Clal Director Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard returned to the Faculty of Law at the prestigious Humboldt University in Berlin this spring/summer to teach for the third straight year Jewish and comparative law. While there, he was named the Meyer Struckman Professor of Jewish Law, which is an ongoing position.

Initially invited by Professor Bernhard Schlink, the pre-eminent German lawyer, judge and jurist who is also the author of the internationally acclaimed novel The Reader, Rabbi Blanchard taught two courses in the law school, including a seminar on Maimonides’ theory of law, and one in the theology department on the role of stories, using Hasidic, Sufie, and Biblical materials, as well as his own parables. He also taught a university sponsored community course on the Hebrew Bible, which was attended by faculty, students and community members, and supervised two doctorial candidates.

Humboldt, one of the most renowned schools in Europe, is known for training many of the future leaders in German and European legal, political and social institutions. The new professorship, while endowed by the Meyer Struckman Foundation, is also being funded by the German government, in recognition of the importance of Jewish life and thought in Germany, especially in Berlin, the capitol.

Students and professors from other European schools have also been in touch with Humboldt to learn about Jewish law. Constitutional Law scholars like Bernhard Schlink and Christoph Moellers, as well as specialists in criminal law and legal history have all acknowledged the contribution Jewish law has made in their work, and next year Rabbi Blanchard has been invited by Professor Schlink to offer a joint seminar on the issue of religious freedom. Basic ideas taken from Jewish tradition and law are now playing an increasingly important role in the German legal dialogue.

Rabbi Blanchard’s work at Humboldt is a perfect example of Clal’s mission of taking Jewish wisdom public. It illustrates Clal’s ability to fruitfully engage Jewish tradition with important areas of contemporary culture, conversation, and debate on a global scale.

By Judy Epstein from Clal