What do you think?
Rate this book
Abraham: The World's First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer
One of the world's best-known attorneys gives us a no-holds-barred history of Jewish lawyers: from the biblical Abraham, who argued with God on behalf of the doomed sinners of Sodom, through modern-day advocates who have changed the world by challenging the status quo, defending the unpopular, contributing to the rule of law, and following the biblical command to pursue justice. Entertaining and aggressive – which is what you’d expect from this author – this book should appeal to anyone interested in justice.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2015
17 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Alan M. Dershowitz
145 books318 followersAlan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is known for his career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
He has spent most of his career at Harvard, where, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor in its history, until Noam Elkies took the record. Dershowitz still holds the record as the youngest person to become a professor of law there.
As a criminal appellate lawyer, Dershowitz has won thirteen out of the fifteen murder and attempted murder cases he has handled. He successfully argued to overturn the conviction of Claus von Bülow for the attempted murder of Bülow's wife, Sunny. Dershowitz was the appellate advisor for the defense in the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
He has spent most of his career at Harvard, where, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor in its history, until Noam Elkies took the record. Dershowitz still holds the record as the youngest person to become a professor of law there.
As a criminal appellate lawyer, Dershowitz has won thirteen out of the fifteen murder and attempted murder cases he has handled. He successfully argued to overturn the conviction of Claus von Bülow for the attempted murder of Bülow's wife, Sunny. Dershowitz was the appellate advisor for the defense in the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 25, 2016
Got this as a Christmas gift because it had a catchy, funny title, and I'm a lawyer. Since I'm making my way through Genesis, I figured it fit to read a book about Abraham.
The first half of the book discusses the biblical story of Abraham. Dershowitz focuses on the text of Genesis as well as the tradition of Jewish "Midrash," which are ancient commentaries on the text that seem to add significant extra-textual storytelling. For example, Dershowitz relies heavily on a Midrash regarding Abraham's upbringing, where Abraham is supposed to have worked for his father in a shop that sold idols. Abraham smashes all of the idols while his father is away, and then tells his father that the largest idol caused the destruction. His father says that the idol could not have done such a thing, at which point Abraham turns the table and points out the foolishness of worshipping powerless idols. This Midrash is taken to explain why God chose Abraham. I was unfamiliar with this tradition, so I am not sure how Midrash are typically used in the Jewish faith, but a Catholic analog might be the belief in the Assumption of Mary, which is nowhere directly discussed in the text of the New Testament.
Looking at the text and Midrash, Dershowitz draws out a few main "sides" of Abraham: idol-smasher, defender of the innocent (when he negotiates with God over the destruction of Sodom), rescuer of brethren (when he rescues Lot), shrewd negotiator (when he buys land for Sarah's burial), and someone who is foolishly complicit with immorality (when he follows God's command in the binding of Isaac). I don't know any Jewish theology, so can't evaluate whether Dershowitz's views align with that tradition—although my guess is not, as he confesses his agnosticism—but from a Christian perspective, the extended discussion of the Akedah is fairly heretical. Dershowitz repeatedly accuses God of evil and maligns Abraham for failing to stand up to him, as he had regarding the destruction of Sodom. I became so frustrated here that I put the book down and revisited one of my absolute favorites on the topic, Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling.
The second half of the book is almost a complete non-sequitur, where Dershowitz spends 1-3 pages profiling various Jewish persons throughout history. He attempts to tie each of these persons in some way through a ridiculously strained connection to Abraham. For example, he recites a few Jewish lawyers who have championed human rights issues, including (oh so modestly) himself, and compares this to Abraham defending the innocents in Sodom. He discusses a few Jews who were complicit in the rise of Naziism or Stalinist Russia and compares them to Abraham the binder of Isaac. Etc. etc. etc. The entire section feels cursory and tacked on, with only the thinnest thread justifying its inclusion in a book supposedly about Abraham.
As a final complaint, the book is written like a law review article with copious, substantive notes. I'm used to that kind of writing, so don't mind the practice, but infuriatingly all of the notes are *end notes.* With 5-10 notes per page, some merely citations, others paragraphs-long side discussions, flipping back and forth between the main text and the end of the book was extremely tedious. But at least my effort was rewarded with a 3-page endnote rant complaining about people lauding St. Thomas More's courage, thus confirming my low opinion of Dershowitz's moral instincts.
