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persuasive that it simply demolishes the
opposing views."
The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) has supported and initiated legal
action against having an eruv in a
community on the grounds that it involves
using public facilities for religious
purposes. One such case, in Belle Harbor,
N.Y., turned ugly, according to Lewin, when
the city's attorney, a Jew, made disparag-
ing remarks in court about observant
Jews.
"I sensed a real element of anti-
Semitism," Lewin says. "It was the most
bigoted argument I've heard in court, with
references to how 'these people' don't allow
women to attend services and how they try
to force their neighbors to close their stores
on Saturday. I argued the Constitutional
issues."
Lewin won so convincingly that the
ACLU did not appeal the case and decided
not to pursue a similar eruv case in another
community.
Fellow lawyers describe Lewin's legal
abilities with long lists of superlatives,
praising his brilliance, his speed in
analyzing a problem, and his gift for
writing legal briefs. His contribution to
COLPA has been immeasurable, according
to colleagues like Schick and Berman.
Dennis Rapp, who as executive director
is one of only two paid staff members of
the organization, agrees. "Not only is Nat
extraordinarily gifted," he says, "but he's
the kind of guy who never tells you 'no.' It's
probably not healthy for the organization
to rely so heavily on one advocate, but he's
just so good. And the more we ask of him,
the more he produces?'
In recent years COLPA has achieved suc-
cess not only in advocating the employ-
ment rights of Sabbath observers, but in
preventing autopsies from being performed
on observant Jews and providing for
burials to be performed on legal holidays
(in observance f',f the Jewish law calling for
burials to takV place as soon as possible).
The Key Is Accommodation
"Nat has helped bring about a revolution
in the concept: of religious freedom,"
asserts Rapp, "'not only in terms of a
person's beliel :Jut in one's right to act out
those beliefs. The key to our approach is
to ensure that the law provides reasonable
accommodatioL — we don't want to force
our beliefs o anyone. We just want
tolerance."
That issue came into play in a 1981
northern Virg,--rtia case where observant
Jewish twin si:ters, valedictorians of their
public high senior class, sought to
change the s:hool's graduation from a
Saturday, wh= i. they could not attend. The
twins' Jewish attorney was surprised and
hurt that entered an amicus brief on
behalf of the J swish Council that did not
call for the graduation date to be changed
but instead asked the court to acknowl-
edge that the girls' rights had been
violated.
"I felt he undercut our position and our
effort to protect Jewish rights," the girls'
attorney says. But Lewin maintained that
it was not illegal for the school to schedule
the graduation when it did. "The key issue
is 'reasonable accommodation,' " he
maintains. "I can't demand that the law
force the general society to alter its
practices to fit in with my lifestyle, but I
should have the absolute right for the law
to accommodate me."
That distinction is critical to Lewin's
outlook, and he cites his personal office
kitchen as an example. Lewin is proud of
the small kitchen, which is strictly kosher,
where he prepares frozen lunches (and
sometimes dinners) in his microwave oven.
Underscoring his ongoing balancing act
between the practice of observant Judaism
and the practice of law, the kosher kitchen
is Lewin's own accommodation, and he
would rather eat there than go out to a
posh Washington restaurant with clients
for a lunch he cannot eat.
"I would never suggest that this law firm
should have a kosher kitchen, though," he
explains. "We have to always be mindful
that we are a minority in this society, and
the majority should not be inconvenienced
on behalf of the minority."
Lewin has resisted efforts by the
Agudath Israel movement urging him to
oppose the ERA amendment and abortion
legislation, because he feels that U.S. laws
should not be written to force people to
comply to certain values. But he continues
to advocate parochial school aid "as a
matter of justice," asserting that the
government should pay for the secular
education of children attending parochial
schools.
Unpopular Positions
In addition to parochial school aid, there
are a number of other church-state issues
where Lewin's views clash with the
organized Jewish community. He is
representing Lubavitch in several cases
involving the Chasidic movement's efforts
to put up menorahs in public places during
the Chanukah season. Lewin is not
opposed to the public display of creches,
since most Americans are Christian. "On
the other hand, though, I want my right
to put up my menorah." He maintains that
placing a menorah near a Christmas tree
is, "if anything, balancing the effect of the
Christmas tree rather than endorsing
Judaism." He has sought to distinguish
between a religious object and a menorah
as a symbol of nationhood and freedom; to
date the courts have not agreed.
Another controversy that pitted Lewin
and some elements of the Orthodox
community against groups like the
American Jewish Congress and the Union
of American Hebrew Congregations
(Reform) focuses on a New York state law,
hilsum
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