Antonin Scalia: Tribute to a great jurist

Two weeks ago, in my review of Rabbi Nachum Amsel’s “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Values,” I briefly touched on his essay on the Jewish take on gun control. Within that essay we explored our faith’s regard for human life and for the defense of our loved ones and property. This week, with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, we lost one of our nation’s greatest defenders of civilian gun ownership.

There is much to be said of the legacy of Justice Scalia, including his consistent and spirited defense of the Constitution in ways that were relevant to American Jewry, especially to the spiritually observant among us.

In her essay “Justice Antonin Scalia and the Jews” on Aish.com, Dr. Yvette Alt Miller cites several little-known facts about Scalia as they relate to the American Jewish community, including:

Scalia was the first judge to use the Yiddish word chutzpah in a written decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.

•Scalia was one of three dissenters in the 2015 case of Zivotofsky v. Kerry, which heard arguments that the United States should describe the place of birth of Americans born in Jerusalem as “Israel.” The two judges appointed by President Obama joined the majority against this opinion.

•In 1989, Scalia was part of the high court majority that ruled that a menorah could be displayed on public property. Attorney Nathan Lewin brought this case, County of Allegheny v. ACLU, and Lewin’s relationship with Scalia grew over time based on the mutual respect they each had for one another.