Brandeis Brief: January 2023

This month, Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus challenged the country’s leading law firms to confront anti-Semitism with his op-ed, “BigLaw’s Jewish Problem.” Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin, who was just named to the J100 list, explained why “American Jews must use both Jewish pride and the law to defeat anti-Semitism”. ⚠️ And don’t miss our webinar on Monday, December 5, at 12:00 p.m. EST about the Brandeis Center’s new fact sheet, “Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace,” which helps Americans understand their legal rights to have religious practices respected at work.

Register for Brandeis Center webinar on Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace – Monday, Dec. 5 at 12:00 p.m. EST

Register now for the Brandeis Center’s webinar on Monday at 12:00 p.m. EST, “Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace,” featuring ADL Director of Regional Operations Etzion Neuer, Cofounder and Partner of Lewin & Lewin LLP Nathan Lewin, Esq., and Brandeis Center Senior Counsel Arthur R. Traldi, Esq. Hon. Andrea R. Lucas, Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, will serve as moderator.

The Algemeiner Honors President Lewin with J100 Award

Global news destination The Algemeiner honored Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin by naming her to its J100 list, the “Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life” at its ninth annual J100 gala earlier this week.

Lewin was named in the “Community” section, alongside luminaries, including former Israeli Consul-General in New York Dani Dayan, International Legal Forum CEO Arsen Ostrovsky and Brazilian Israelite Confederation President Claudio Lottenberg.

“I am deeply grateful to the Algemeiner for this honor and to my colleagues at the Brandeis Center for enabling me to do the work I do,” said Lewin. “I feel blessed to be able to provide legal guidance and support to those who experience anti-Semitism. My work gives meaning and purpose to each day. To be recognized for that work – and included in the company of so many remarkable leaders – is humbling and inspiring.”

Marcus Op-Ed about ‘BigLaw’s Jewish Problem’ Keeps Pressure on Berkeley Law, Morningstar

In his op-ed “BigLaw’s Jewish Problem” Chairman Marcus spotlighted the problem of anti-Semitism in BigLaw and called on law firms to stop underwriting anti-Semitism and do more to address it.

Marcus discusses recent revelations that White & Case sponsored a conference that promoted BDS and the country’s leading law firms are financing the Berkeley Law student groups that adopted discriminatory bylaws excluding Zionist speakers.

Brandeis Center Joins Coalition Praising Morningstar’s ‘First Step’ Addressing Anti-Israel Bias

At the General Assembly of the Jewish Federation of North America, the Brandeis Center’s Kenneth L. Marcus joined with coalition allies in acknowledging Morningstar‘s progress in addressing anti-Semitic bias and repudiating BDS, while urging that “much more must be done… to ensure that bias is wrung out of the system.

The Brandeis Center has been leading the fight to remove anti-Israel bias in ESG ratings systems used by Morningstar and other financial services and investment firms. In August, the Brandeis Center led the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to take action. Brandeis Center Vice Chair and General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman has written extensively about anti-Israel bias documented in an ESG ratings product owned by Financial Services firm Morningstar.

President Alyza D. Lewin Discusses ‘Lawfare’ against Israel at the Israel-US Strategy Summit

In her presentation at the “Israel-US Strategy Summit,” Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin explained why the efforts underway on American campuses to vilify, marginalize and exclude Jews who support Israel, is part of a concerted and well-organized campaign to delegitimize and destroy the Jewish state.

“We have now an entire generation that is being raised to believe that social and racial justice requires the eradication of the Jewish state,” said Lewin in her remarks. “We are talking about a generation that is being taught that the world would be a better place if the nation state of the Jewish people did not exist…What starts on campus does not stay on campus. It spreads to society at large.”

Lewin encouraged Israelis to raise awareness about the nature and extent of “erasive” anti-Semitism, which seeks to deny the Jewish people’s historical and ancestral connection to the Land of Israel.

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin speaks at
the “Israel-US Strategy Summit” last month.

Alyza D. Lewin Explains why ‘American Jews must use both Jewish pride and the law to defeat anti-Semitism’

JNS published Alyza D. Lewin’s keynote address at a Jewish bar association in NY, in which Lewin discredited the claim that Zionist and American ideals cannot coexist. Lewin encouraged Jewish American lawyers and jurists to push back against anti-Semitism by expressing pride in their Jewish identity and calling out anti-Semitic discrimination against Jews for what it is – behavior that violates American civil rights laws and democratic values.

New Brandeis Center Fact Sheet on Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace

The Brandeis Center published its latest fact sheet: Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace.

The fact sheet explains the law used to protect religious accommodations at work and how employees are protected from discrimination based on their religious practice as well as their religious identity – from the moment they apply for a job and continuing throughout their employment. The tradition of religious inclusion is deep-rooted in American history, and in recent years both federal courts and regulators have placed a renewed emphasis on strengthening these protections.

Employers are encouraged to support their Jewish employees by joining this year’s Shine a Light campaign, the important nationwide initiative to raise awareness about and take action against anti-Semitism.

Times of Israel Story Highlights Federal Investigations of Campus Anti-Semitism Based on Brandeis Center Complaints

Times of Israel story, “US students report jump in mental scarring from campus antisemitism, but see no end” highlighted three open federal investigations of anti-Semitism based on Brandeis Center complaints at the University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Southern California, and University of Vermont. The article also discusses another Brandeis Center complaint recently filed with the Education Department on behalf of Jewish students at SUNY New Paltz who were excluded from a sexual assault survivor support group.

Watch Chairman Marcus’s Recent Speeches before DePaul and Indiana universities

Chairman Marcus spoke before the DePaul University College of Law Center for Jewish Law & Judaic Studies in November on “Antisemitic Influences in DEI Programs – Can They Be Corrected?” In October, he spoke before the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University Bloomington on “The Wayward Healer: Latrogenic Antisemitism and the Perils of Intervention.”

Watch Kenneth L. Marcus’s presentation: “The Wayward Healer: Latrogenic Antisemitism and the Perils of Intervention.”
Chairman Marcus Will Review ADL’s Anti-Bias Programs and Curricular Materials

As recently reported by eJewish Philanthropy, Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus will review anti-bias programs and curricular materials ”for the Anti-Defamation League, as part of the ADL’s stated efforts “to ensure [the materials reflect] engagement with ideologically diverse audiences and to maximize effectiveness of these initiatives.

Marcus and three other experts selected by the ADL will each independently review the ADL’s materials.

Brandeis Center Joins Coalition to Disable Anti-Semitism on Twitter

The Brandeis Center joined 180 organizations urging Elon Musk to #adoptIHRA ”to protect Jewish users from antisemitic content along with the hate a violence it can inspire.” Read the letter and learn more about the coalition at adoptihra.org.

Intern Roundtable

Brandeis Center interns were particularly prolific in their published writings last month. Josh Feinstein authored a blog on the quartet of major localities that adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. Bryn Schneider wrote about the coalition of organizations that are urging law firms to stop bankrolling anti-Semitic groups at Berkeley Law. And Tzivia Lutch wrote a blog about our latest fact sheet: “Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace.” Lutch also collaborated on a video script and recorded the voiceover for an Instagram Reel on the same topic.

Instagram Reel created by intern Tzivia Lutch to showcase our fact sheet: “Religious Accommodations in the Corporate Workplace.”
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The Louis D. Brandeis Center is a nonprofit organization supported by individuals, groups and foundations that share our concern about Jewish college students.  Contributions are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  To support our efforts to combat campus anti-Semitism, please contact us at info@brandeiscenter.com
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