President Richard Lewis Reflects on a Groundbreaking Year
President Richard Lewis reflects on his groundbreaking year as president and the initiatives he took to combat anti-Asian hate and antisemitism, preserve diversity and keep funding flowing to legal services programs. He also shares how the year has changed him…
Confronting Antisemitism With Historical Knowledge
Antisemitism, or hostility toward Jews, has a long history – going back thousands of years and before the advent of Christianity. And while the hatred can manifest from the subtle to the overt, it has sadly persisted though the millennia,…
New York State Bar Association To Launch Anti-Bias Training With Free Program on Antisemitism Feb. 27
As antisemitism rises worldwide following Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, the New York State Bar Association is offering free training to combat hatred against Jews. The antisemitism training will be the first in a series of anti-bias programs. The association…
New York State Bar Association Calls for More Offenses To Be Added to Hate Crime Statute in Face of Rising Antisemitic, Anti-Asian Hate
In the face of an alarming rise of hate crimes across the state and nation, the New York State Bar Association is calling for a much-needed update of New York State law through the Hate Crimes Modernization Act. The act…
New York State Bar Association President Commends State Court System for Expanded Anti-Bias and Discrimination Training
Richard Lewis, president of the New York State Bar Association, released the following statement about the New York Unified Court System’s announcement that it has added new components to its continued efforts to combat bias and identity-based hate, adding new…
Just Because We Are Jewish: The Disturbing and Historic Rise in Antisemitism and What We Can Do About It
Shortly after my bar mitzvah, I interviewed one of my beloved spiritual leaders, Rabbi Solomon Aidelson, a survivor of Auschwitz, for a class project about the Holocaust. To prepare, I studied a great deal about the topic, beginning with Hitler’s…
Our Condemnation of Hate Must Be Loud and Clear
Hate is taught as Nelson Mandela reminded us. We are not born with animosity toward other human beings any more than we are born with the ability to take care of ourselves. Instead, prejudice is passed on from generation to…
New York State Bar Association President Decries Rise in Antisemitic Incidents, Thanks Governor for Combating Hate Crimes
Richard Lewis, president of the New York State Bar Association, issued the following statement about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s fight against antisemitism: “We applaud Gov. Hochul’s powerful and eloquent words yesterday at the American Jewish Committee’s Board of Governors meeting. Pointing…
Fighting Hate: Addressing a Wave of Antisemitism, Anti-Asian Hate
Vincent Chang and Brian Cohen, co-chairs of the Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Hate After former President Donald Trump called COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” in a tweet on March 16, 2020, tweets with anti-Asian hashtags rose dramatically in…
New York State Bar Association Will Study Alarming Increase in Anti-Asian and Antisemitic Hate Crimes
The New York State Bar Association is launching a task force that will come up with recommendations on how best to prosecute hate crimes against Asian Americans and Jewish Americans and examine what can be done about the alarming increase…
