she feels linked to her Jewish heritage. Justice Breyer spoke of his view that liberty, tzedaka, and social conscience are intertwined in Jewish and American traditions.