Where Judaism & the Law Converge
Seth Stein is a participant in the Religious Action Center's Machon Kaplan summer program for college students. He is a student at Tufts University and an intern at Alliance for Justice.
You could say the law is in my genes. As the son of not one but two lawyers, a legal career has always been the path my parents favored. Even following my own passions, I inadvertently stumbled down the path of bar exams and law school -- I am a rising senior at Tufts University, with a double major in history and political science. However, my own stubbornness has made me refuse to admit that I may be interested in the law, as being an attorney holds little appeal for me. "But there are so many other things you can do as a lawyer," my mom would say. I had trouble believing her before this summer.
I am currently interning at the Alliance for Justice, a nonprofit judicial lobbyist organization. Like the RAC, the AFJ has internships for law students and offers a career path that doesn't lead to the firm of Lawyer, Attorney and Corporate. Instead, the AFJ weighs in on the political process with the aim of ensuring that our judiciary remains free and fair. They achieve this goal through regular contacts with congress, coalition building with other nonprofits and programs designed to inform the public. By taking part in the day-to-day office life of an organization with such far-reaching contacts and programs I have learned much more than what it means to work in a lobbyist's office. Instead, I have been able to learn about topics that interest me, like the details of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial record, or the legal issues behind the infamous torture memos.
Working at the AFJ has been not only intellectually stimulating, but as also shown me how I can combine my love of politics and a legal career. What once seemed a pipe dream now seems possible: to use the strong intellectual basis of law school to affect social justice in the world around me. It also seems appropriate for my identity as a Jew -- after all, it is the Jewish love of the law that has preserved us through millennia of diaspora and conflict. I look forward to a summer that brings together my academic skills, my identity as a Jew and my desire to take part in the political process.
Working at the AFJ has been not only intellectually stimulating, but as also shown me how I can combine my love of politics and a legal career. What once seemed a pipe dream now seems possible: to use the strong intellectual basis of law school to affect social justice in the world around me. It also seems appropriate for my identity as a Jew -- after all, it is the Jewish love of the law that has preserved us through millennia of diaspora and conflict. I look forward to a summer that brings together my academic skills, my identity as a Jew and my desire to take part in the political process.