Graduate Profile: Sara Levine, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.

Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.

In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU News will feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.

Meet the Class of 2013.

A former journalist, Cardozo’s Sara Levine hopes to continue fighting civil and human rights injustices as a lawyer.

Name: Sara Levine

School: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Hometown: Westchester, NY

Passion: Asylum law

You began your career as a journalist for Israeli television. Why did you decide to pursue law?

Before law school, I worked as a journalist for the English nightly news. Because our news bureau was relatively small compared to the Hebrew and Arabic news departments, I was able to cover a large range of issues, from domestic politics to foreign affairs to civil rights and the law. It was this latter group that fascinated me the most. In particular, covering stories relating to marginalized groups and their struggle for the most basic, fundamental rights, both frustrated and motivated me. While I loved my job as a journalist and the challenges every day brought—the rigors of fact-finding, learning people’s stories, extracting the salient facts and effectively conveying stories to our audiences—I felt that something was missing. I knew that law was the key to making real change in society and fighting against the same injustices I covered as a reporter. The journalist is meant to educate, draw awareness and illuminate issues of the marginalized, the struggling and the voiceless. The lawyer, I realized, can give them a voice. Read the rest of this entry…

Einstein Fellowship Integrates Legal, Clinical Expertise

Some of the most innovative clinical training at Einstein–and in the country–doesn’t involve white coats.

The Leadership in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds  fellowship positions in an array of allied health professions at YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC). For more than 40 years, LEND has provided graduate-level, interdisciplinary leadership training to improve the health of children with or at risk of neurodevelopmental and related disabilities at 43 sites in the 37 states. This hands-on training is typically undertaken by psychologists, physical therapists, social workers and other clinicians who work with children and adults with disabilities.

With the help of the LEND fellowship at the Rose F. Kennedy University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, that multidisciplinary mix also includes law students.

Einstein’s LEND legal fellowship is believed to be the first ongoing fellowship for law students in the country and permits those from Einstein’s sister school, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University, to learn from the LEND program’s diverse range of clinicians, and vice versa. Read the rest of this entry…

Yair Lorberbaum to Discuss the Concept of the Decree of Scripture in the Thought of Maimonides on February 6

The Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization (CJL) at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law will present their Seventh Annual Ivan Meyer Lecture in Jewish Law on Wednesday, February 6 at 6 p.m. in the Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, 55 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street, New York City. Dr. Yair Lorberbaum, the Ivan Meyer Visiting Scholar in Comparative Jewish Law will discuss “The Concept of the ‘Decree of Scripture’ (Gezerat Ha-Katuv) in the Thought of Maimonides.”

Yair Lorberbaum is the Ivan Meyer Visiting Scholar in Comparative Jewish Law

Lorberbaum is a professor of law at the Bar-Ilan University, specializing in Jewish law, Jewish thought, jurisprudence and philosophy. He has also been a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem since 1991. Lorberbaum has previously served as a visiting professor at University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Princeton, and Cardozo, and was a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

He is the author of Subordinated King: Kingship in Classical Jewish Literature and the forthcoming Apples of Gold in Silver Settings: Maimonides on Parables, Philosophy, and Law. In 2007, his book, Image of God: Halakhah and Aggadah, was awarded the prestigious Goldstein-Goren Award for best recent book in the field of Jewish thought. Read the rest of this entry…

Susan Crawford: How to Get High-Speed Internet to All Americans

On Monday, President Obama said that during his second term, Americans would act together to “build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores” and that “we cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries—we must claim its promise.”

Susan Crawford is professor of law at Cardozo and author of Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age.

The president is right that digital communication networks — especially high-capacity fiber networks reaching American homes and businesses — can be a powerful economic engine. But we are far away from being able to realize that vision, even as we cede the advantage such technology offers to other countries.

Although Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has challenged the country to build additional gigabit fiber networks — about 100 times faster than most residential connections today — his words won’t advance our digital future unless they are backed up with the leadership necessary to enact pro-growth, pro-innovation and competition-enabling rules.

At the heart of the problem lie a few powerful companies with enormous influence over policy making. Read the rest of this entry…

Students, Faculty and Alumni Illuminate Yeshiva University Hanukkah Dinner

Students, faculty and alumni who embody the mission of Yeshiva University were recognized as “Points of Light” during the dinner portion of Yeshiva University’s 88th Annual Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation, held at New York City’s Waldorf=Astoria on December 16.

Points of Light Dr. Marina Holz and Helen Unger.

“There are so many lights that shine brightly at Yeshiva University. Tonight, we focus on individuals who serve as exemplars of the past, present and future of Yeshiva University,” said President Richard M. Joel, who invited each Point of Light on stage to light a symbolic candle on a menorah.

The Points of Light included Helen Unger, a senior at Stern College for Women, and Dr. Marina Holz, assistant professor of biology. Unger grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where she attended public school before enrolling in Stern College’s S. Daniel Abraham Honor’s Program. Under Holz’s tutelage, Unger’s research in the breast cancer field has won numerous awards, including the Toby Eagle Memorial Scholarship in Cancer Biology and a position in the highly selective Sloan-Kettering Undergraduate Research Program. Unger is also the first YU student to receive the Thomas Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students.

