Jews and the Law
About this ebook
are and what they believe. This anthology engages with the growing complexity
of what it is to be Jewish — and, more problematically, what it means to be at
once Jewish and participate in secular legal systems as lawyers, judges, legal
thinkers, civil rights advocates, and teachers. The essays in this book trace
the history and chart the sociology of the Jewish legal profession over time,
revealing new stories and dimensions of this significant aspect of the American
Jewish experience and at the same time exploring the impact of Jewish lawyers
and law firms on American legal practice.
“This superb collection reveals what an older focus on
assimilation obscured. Jewish lawyers wanted to ‘make it,’ but they also wanted
to make law and the legal profession different and better. These fascinating
essays show how, despite considerable obstacles, they succeeded.”
— Daniel R. Ernst
Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Author of Tocqueville’s
Nightmare: The Administrative State Emerges in America, 1900-1940
“This fascinating collection of essays by distinguished
scholars illuminates the distinctive and intricate relationship between Jews
and law. Exploring the various roles of Jewish lawyers in the United States,
Germany, and Israel, they reveal how the practice of law has variously
expressed, reinforced, or muted Jewish identity as lawyers demonstrated their
commitments to the public interest, social justice, Jewish tradition, or
personal ambition. Any student of law, lawyers, or Jewish values will be
engaged by the questions asked and answered.”
— Jerold S. Auerbach
Professor Emeritus of History, Wellesley College
Author of Unequal
Justice and Rabbis and Lawyers
About the author
The editors: Ari Mermelstein is Assistant Professor of Bible at Yeshiva University • Victoria Saker Woeste is Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation • Ethan Zadoff is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History of CUNY’s Graduate Center • Marc Galanter is Professor of Law and South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Chapter contributions are by internationally recognized scholars in their fields.
