Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Texas Tech Law Review

Volume

27

Publication Date

1996

Keywords

Jewish lawyers, religious lawyers, Jewish ethics, Jewish identity

Abstract

Martin Buber describes the question of how to "affirm" our Jewish identity in the modem world as "the personal Jewish question, the root of all Jewish questions, the question we must discover within ourselves, clarify within ourselves, and decide within ourselves. This essay raises the "Jewish question" for lawyers. First, it explores some reasons why Jewish lawyers answer the question by separating their professional selves from their religious selves. Second, it observes that such an answer is contrary to the perspective-rooted in tradition but also common to the otherwise dissonant streams of Judaism today-that one's Judaism enters every moment of your life. Last, the essay suggests that this perspective encourages Jewish lawyers, somewhat incongruously, to reject the established professional attitude toward role, while at the same time to pursue substantive values compatible with those of our legal system.

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