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September 27 • 2018
jn
sage sent by Russia’s preeminent
academic institution hosting a Jewish
Law conference, with many Israeli
academics in attendance, deserves to
be recognized, encouraged and cel-
ebrated. To my surprise, we were not
faced with one anti-Israel protester
— a nice departure from the campus
environment at many U.S. colleges
and universities, including several in
Michigan.
HIGHLIGHTS
The lectures and panel discussions
were fascinating. Presenters traced
the history and use of Jewish law and
study over thousands of years, includ-
ing the current use of Mishpat Ivri
scholarship by Israeli judges. Panels
covered a variety of legal topics, show-
ing how legal theory developed in
Jewish law could be utilized to inform
modern judicial decisions and help
resolve current disputes.
Importantly, attendees also did
not shy away from criticizing anti-
Jewish discrimination by the Russian
government and society in the past,
or the disparate impact that restric-
tions on religion in general are having
today on Moscow’s Jewish commu-
nity. A Russian attorney passionately
explained that a recent law discour-
aging “missionary activity” has been
unfairly applied by certain local police
and prosecutors against Jews wearing
yarmulkes, and advocated for legisla-
tion further protecting the Jewish
community.
The group also took a guided walk-
ing tour of Moscow; visited a museum
to see artwork by Jewish artists mur-
dered under the post-WWII Stalinist
regime; dined at the Choral Synagogue
of Moscow, where Golda Meir, the first
Israeli representative to the Soviet
Union, paid unannounced visits to
celebrate the High Holy Days in 1948;
and attended a gala at the Jewish
Museum.
During conference breaks, I visited
the Kremlin fortress, which houses the
presidential residence and functions
as the government headquarters, took
a scenic tour of the Moskva River and
stopped at history and art museums.
Misphat Ivri is important and
deserves more attention. Much like
Jewish art (Marc Chagall was part of
the Russian renaissance at the time of
the Mishpat Ivri society), music, mov-
ies and food, Jewish law and Mishpat
Ivri scholarship should be recognized
as playing an integral part in Jewish
history, wisdom and identity.
Metro Detroit, filled with some
of the brightest Jewish minds in the
world, should play an important role
in its study and discussion, in addition
to debates over its application to cur-
rent legal issues. Consequently, I will
be working with the Cohn-Haddow
Center, the JLA and JBAM to host
events and bring in relevant speak-
ers, including participants in the JLA
conference. In the future, Michigan
law schools should consider hiring
a full-time Jewish law professor who
can teach and produce scholarship on
Mishpat Ivri (in addition to scholars
studying other faiths’ legal traditions).
• Moscow was very different from
the authoritarian society I had envi-
sioned, and the lives of people in
Russia are not so different from our
own. While we should continue to
take a firm stand against harmful
conduct of the Russian government
— especially attempts to interfere
with U.S. politics — and advocate
for increased protection of Russia’s
Jewish minority, it is also important to
build bridges with the Russian people,
who can make positive change from
within. We should also applaud posi-
tive behavior, including the Russian
government’s cooperation with Israel
and rejection of the anti-Israel BDS
movement exemplified by hosting the
JLA conference.
• There are international Jewish
legal professionals who want to work
together to accomplish larger com-
mon goals for the Jewish people.
At the conference, I discussed and
received offers to help with JBAM’s
recently launched initiative to help
recover still-unreturned artwork loot-
ed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
• I plan to attend JLA conferences
in the future and will encourage other
Jewish lawyers from this community
to attend as well. •
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
After several weeks of processing the
trip, I have several takeaways.
• The study of Jewish law and
Jonathan H. Schwartz is a partner at Jaffe Raitt
Heuer & Weiss P.C. He serves as president
of the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan