The Justice

Media Credit: Max Breitstein Matza As part of Project Gender, Culture, Religion and Law, Justice Rosalie Silberman of the Supreme Court of Canada spoke last Sunday.

Normally when Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada is in front of crowds, she is wearing a long black robe and is speaking about constitutional law. However, last Sunday, Abella spoke to an audience at Brandeis while dressed in a business casual white suit about something more basic and accessible to us all than constitutional law-human rights.

Abella took the stage at the International Student Lounge to speak as part of Project Gender, Culture, Religion and Law as sponsored by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute in dedication to Diane Markowicz. She was invited to speak as part of the 2nd Annual Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights.

Dr. Lisa Fishbayn, director of the Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law, wrote to the Justice in an e-mail that "the lecture series honors lawyers, judges, scholars and activists whose work explores the tensions between women's rights and religious laws."

A 62-year-old Jewish justice on the Canadian Supreme Court, Abella has made a major impact on Canadian law. In her opinion in the 2008 case of Bruker v. Markowitz , she recognized the rights of Jewish wives to sue for damages if their husbands use their power under Jewish law to deny them a divorce. Sylvia Neil, the founder and chair of the HBI's Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and Law, said that the decision was especially remarkable because of the way Abella was able to "make accommodations for human rights and justice."

Abella began her speech by equating human rights to a Rubik's Cube.

"To solve the [human rights] puzzle all the pieces had to fit together, and to fit all these pieces together requires skill, determination, luck and hard work. … You just keep trying until you get it right," Abella said.

Abella also talked about social justice in regard to women and how she believes the perception of women's rights has changed over time.

"Until the 1960s, nothing had really changed [about the perception of women's rights]. A woman's first duty was [in] the home," Abella said.

Continued...

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