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We are looking for high school rabbis/teachers/principals who are
interested in offering a cutting-edge one- or two-semester curriculum in
Torah ethics, which includes concepts of "dina d'malchusa dina,"
differences between Halacha and secular law, and understanding American
civil/criminal laws and the real-world consequences of violating those
laws. We are also looking to train rabbeim, teachers and qualified lawyers
to implement this course in schools across the United States.
The Aleph Institute Center for Halacha and American Law (some background
and history below, and see www.aleph-institute.org) has created these
materials working with Rabbi Sholom Kamenetsky of Philadelphia and
Professor Steve Resnicoff of Depaul University School of law in Chicago.
Rabbi Kamenetsky, a musmach of the esteemed Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood,
New Jersey, and a Rebbe in the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, has
lectured on legal topics and Halacha over the past five years in the
context of Continuing Legal Education ("CLE") courses that he has
presented to members of various state bars. Professor Resnicoff is a
musmach of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l and a graduate of Beth Medrash
Govoha, Princeton University and Yale Law School, and a prolific writer in
the area of Talmudic jurisprudence and secular law.
Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein of Yeshiva University High School in Los Angeles
has already begun teaching the program there, to what we understand are
very favorable reviews and reception by the students and educators. We
want to identify likely venues for the next semester as soon as possible,
so that we may customize the materials as needed.
Who we are:
The Center for Halacha and American Law ("Center") was established by the
Aleph Institute in mid- 1998. Aleph is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3),
not-for-profit organization that was originally founded in 1981 primarily
to provide Jewish inmates and their families with educational,
humanitarian and religious advocacy and social support. Since that time,
Aleph has significantly expanded its scope of activities through a variety
of endeavors and projects such as the creation of the Center.
The Center's goals and objectives are:
to enhance the Jewish community's appreciation of the requirements of
Halacha to conduct all business and personal transactions in accordance
with Torah principles, ethics and values, including the obligation under
the Halacha to abide by the law of the civil authority;
to educate the Jewish community about the seriousness of secular law and
financial ethics, and the need for Jews to be examples of proper business
and financial behavior;
to forge a better understanding within the Jewish community of the
interaction between Halacha, civil authority and secular law (including
both civil and criminal law); and
to increase the Jewish community's understanding of American statutory and
regulatory law, particularly in areas of application to the community.
To date, the Center has produced two print publications -- a 190-page
Journal of Halacha and American Law and a 120-page "Articles on Torah
Ethics and Values from the pages of The Jewish Observer" -- and has
reproduced hour-long audio tapes by the renowned lecturer and author,
Rabbi Paysach Krohn ("Honesty and Integrity"), and the well-known and
popular Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yisroel Reisman ("How to Succeed in the
Workplace"). As one of the sponsors of a recent conference on Halacha and
business ethics conducted in New York City by Agudath Israel of America,
the Center distributed to conference participants approximately 500 copies
of the two-cassette tape package and 400 copies of the compendium of
Jewish Observer articles. The Jewish Observer compendium has been so well
received that the Center has been informed that Mesorah Publications
(Artscroll) is interested in publishing the compendium as a book.
In addition to its print publications, the Center also is a sponsor,
together with the Orthodox Union, of the "Jewish Law" Internet site
(located at [
www.jlaw.com]). The site is visited by four to five
thousand separate viewers each month
Why we are doing this:
Whatever the precise level, it is clear that there are some, even among
observant Jews, who are relatively unaware of the manifold halachic and
legal responsibilities that arise in commercial transactions. A number of
factors may contribute to this problem. For instance, many observant
students receive no formal post-high school education, and their high
school education never introduced them to the comprehensive network of
federal and state business law. Nor did their high school systematically
illustrate how halachic principles apply to business. Even those who go on
to college or graduate work may never be taught the interrelationship
between halacha and secular law. Because of this educational (chinuch)
deficiency, even those who act in "good faith" may participate in what
they perceive to be "victimless crimes," such as tax evasion or money
laundering.
We have first-hand experience with the situations that arise when Jews
violate halacha in their business practices, and how they can destroy
their lives and end up in prison. Moreover, other, innocent Jews suffer -
whether directly (because they are the victims of wrongful conduct or they
are family members/friends/associates of the offender) or indirectly,
either in heaven (because all Jews bear responsibility for each other) or
in this world (because of the Chillul HaShem and anti-Semitism engendered
by such conduct).
With G-d's help, we are beginning to make a difference. You can be a part
of it.
We welcome your inquiries, which may be directed to me
(imj@aleph-institute.org); to our Chairman and founder, Rabbi Sholom D.
Lipskar (sdl@aleph-institute.org); or to Ira Yizchak Kasdan
(ikasdan@erols.com), an attorney in Baltimore who has been specifically
coordinating the Center's efforts for Aleph.
=========================================
Isaac M. Jaroslawicz
Executive Director & Director of Legal Affairs
The Aleph Institute
9540 Collins Avenue / Surfside, Florida 33154-7127
(305) 864-5553 | Fax: (305) 864-8269
email:
imj@aleph-institute.org
[
www.aleph-institute.org]
=========================================
"When a person saves one life,
it is as if that person saved the entire world"
Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a</HTML>
