On Monday Evening, Dr. Michael (Avi) Helfand ('97), associate professor at Pepperdine University's School of Law and associate director of Pepperdine Unniversity's Diane and Guilford Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies, spoke to the YUHSB and Riverdale community on the topic of Religious Liberty. In addition to his academic work, Professor Helfand is a board member of the Beth Din of America, where he also has served as an arbitrator and consultant on the enforceability of rabbinical arbitration agreements and awards in U.S. courts. Dr. Helfand, considered a national expert on the topic and has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, NYU Law Review and in news outlets across the country, provided the audience some background on what the Supreme Court considered protected religious liberty as per its it's interpretation based on its ruling in a couple of religious law cases and via Congress' establishment of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993. Ultimately, Dr. Helfand made clear how important it is that we, as members of a protected religious group, fight for the right's of all religious groups. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Helfand for returning to his roots to partake in this special lecture series.