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Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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ALAN MORTON DERSHOWITZ is an American lawyer ("advokat"), jurist, author, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School, where in 1967, at the age of 28, became the "yingst" (youngest) full "profesor" of law in its history.
He is known for his involvement in several high-profile legal cases: O. J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Patty Hearst, Mike Tyson, etc.
He is married to Carolyn Cohen, a PhD Psycholgist, and has 3 children and 2 grandchildren.
His newest book is titled, "Taking the Stand - My Life in the Law" and is published by Crown.
Shown below is a Yiddish Guide to Alan Dershowitz:
"advokat" (attorney)
"I think most defense attorneys honestly believe the principle that says 'Better 10 guilty
go free than even one possibly innocent be convicted." (quote)
"arbet" (work)
While at Harvard, Eliot Spitzer worked for law professor, Alan Dershowitz.
"barimtkayt" (celebrity)
Dershowitz has advised about 29 celebrities, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton,
Bill Belichick, etc. He says that everyone assumes that celebrities are "fascinating."
"Der heypekh" (the opposite) is true. Dershowitz represented Marlon Brando's son
in a manslaughter case. Brando was "boring and predicable...He struck me as a rather
pathetic figure." (quote)
"bibl" (bible)
"I love the Bible."
"I was a Jewish rabbinical student for 12 years and studied the Bible all the time."
(quotes)
"bibliotek" (library)
"A library is a place where you learn what teachers were afraid to teach you." (quote)
"biks" (gun)
"The vast majority of gun owners don't kill, but people who do kill, tend to kill with
guns, and often with illegal guns." (quote)
"birger" (citizen)
"Twenty five percent of Israeli citizens are not even Jewish. Anybody can become an
Israeli citizen if you qualify. Religion is not a criterion for citizenship." (quote)
"briv" (letter)--to the Editor
No matter what the Globe [newspaper] wrote about Dershowitz, he followed up any
article with a letter to the editor. This doubled the "pirsum" (publicity) value of the
mention.
Chabad
Dershowitz is emphatic about Chabad's gift to Jewish life everywhere--at Harvard...
and especially a a place like Norway, where it takes courage to be Jewish. We have
to continue to fight this fight, we can't give up. That's Chabad's motto. Chabad never
gave up. That's why I love Chabad."
"chazen"/"khasin" (cantor)
"In my neighborhood, everyone had an opinion on the local cantor. You didn't go to a
synagogue to listen to the rabbi's sermon. You went to listen to the cantor. It was like
a concert." (quote)
"chutzpah" (nerve, a willingness to demand what is due, to defy tradition, to challenge
authority, and to raise eyebrows)
In 1991, Dershowitz wrote, "Chutzpah. In the Introduction, he writes, "American Jews
need more chutzpah. Notwithstanding the stereotype, we are not pushy or assertive
enough for our own good and for the good of our more vulnerable brothers and sisters
in other parts of the world."
"derekh-erets" (respect)
I understand that it's good tactics to categorize me as close-minded, unobjective
extremist, but nobody that respects me has these views." (quote)
"derveyln" (to elect)
"Koch was not a Jewish leader; he was an elected official who is Jewish. Koch
would never be elected to head a major Jewish organization. Second, Koch is in
no way comparable to [Jesse] Jackson in terms of racism....No one can find in Koch's
long and controversial career in the public eye anything remotely comparable to
Jackson's remarks about 'Hymietown," about Zionism being a 'poison weed' or about
hearing too much concerning the Holocaust." (quote from "Chutzpah")
"eksistirn" (to exist)
"I have been defending Israel's right to exist, and to defend itself against terrorism, for
many years on college campuses, in television appearances and in debate." (quote)
"emes" (truth)
"There are many levels of truth." (quote)
"fargleybter" (bigot)
"You're absolutely right: Bob Grant is a racist, Bob Grant is a bigot, he's a despicable
talk show host and I agree with that." (quote)
"fodern" (demand, ask for)
"As Jewish American, are we prepared to demand the first-class status we have
earned in America and that we have helped others to move toward? As American
Jews, are we prepared to insist on being treated as first-class Jews, rather than
as exiles from our only true and normal home, Israel? The answer to these questions
is largely, if not entirely, in our own hands. One conclusion ("sof") is certain: unless we
regard ourselves as first-class Americans and as first-class Jews, no one else will so
regard us." (quote, "Chutzpah")
"geboyrn-tog" (birthday)
Dershowitz was born on Sept. 1, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York.
"gevinen" (to win)
[Dershowitz gave this view of the approach he would take in the Simpson case]:
"Once I decide to take a case, I have only one agenda; I want to win. I will try, by
every fair and legal means, to get my client off--without regard to the consequences."
(quote)
"goldeneh medinas" (golden nations)
Dershowitz says that the concept of the "wandering jew" give rise to the old joke about
the nineteenth-century Polish Jew from Warsaw, who tells his friend that he is moving
to America. The friend exclaims: But that's so far away." To which the rootless Jew
responds, "From what?" (quote)
"internets" (internet)
"The Internet knows no national borders." (quote)
"karikatur pas" (cartoon strip)
Dershowitz has been the subject of two New Yorker cartoons.
