Book eyes Jewish lawyers, beginning with Abraham

In “Abraham: The World’s First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer,” retired Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz points out that “Abraham is the only biblical character that starts his career arguing with G-d,” referring to Abraham’s protest against God’s planned destruction of the town of Sodom. In this narrative, Abraham convinces God not to “sweep away the righteous with the wicked.”

“What could be more appropriate for a criminal lawyer? … I have taught about him and thought about him, and finally, at the age of 77, decided to write about him—since that was about the age that Abraham was when some of these adventures took place,” says Dershowitz.

The book profiles leading Jewish attorneys including Louis Brandeis, Theodor Herzl, Rene Cassin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Irwin Cotler, and why Jews are so prominent in the legal field — “We’ve had a lot of practice, as a people, in defending ourselves, but also de-fending others.”

“I argue with federal judges all the time who think they’re G-d,” says Dershowitz.