The Internet, devised for the purpose of interconnecting diverse computer networks of research and educational communities, has become a global communication system that joins together widely disparate populaces with different ethical codes. The World Wide Web (WWW), hosted by the Internet, serves both to propagate existing ethe and to undermine them. Communities of the WWW, as…
European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg with Flags by Cédric Puisney (CC BY 2.0). Last year, Dr. Mia Brett wrote on Canopy Forum about the ways in which American law has demonstrated insensitivity to Jewish religious liberty. I found much to criticize in her characterization of Christian involvement in the pro-life movement. But her…
Image: Wedding celebration, Jerusalem 1981 / Drkup(IMJ) / CC BY-SA 4.0 This article is part of our “Clothed in Religion: Law and Religious Attire/Garb” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. One of the most interesting social developments in Jewish legal and cultural interactions with Western society is the sheitel,…
Black Beach in Iceland by Job Savelsberg on Unsplash. Religious discourse in multicultural environments has enormous potential to enrich our larger society, especially in matters related to healthcare. It can allow religious communities to ensure that their values are both heard and considered. The introduction of different religious views also provides context and counterpoints in…
Picture by Annie Spratt on Unsplash. This article is part of our “Kennedy, Carson, and Dobbs: Law and Religion in Pressing Supreme Court Cases” series. If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Note: This work is a profoundly revised version intended to be accessible to a secular audience of a…
“Klan display their robes at the U.S. Capitol: 1925” by Washington Area Spark (CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED). Until the Civil Rights movement in the twentieth century, courts interpreted laws as non-discriminatory if they applied equally to all, no matter their impact. Segregation, anti-miscegenation laws, and “Sunday Laws” were all constitutional because they all applied to…
Photo of Manhattan by wiggijo on Pixabay (CC0) A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “The Role of Lawyers in Rabbinic Arbitration” Chaim…
Photo of Manhattan by wiggijo on Pixabay (CC0) A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “Secular Law and Equity in Beth Din Decisions”…
US Supreme Court Building by Mark Thomas on Pixabay. This article first appeared in the Forward, the nation’s leading Jewish news organization. Sign up here to get the Forward’s newsletters in your inbox. President Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Justice Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court. The nomination is no doubt…
Image by Alexa from Pixabay. A number of years ago, I wrote an article addressing celebrating Thanksgiving according to Jewish law, which was published in Canopy Forum last year. In that article, I noted that most Jewish law authorities accept that: (1) Thanksgiving is an American holiday with secular origins, (2) While some people might celebrate…