Elimelech (Melech) Westreich is professor of Law in the Faculty of Law of the Tel Aviv University and has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School (spring 2001, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2008). He was ordained as a rabbi by the Rabbis of Kerem Be’Yavneh Yeshiva and served as a Rabbi of a brigade in the I.D.F. He obtained the LL.B. from Bar Ilan University, the LL.M. (Graduated cum laude) from Tel Aviv University, and the Dr.Jur from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, winning the Moshe Silberg Prize for his doctoral thesis. He was awarded the Prize for Jewish Scholarship presented by Israel’s Minister of Education and Culture. He specializes in Jewish family law and Jewish commercial law. He is author of Transitions in the Legal Status of the Wife in Jewish Law - A Journey Among Traditions, Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 5762 (2002). He was the editor of Tel Aviv University Law Review (1998-1999). He has written many articles on Jewish family law focusing on the encounter between Ashkenazim and Sephardim and the challenges of the modern era. His recent articles are: “Empowering the Jewish Widow by the Rabbis of Morocco in the Twentieth Century” (accepted) and “Elements of Negotiability in Jewish Law in Medieval Christian Spain", Theoretical Inquiries in Law Vol. 11 [2010], 410-438.
Prof. Melech Westreich
Biography
Research Interests and Teaching
Jewish Family Law, Jewish Commercial Law, Jewish Law and Modern Medicine and Science, Jewish Law in the Sephardic and Eastern Traditions
Selected courses
Law of Payment Systems and Negotiable Instruments, Family Law, Matrimonial Economic Relations, , Private International Law, Jewish Law: Chapters in Talmudic Law, Matrimonial Economic Relations in Jewish Law compared to Israeli Law
CV
Education
LL.B. from Bar Ilan University,
LL.M. (Graduated cum laude) from Tel Aviv University,
Dr.Jur. the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,
Kerem Be’Yavneh Yeshiva, Ordained as Rabbi and served as a Rabbi of a brigade (reserves) in the I.D.F.
Kolel yeshiva: Advanced Torah Institute, Bar-Ilan University.
Academic Appointments
Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law of the Tel Aviv University (2010)
Visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School (spring 2001, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2008)
Associate Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law of the Tel Aviv University (2000)
Representative Publications
Elimelech Westreich, Transitions in the Legal Status of the Wife in Jewish Law - A Journey Among Traditions, Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 5762, pp. 377, 2002
Elimelech Westreich, Historical Landmarks of the Tradition of Moroccan Jewish Family Law: The Case of Levirate Marriages, the Jewish Law Association Studies Vol. XVII, 279-322, 2007
Elimelech Westreich, Elements of Negotiability in Talmudic and Geonic Times, Jewish Commercial Law – Essays in Memory of George Webber (Edited by J. Cohen), `Jewish Law Association Studies Vol. XIX, pp. 247-274, 2008
Elimelech (Melech) Westreich, The Response of Jewish Law to Modern Science and State Laws in German-Speaking Countries in the Nineteenth Century (Juden und Muslime in Deutschland: Recht, Religion, Identitat, Herausgegeben von Jose Brunner und Shai Lavi), Tel Aviver Jahrbuch fur deutsche Geschichte Vol. 37, Wallstein Verlag, Goettingen, pp. 44-62, 2009
Elimelech Westreich, Jewish Family Law Meets the Challenge of Modernity: The Debate on Levirate Marriage among Moroccan Sages, Dinei Israel, Vol. 26-27, 163-217, 2009-2010 (Hebrew)
Elimelech Westreich Elements of Negotiability in Jewish Law in Medieval Christian Spain, Theoretical Inquiries in Law, Vol. 11, pp. 411-439, 2010
Elimelech Westreich, The Official Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem in the 19th Century: Its Status among Jewish Communities and the Social and Cultural Background of the Judges, The Jewish Law Annual Vol. 19, 235-260, 2012 (Hebrew)
Elimelech Wesstreich, Jewish Judicial Autonomy in Nineteenth Century Jerusalem: Background, Jurisdiction, Structure", Jewish Law Association Studies. XXII, pp. 303-330
Elimelech Westreich, Levirate Marriage in Judicial Desicions of Nineteenth Century Jerusalem, Dinei Israel, Vol. 29 pp. 155-216, 2013 (Hebrew)
Elimelech Westreich, Medicine and Jewish Law in Moroccan Tradition in the 20th Century, Tel-Aviv University Law Review, Iyunei Mishpat, Vol. 37 139-194, 2013
