About Jewish Law

Halacha today deals with certain legal concepts, such as the corporate entity, which have no direct precedent in Halachic sources. At the same time, the American judicial system from time to time is asked to confront and even apply areas of Halacha dealing with such diverse matters as kashrut and gittin (Jewish bills of divorce).

In order to forge a better understanding of the interaction between Halacha and secular law, Jewish Law presents a wealth of information -- much of which is exclusive in cyberspace to this website -- on Halacha, Jewish issues and secular law.

But Jewish Law seeks to accomplish more. We have designed this site not only as a research center in order to learn and acquire knowledge, but also as a place for people to "meet" and communicate with each other for professional networking purposes.

In these regards, we are proud and privileged to present the following:

HALACHIC ARTICLES:

From the pages of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, published by the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, we have collected articles addressing the Halachic treatment of secular legal concepts, like bankruptcy, and the treatment, in American law, of Halachic issues such as time of death. We have supplemented these with additional articles which have appeared in other respected publications.

LEGAL RESEARCH:

We have surveyed the case law of federal and state courts and have summarized dozens of cases involving Halachic and other Jewish-related issues.

LEGAL BRIEFS:

We have assembled, for the first time in any forum, briefs filed in various United States courts, including the United States Supreme Court, on matters of vital Jewish interest, such as abortion and physician-assisted suicide.

To research Halachic topics, cases and briefs by keyword or key phrase, we provide a search engine for your convenience.

HALACHIC FORMS:

The interaction between Halacha and secular law at times requires entry into legal agreements and/or the use of Halachic documents. In our Halachic Forms section, we provide a sampling of such documentation.

PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING/SPONSORSHIPS:

Our Legal Directory lists the names, firms, areas of concentration and other information about lawyers who take interest in the issues to which Jewish Law is dedicated.

FORUM -- E-MAIL DISCUSSION AND NETWORKING:

The Forum currently is a moderated e-mail listserv for discussion of Halacha/secular law issues. In addition, feel free to use the Forum for networking purposes and/or to raise appropriate Halachic/secular law questions that you may have. In this regard, please note that participants on the current Forum listserv include Rabbis, attorneys and others who may be in a position to respond to your inquiries.

LAW STUDENT'S Q & A LINE:

The "Jewish Law Student's Q & A Line" page is an interactive Forum for the Jewish law student who is interested in and committed to the observance of Halacha. The Forum provides an opportunity for Jewish law students (and budding ones) to communicate with experienced lawyers who share in the same interest and commitment. Whether it is a question or comment about Halacha and secular law, what it's like to practice law, or about job hunting and interviewing -- we'll try to give you a "real life" answer.

The Forum is administered and moderated by a select group of Orthodox practitioners and law professors, judges, etc. who have volunteered their time to assist and mentor aspiring students. Questions and comments may be directed to one or more of the mentors by sending an e-mail to student@jlaw.com. Please specify if your question and the response to it should be disseminated to the listserv for this Forum or not.

FEEDBACK/SUBMISSIONS:

Jewish Law is intended to be a continously evolving project. We wish to hear from you, our readers, in order to improve upon what we have begun. Please write us by submittable form or via e-mail to feedback@jlaw.com. We are actively seeking suitable articles, legal briefs and sample Halachic forms for inclusion within this site. We also seek additional leads for relevant cases that should be included with the case summaries that we have gathered to date. Please see our Submissions section for further details.

WHAT'S NEW:

Jewish Law continues to expand. Please see the What's New section for the latest additions to the site.

Jewish Law is sponsored by The Center for Halacha and American Law of the Aleph Institute and is edited by Ira Kasdan with assistance from Isaac M. Jaroslawicz and Nathan Diament. Jewish Law acknowledges the early assistance of Eli Clark in the initiation of this project. The Jewish Law logo was designed by Chaim Kasdan. David Chase serves as Jewish Law's webmaster. This website has been created by SightSpecific, Inc.

DISCLAIMER
Last updated on April 1, 2001

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