Former President Harry S. Truman and the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Earl Warren, were students this week end at a Talmudic law discussion at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Justice Warren remained throughout the three-day lecture-discussion session, but Mr.Truman only sal through a luncheon lecture session yesterday afternoon. Both Justice Warren and President Truman wore black skull caps during the meal and at Friday evening’s services and during all the study sessions.
After listening to a discussion of Jewish law by Prof.Saul Lieberman, Dean of the Rabbinical School of the Seminary, Justice Warren commented that apparently a number of American Constitutional safeguards, including those against self-incriminating and double jeopardy, stem from Talmudic law. “Protection against self-incrimination is perhaps not as sacred now as in ancient times, ” the Chief Justice noted, but added that such protection still exists in the United States.He pointed out that the American Constitution and laws are derived from the experiences and examples of many nations.
Mr. Truman, who listened to a talk on the Jewish concept of justice by Dr. Shalom Spiegel, said that the talk was “one of the best I have ever heard in my life. ” The three-day course on “Law as a Moral Force” ended today with a summary session at which former Federal Judge Simon H. Rifkind spoke. Mr. Rifkind is chairman of the Seminary’s executive committee.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
