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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 1, 2005
/27 Menachem-Av, 5765
First Chasidic Jew to head major American law school
By
Steve Lipman
Hofstra picks scion of 30 generations of rabbis and brother of JWR contributor
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The best advice young Aaron Twerski, a Chasidic Jew and scion of 30 generations of rabbis, received, came while he was in pharmacy school. A native of Milwaukee, he had finished his days of full-time yeshiva learning, and thought he would have a career in the sciences. "Aaron, take a picture of yourself 10 years from today and go there," a cousin from Israel said one day.
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Rabbi Dr. -- and now, Dean -- Twerski, with students |
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In other words, figure out what you want to do with your life, and do it.
Twerski was not happy with what he saw. "I pictured myself as doing something very pedestrian." He was miserable in pharmacy school, "a disaster in the laboratory."
He decided to return to his first professional interest — law. "It was a career where I would be able to serve people."
Four decades after he went to law school and embarked on a career that established him as a leading expert in tort law, Rabbi and Doctor Twerski — he prefers the title professor — received another sign of recognition this week. He was installed on Tuesday as dean of the Hofstra University School of Law in Hempstead, L.I., where he had served as a faculty member for 14 years.
He became, according to the school, the first Chasidic Jew to head a major law school in the United States.
"He is a nationally and internationally renowned scholar and a revered teacher who possesses tremendous energy, leadership ability, enthusiasm and integrity," said Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz.
"I was chosen not because I am a Chasidic Jew but because I had a career that was suitable for the task," Rabbi Twerski told The Jewish Week. His appointment, at 66, symbolizes "that the time for discrimination against Chasidic Jews because of what they look like will start coming to an end."
Rabbi Twerski, with a Chasidic man's standard beard and long black coat, had encountered discrimination, he said. "It was very much an issue.
"I had great difficulty being hired at the beginning of my career," Rabbi Twerski said. In 1966 he served as a teaching fellow at Harvard Law School. "I was told that I was the star teaching fellow of that year." Then time for job offers arrived. "I got no offers."
A law school administrator called his student in for a talk. "You're not going to get a teaching job," the administrator said — no one would hire an obviously Chasidic Jew as a law teacher.
Another time, he said, "I was told directly, 'Do you have to be so religious?' "
"I remember coming home and crying," Rabbi Twerski said.
At the "last minute," he received an offer from Duquesne University, a Catholic institution in Pittsburgh where he spent four years. "It's not surprising," he said. "They took religion seriously."
From there he went to Hofstra, then Brooklyn Law School, then back to Hofstra this year, recruited by the university.
"My first answer was 'no,' " he said. "I was teaching and writing and being published in some of the very best journals." That, in addition to serving as a communal leader in Borough Park's Chasidic community and a de facto community spokesman.
Why did he change his mind?
"My wife still wants to know the answer to that," he said. His answer: "The challenge and an opportunity to put my vision on the law school."
Being law school dean means longer working days, often commuting to work in a car service and doing his day's Torah learning en route. "It's a strain," he conceded.
At the Hofstra convocation this week where he was inaugurated, Rabbi Twerski wore his long black coat, his standard garb, under his academic robe. People saw, he said, "the way Chasidim dress."
Rabbi Twerski asks prospective faculty members the question that changed his life some 40 years ago — how do they picture themselves in a decade?
Someone asked the rabbi, on the eve of his inauguration, to answer the question himself again.
His answer this time was more optimistic.
"I hope I can build a law school," he said. "I hope G-d will give me good health. I hope I have time to learn Torah in depth and have time to serve my community and enjoy my family."
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Steve Lipman is a staff writer for The New York Jewish Week. Comment on this column by clicking here.
© 2005, NY Jewish week
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