Lawyer's Brief: Objections overruled: Torah is relevant, credible, and fresh

The three most common objections raised by lawyers in court include “relevance”, “hearsay”, and “asked and answered.” They are used so often, one often sees them in books and movies.
What are these objections? And what, if anything, do they have to do with Jewish learning?
The objection of relevance is used when the testimony being presented is so off topic that it lacks usefulness. Hearsay is an out of court, third party statement, where the credibility is in question. Lawyers will argue “asked and answered” when the same testimony is being presented over and over again, bringing absolutely nothing fresh to the table.
Our children often raise these objections every day, often unconsciously. Take the question “Why are we learning ancient Talmud? What does it have to do with the real world? This could just as easily have been stated “objection, relevance”
Or how about the often asked, “How do we know that the stories, and the Medrashim, are really true?” Doesn’t that sound like “objection, hearsay?”
Finally, “I’ve heard this all before” seems to be the common refrain of all students regardless of age, race or religion. They just as easily could have said “but teacher, that’s been asked and answered!”
This thought came to my mind as I was in court last week on trial. My client, the owner of a trash removal company was being sued. It was alleged that one of his five trucks damaged a parked car and then fled the scene. The plaintiff did not have my client’s license plate, and so my client was refusing to pay.
During a break, I tried explaining to my client that the plaintiff was able to identify the truck, the location of the loss, and manner that the accident occurred. “Don’t you get it?” I felt tike saying. Who cares about the license plate, your vehicle has identifying marks- it has a “siman!” In that instant, I was no longer in the courtroom. I was back in shiur and the debate was on regarding what constitutes an identifying mark, a “siman.” Is it the nature of the item, the location of where it is found, or the manner of how it was placed on the ground, or all three? That Gemarah may have been written thousands of years ago, in ancient Babylon, but it was playing itself out in a Brooklyn courtroom in 2011, and at that moment, nothing could have been more relevant in the entire world!
Lets turn to the hearsay issue. My Irish partner recently told me how many thousands of different variations there are to the King James Bible. That did not impress him. “I tell you what floored me” he remarked one day. “I was watching the History Channel as they did a piece on Torah scrolls from across the globe. They compared ten Torahs written in different countries over 500 years. They were exact duplicates, “word for word, and letter for letter!” He then looked at me and asked, “How do you explain this?” What he was really saying, “Your Torahs have credibility. There are no hearsay objections. ”
Which leads me to the final point of “reruns.” Most people don’t like watching them. Been there, done that. Which is why the Gemarah goes out of its way to make sure that every lesson, or “limud” is novel, or fresh. The Gemarah never teaches two things from same verse. The other day, my five year old asked me to teach him numbers. He was so excited, he was literally jumping off the couch. That is the effect wisdom should always have on people.
As we gear up to return to the coming school year, whether as teachers or parents, we must keep in mind that there is a battle taking place in the courtrooms of our children’s minds. It is no longer just “kids at risk,” it is now “Judaism at risk.” It is therefore imperative that we ourselves believe in the relevance, the credibility and the freshness of Jewish values. Only then, can we be strong enough advocates to pass it on to others.

Evan W. Klestzick, Esq. is a Senior Partner at McDonnell & Adels, PLLC, specializing in insurance law. He has been a guest lecturer at Manhattan College as well as CLE courses podcasts on the topic of insurance fraud. He is a resident of Far Rockaway.