“I wanted an environment where being an Orthodox Jew wouldn’t be at odds with my secular education,” Unger said of her decision to attend Yeshiva University. “Moreover I value a small learning environment, and the direct mentorship I received at YU more than speaks to why I chose to come here.” Read the rest of this entry…

Undergraduates Experience Law School in Yearlong Cardozo Course

On a recent Friday morning at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Assistant Professor of Law Jessica Roth asked her class to consider these questions: Is it moral to imprison an elderly or ill criminal? Does punishing the insane serve a purpose? Is it ever justifiable to kill an innocent person to save your own life?

Yeshiva University undergraduate students explore principles of criminal law with Cardozo Professor Jessica Roth.

“I’m trying to test your intuitions about possible defenses,” said Roth.

Those intuitions proved uncanny as the group of 18 students—all undergraduates in YU’s Yeshiva College or Stern College for Women—engaged in a complex moral and legal debate about the evolution of criminal law, citing case studies that included a murder trial in 19th-century England and the 2009 sentencing of Bernard Madoff. During the fall semester of the yearlong course, titled “Dispute Resolution and Justice,” the class has grown familiar with a medley of legal terms and concepts that most students don’t encounter until their first year of law school. A rotating cast of Cardozo faculty shares their expertise with the class each week, delving into topics that range from contracts and torts to constitutional law and civil procedure. Read the rest of this entry…

Supreme Court Justice Offers Advice and Inspiration During Visit to Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

The line snaking around the block said it all—as it was full of students buzzing about the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. And, the evening didn’t disappoint. The Justice divulged information on her background, her family, her job, and even gave some advice to students—leaving many in the audience feeling grateful, and inspired.

YU President Richard M. Joel, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Cardozo Dean Matthew Diller and Judge Alison Nathan.

In a question and answer format, the Justice offered words of wisdom to the packed Moot Court Room.

“Too many law students spend an awful lot of time thinking about what their next step in their career is going to be,” she said.

“Worry a little less. In the end, find some form of work that satisfies you, that makes you feel good about what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter what kind of law you practice. Just make sure that it appeals to some part of your personality—whether it’s intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.” Read the rest of this entry…

Cardozo Law to Oversee English Translations of Key Opinions of the Supreme Court of Israel

Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law will take over responsibility for translating significant cases of the Supreme Court of Israel into English.

In recognition of Cardozo’s programs in international constitutional law and in Jewish legal studies, the Friends of the Library of the Supreme Court of Israel signed a memorandum of understanding with Cardozo on October 18, 2012, transferring authority and funding for the project to the school. The opinions of the Israeli Supreme Court are of significant influence to the development of law in other countries. United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has said, “The Supreme Court of Israel is one of the world’s great legal institutions. Its work is of increasing value to constitutional scholars throughout the world.”

Peter Fishbein, special counsel, Kaye Scholer; Eliezer Rivlin, former deputy president of the Supreme Court of Israel and visiting professor at Cardozo; Asher Dan Grunis, president of the Supreme Court of Israel; Cardozo Dean Matthew Diller; Judge Jon O. Newman, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Cardozo Vice Dean Edward Stein.

The Friends of the Library of the Supreme Court of Israel was formed in the 1990s as a non-profit corporation based in the United States, whose mission is to work closely with the Supreme Court of Israel to make the court’s opinions readily available in English. Legal translators in Israel work on translations that are made available online and in published volumes by the organization. Read the rest of this entry…

Innocence Project Exoneree Shares Tale of Injustice with YU Students at Pre-Law Event

At an event to mark this year’s Constitution Day, which pays homage to the rights guaranteed to all American citizens, Yeshiva University’s Pre-Law Society heard from one man who had finally regained his freedom after serving 17 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Barry Gibbs recounts his quest for justice at a Pre-Law Society event.

“It can happen to you like it happened to me,” said Barry Gibbs, whose name was cleared in 2005 by the Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization started at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law that is dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing. “Just like you’re innocent and you’re walking around on the street on your day off from school, I was innocent and carefree.” Read the rest of this entry…

In State of the University Address, President Joel Recounts Progress, Outlines Challenges and Articulates Renewed Vision for the Future

In his first State of the University address, Yeshiva University President Richard M. Joel announced on September 12 that he would accept the Board of Trustees’ offer to extend his term until June 2018 for a planned 15 years in office and outlined his vision for a united and prosperous University, both as an academic and as a communal institution.

“It is here, in this complex and special space, that we can see our future,” said the president before hundreds of alumni, students, faculty and staff in the Gottesman Library Heights Lounge on the Wilf Campus. Hundreds more watched the streaming broadcast of the address online. “If I listen carefully, I hear the murmurings of a consecrated conversation taking place here—a conversation between Torah and the world, between tradition and modernity, between the sacred contents of this beautiful bastion of wisdom and the wide world around it so desperately yearning for the dissemination of those contents.” Read the rest of this entry…