Letter to Lawrence Kobrin about Article on the Fourth Amendment and Halacha (1967)

Lawrence Kobrin, a longtime member of The Jewish Center, maintained a warm, lifelong relationship with Rabbi Lamm and was a close confidant.

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Letter to Dr. Konvitz about Article on Privacy and the Law (1967)

Dear Professor Konvitz: Please forgive me my undue delay in reacting to the splendid article, a reprint of which you sent me, on "Privacy and the Law: A Philosophical Prelude." I preferred to do justice to so eminent an author by reading his work, with the requisite diligence and attention, instead of a perfunctory and cursory reading together with a superficial note of thanks. Your ideas are certainly enlightening, and constitute a most valuable contribution to the current literature on the theme of privacy. I quite agree with your association of sexual immorality with the exposure of one’s physical privacy in the Bible, as evidenced by the cases of Adam and Noah. I would add that the general Biblical term for Illicit sex is giluy arayot – which implies exposure, revealing, uncovering, and therefore the reverse of privacy and modesty.I hope you will forgive me for registering one objection to this section of your article. I would not have referred to the story of Adam and Eve as a "mythical" teaching. Even if one does not accept the narrative of Adam and Eve as being literal and historical truth, it is still a considerable jump from mythology to figurative truth in the Bible.Your connection of Justice Douglas’s opinion on "Zones of Privacy" as flowing out of Justice Brennan's notion of "breathing space," calls to mind the great and fundamental Talmudic principle of seyag le’torah; if, therefore, indeed, privacy is a Biblical notion, then Jews must consider it not as a point but as an area or "zone," and therefore Rabbinical legislation must include the "penumbra" in the areas prohibited to intrusion.It might interest you to know that I have been invited by Senator Edward Long to testify before his Senate sub-Committee on the view of Jewish law and theology on the question of privacy.It was a pleasure corresponding with you – I still hope to hear from you and receive any comments you may have on my article – and I look forward to meeting you personally at the May 7…

Jewish Law & Secular Law

Letter from Justice Silberg about Article on the Fourth Amendment and Halacha (1967)

אדוני הרב הנכבד, חן חן לך מקרב לב על מאמרך על התיקון הרביעי וההלכה. גישתך אל הנושא היא מקורית ודבריך מעניינים. יישר כוחך! בכבוד רב, פרופ' מ. זילברג.

Jewish Law & Secular Law

Letter from Prof. Arnold Enker about Article on the Fourth Amendment and Halacha (1967)

Dear Norm: Thanks for the reprints. They were particularly welcome since I missed both articles because of our stay in Israel. Had I seen the one on the 4th Amendment earlier, I would have worked it into an article I am publishing in the Israel Law Review dealing with electronic eavesdropping. The distinction between aural eavesdropping which can be protected against and other forms of eavesdropping which know no protection seems to me vital. I'll send you a reprint. My best to Mindi. Sincerely, Arnold Enker.

Jewish Law & Secular Law