The American Association of Jewish Lawyers & Jurists (AAJLJ) is a nonprofit association representing the American Jewish legal community.
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AAJLJ Board Member Harold Halpern on Israeli Law Politics
Click here to view Harold Halpern’s column in the Sarasota Herald Tribune
AAJLJ Updates
In Memoriam ~ Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The AAJLJ mourns the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A tireless civil rights lawyer who was singularly responsible for the recognition of equal rights for all regardless of gender, tearing down legally-enabled barriers to women in employment, health care, parental rights, education and more, in a remarkable series of cases she argued and won at the Supreme Court from 1973 to 1978, she brought about a revolution in gender equality.
As a Justice she was a champion of equality before the law, reinforcing and expanding gender equality, as exemplified in her majority opinion in the Virginia Military Institute case, and also fighting against limitations on the the right to vote, expanding the right to counsel for indigent defendants, and narrowing the use of the death penalty. Justice Ginsburg became a national icon, particularly for women, who accurately credited her for the remarkable expansion of opportunities for them that resulted from her ground-breaking achievements as an advocate and a Justice.
The AAJLJ was proud to honor RBG as the first recipient of its Pursuit of Justice Award in recognition of her life as the living embodiment of the biblical injunction, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.”
The AAJLJ sends its condolences to her family, and to the community at large, during this difficult time.
May her memory be for a blessing. Jewish law teaches a person who passes on Rosh Hashanah, as well as on the Sabbath, is a tzaddik, a righteous person. We will remember and honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a Tzaddeket.
2019 Pursuit of Justice Awards with Baruch Weiss, Stuart Kurlander, and Alyza D. Lewin
Stuart Kurlander is a healthcare and life sciences partner in Latham & Watkins’ Washington, D.C. office and is Global Co-Chair of the Israel Practice. Baruch Weiss, after over 20 years in public service, is now a partner in Arnold & Porter’s D.C. office and has been an avid defender of the rights of Jews. Alyza D. Lewin, the immediate past president of the AAJLJ and current President of the Brandeis Center, is a founding and managing partner at Lewin & Lewin, where she and her father, Nat Lewin, advocate tirelessly for the rights of the Jewish people and their ability to practice freely in all aspects of life. Previous recipients include Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, Justice Stephen Breyer, and this year’s attendees including Nathan Lewin, Seth Waxman, Robert Weinberg, Martin Mendelsohn, and Gabriel Groisman. See coverage of the event in the Washington Jewish Week POJ Recipients Bob Weinberg, Baruch Weiss, and AAJLJ President Stephen Greenwald Federal Judge with Past POJ Recipient Seth Waxman Former AAJLJ President and Past POJ Recipient Nat Lewin
POJ 2018
POJ 2018 (Hon. Robert Abrams and Mayor Gabriel Groisman)
Recent mission to Israel
In late June several AAJLJ Board members traveled to Israel for meetings with legal experts, judges, past and present government officials , and policy think tanks, to learn more about current issues and controversies in the legal sphere; issues that have generated disagreements and dissension within the American Jewish community and between some American Jews and Israel.
Harold Halpern (pictured on top row, second from right), retired Sarasota attorney and long-time AAJLJ Board Member, wrote a series of articles for the Sarasota Herald Tribune chronicling the trip and several important issues that were raised during discussions.