Lunch & Learn: The Israeli and U.S. Supreme Courts

Lunch & Learn 5785

November 6, December 4,
January 15, February 5, March 5, & April 2

In this six-session online class taught by Rabbi Adam Zeff and Student Rabbi Maria Pulzetti, we will study major decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court alongside related decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. We’ll compare the approaches of the two courts and discuss the influence of Biblical texts, Jewish tradition and rabbinic law. This course will study some recent landmark decisions of both the Israeli and U.S. Supreme Courts, including the Israeli Supreme Court decisions about the judicial overhaul and about the military draft, and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions about the Clean Air Act and about the relationship between the executive, judicial and legislative branches.

This course is open to all, and lawyers can receive CLE credit for a fee. Please join us! Sessions run on Zoom from 12:30 - 1:30 PM on November 6, December 4, January 15, February 5, March 5, & April 2.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit for PA lawyers is available through S. Freedman and Company, Inc. for an additional $35 per credit hour. If you are requesting CLE credit for this course, please note that an Attorney Affirmation and an Evaluation Form will need to be submitted after each session. You will receive these session-specific documents the morning of each session. These documents are to be returned via email to S. Freedman and Company, Inc. at the end of the course. CLE questions can be emailed to Susan Freedman at susanfreedman@comcast.net.

About the Teachers:

Maria Pulzetti is the Student Rabbi at GJC and a student at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.  At GJC, Maria finds sacred connection in learning people’s stories and in celebrating, praying, talking and studying Torah together. Maria practiced law for sixteen years as a public defender and at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, and she is a graduate of Yale Law School.

Rabbi Adam Zeff has served as Rabbi at Germantown Jewish Centre since 2010, after previously serving as Assistant Rabbi (2007-2010) and Student Rabbi (2002-2007). He received a B.A. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1990, a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999, and rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in 2007. His core conviction is that diversity in Jewish life and in the wider world is the truest expression of the divine.