He remembers seeing a cartoon in a Jewish publication showing a father pulling his
son into the synagogue. The caption read: "Atheist, shmatheist, that's no reason
not to go to shul and daven [pray]."
"kino" (movie theatre)
Ron Silver played real-life lawyer, Dershowitz, in "Reversal of Fortune."
"klug" (smart)
"When I was 14 or 15, a camp counselor told me I was smart. I had never been very
good in school, but he told me once that I was smart but my mind operated a little
differently." (quote)
"lernen zikh" oys (learn, to acquire knowledge)
"I learn from experience." (quote)
"matsliakhdik" (succssful)
"I think that lawyers are terrible at admitting that they're wrong. And not just admitting it;
also realizing it. Most lawyers are very successful, and they think they're making money
and people think well of them, they must be doing everything right." (quote)
"milyon" (million)
More than a million of Dershowitz's books--translated in many languages--have been
sold worldwide.
"mishpokhe" (family)
"I came from a poor family, so working and going to school at the same time was
natural. It taught me multi-tasking, although we didn't call i that back then."
"narish" (stupid)
Dershowitz called Leona Helmsley (The Queen of Mean)
"boring and rather stupid." He tells how they were having breakfast in her hotel, when a
waiter brought Dershowitz a cup of tea ("tey"). A small amount spilled on "dos tetsl" (the
saucer).
Helmsley grabbed the cup and saucer and threw it on the floor, shattering them. "Now clean it up and beg for your job," she said to the waiter.
"nekrolog" (obituary)
Dershowitz frets that obituarists will paint him as an uncritical supporter of Israel.
Not so ,he writes, "I was critical when criticism was warranted." (quote)
"oyfhern" (to quit)
"I tell my students, if you ever become comfortable with your role s criminal defense
lawyer, it's time to quit. It should be a constant source of discomfort, because you're
dealing with incredible moral ambiguity, and you've been cast into a role which is
enviable." (quote)
"paynikung" (torture)
"I think there would be less torture with a warrant requirement than without one." (quote)
"If torture is going to be administered as a last resort in the ticking-bomb case, to save enormous number of lives it ought to be done openly, with accountability, with approval by the president of the United States or by a Supreme Court justice." (quote)
"pesimistish" (pessimistic)
Dershowitz was determined to attend an "elite" law school like Harvard or Yale.
Dershowitz said that his parents were pessimistic about his prospects for admission
to Yale. They had heard from friends that Yale had a small Jewish "kvote" (quota).
His application was accepted at Yale, after a short time on a waiting list. It was a Yale
that he met and befriended his first Wasps, blacks, and even non-Orthodox Jews.
Dershowitz experienced no overt anti-Semitism among his fellow students and
absolutely no hint of it among the faculty. A large percentage of the professors were
Jewish. some overtly and proudly so.
(source: "Chutzpah")
"profesor" (professor)
"I don't believe in firing professors. They have academic freedom." (quote)
"pust un pas" (idle)
"I learned I could never be idle, I need to be doing many things at once."
[He was a multi-tasking long before the word was popular.]
"raye" (evidence)
"There's no evidence that I'm aware of that guns protect liberty." (quote)
"rikhter" (judge)
"Judges are the weakest link in our system of justice, and they are also the most
protected." (quote)
"sendvitsh" (sandwich)
A sandwich at Fenway Park has been named for Dershowitz.
"shuldik" (guilty)
[In his memoir, "The Best Defense," Dershowitz noted], "Almost all of my clients have
been guilty."
"The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at the truth." (quote)
"sholem" (peace)
"I am a peace supporting Jews." (quote)
"toyer" (gates)
In 1990, Dershowitz stood in front of the gates at Terezin concentration camp,
Czechoslovakia.
"tsaytung" (newspaper)
Dershowitz sued The Boston Globe in 1990 over a remark Mike Barnicle attributed
to him, in which Dershowitz allegedly said he preferred Asian women because they
are deferential to men. Dershowitz reportedly received a $75,000 out-of-court settlement.
"tsvies" (hypocrisy)
"Candor and accountability in a democracy is very important. Hypocrisy has no place."
(quote)
"turme" (prison)
"The first rule for escaping prison in the United State is always having someone more
important than yourself to incriminate." (Quote, "Letters to a Young Lawyer")
"umshuldik" (innocent)
"A symmetrical warfare is a euphemism for terrorism, just like collateral damage is a
euphemism for killing innocent civilians." (quote)
"vikhtik" (important)
In his book, "Chutzpah," Dershowitz says, "In the Borough Park community, it was
an important part of our social and cultural life. It was simply unthinkable not to go
go to services every Shabbes and every holiday. Of you weren't there you were sick
at home, or away for the holiday attending services elsewhere."
zits (English for "pimples")
Dershowitz recalls one of his most mortifying moments. It was prom time and he had
his eye on a "shane" (pretty) blonde from an adjoining neighborhood. Karen,
unfortunately, was from the A list and he was from the C list. (He could only pick
from the C or D list!) He was relieved to learn that there was a list lower than his.)
He went to the prom "aleyn" (alone) and danced with his "shvesterkind" (cousin),
who was also on the C list. They both had too many zits."
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