Justice Rubinstein receives Yakir of Jewish Law citation

Retired Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, who last month stepped down from his position as deputy president of the Supreme Court, has been awarded a citation naming him as Yakir, or “Worthy,” of the Institute of Jewish Law.

The presentation took place at the President’s Residence on Wednesday with Rubinstein’s close relatives and former bench colleagues in attendance. Institute Chairman Yitzhak Natowitz said as soon it became known that Rubinstein was retiring, “we jumped at the opportunity to give him the Yakir citation.” According to the rules, no sitting judge can be named for the honor.

“I don’t know if that will prompt any of you to retire sooner,” said Effi Naveh, chairman of the Israel Bar Association, who credited Rubinstein with being an expert not only in Jewish law but also in legal ethics, relying more on Jewish law than on civil law when pronouncing penalties for lawyers’ misdemeanors.

Rubinstein is so well versed in Jewish law that Natowitz instantly proposed him as a future candidate to head the institute. “It’s very meaningful when civil courts and lawyers use Jewish law in relation to their cases,” he said.

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, while affirming the esteem in which he holds Rubinstein, confessed that he and Rubinstein are not always in accord. Nonetheless, he praised Rubinstein’s commitment to civil rights and gave as an example a phone call he received from Rubinstein, who was unhappy about what he perceived as the abuse of rights of Druse soldiers.

Rubinstein recalled how when he was attorney-general, Israel had an acute drug addiction problem, but the Knesset did not yet have a committee to deal with the issue. When Rubinstein suggested the formation of a committee President Reuven Rivlin, who was an MK at the time was among the first to volunteer. Before he began to study law, said Rubinstein, he thought it important to know something of Arab culture, so he studied classical Arabic literature with the president’s father, Prof. Yosef Yoel Rivlin, who had translated the Koran.