The first half of the book discusses the biblical story of Abraham. Dershowitz focuses on the text of Genesis as well as the tradition of Jewish "Midrash," which are ancient commentaries on the text that seem to add significant extra-textual storytelling. For example, Dershowitz relies heavily on a Midrash regarding Abraham's upbringing, where Abraham is supposed to have worked for his father in a shop that sold idols. Abraham smashes all of the idols while his father is away, and then tells his father that the largest idol caused the destruction. His father says that the idol could not have done such a thing, at which point Abraham turns the table and points out the foolishness of worshipping powerless idols. This Midrash is taken to explain why God chose Abraham. I was unfamiliar with this tradition, so I am not sure how Midrash are typically used in the Jewish faith, but a Catholic analog might be the belief in the Assumption of Mary, which is nowhere directly discussed in the text of the New Testament.
Looking at the text and Midrash, Dershowitz draws out a few main "sides" of Abraham: idol-smasher, defender of the innocent (when he negotiates with God over the destruction of Sodom), rescuer of brethren (when he rescues Lot), shrewd negotiator (when he buys land for Sarah's burial), and someone who is foolishly complicit with immorality (when he follows God's command in the binding of Isaac). I don't know any Jewish theology, so can't evaluate whether Dershowitz's views align with that tradition—although my guess is not, as he confesses his agnosticism—but from a Christian perspective, the extended discussion of the Akedah is fairly heretical. Dershowitz repeatedly accuses God of evil and maligns Abraham for failing to stand up to him, as he had regarding the destruction of Sodom. I became so frustrated here that I put the book down and revisited one of my absolute favorites on the topic, Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling.
The second half of the book is almost a complete non-sequitur, where Dershowitz spends 1-3 pages profiling various Jewish persons throughout history. He attempts to tie each of these persons in some way through a ridiculously strained connection to Abraham. For example, he recites a few Jewish lawyers who have championed human rights issues, including (oh so modestly) himself, and compares this to Abraham defending the innocents in Sodom. He discusses a few Jews who were complicit in the rise of Naziism or Stalinist Russia and compares them to Abraham the binder of Isaac. Etc. etc. etc. The entire section feels cursory and tacked on, with only the thinnest thread justifying its inclusion in a book supposedly about Abraham.
As a final complaint, the book is written like a law review article with copious, substantive notes. I'm used to that kind of writing, so don't mind the practice, but infuriatingly all of the notes are *end notes.* With 5-10 notes per page, some merely citations, others paragraphs-long side discussions, flipping back and forth between the main text and the end of the book was extremely tedious. But at least my effort was rewarded with a 3-page endnote rant complaining about people lauding St. Thomas More's courage, thus confirming my low opinion of Dershowitz's moral instincts.
May 29, 2016
I wanted this book to be better than it was. Although probably part of it another case of me misunderstanding what the book is about based on the title, without focused reading of the inside flap for more information. I wish there would have been more about the actual figure of Abraham than there was; sure, he used the framework of the figure's actions to discuss Jewish lawyers in modern history, but it seemed a kind of flimsy framework set up for him to just talk about Jewish lawyers. Which I liked that topic, truly, but...yeah. I can't exactly put my finger on what is missing, but either way, it was still very informative, and he's really eloquent.
Read
June 21, 2016Review by Peter L. Rothholtz for the Jewish Book Council.
March 2, 2017
The concept here felt a little forced to me but I did enjoy pieces of it. I don't align with Mr. Dershowitz on a number of issues but that doesn't bother me. I particularly enjoyed some of the analysis of the biblical stories of Abraham as well as the profiles of some of the lawyers in the book.
October 17, 2025
Dnf. Dry. Rambling. Boring. I expected case law and how it compares to Abraham. What i got was biblical summary going “see! He’s a lawyer!”
January 30, 2016
This is an interesting little book. Sheds light on the biblical stories about Abraham, that I wasn't very knowledgeable about, adds brief history of the Jews 'on trial' whether officially or in public (non-Jewish) opinion throughout history, and then provides some details of specific cases in the recent past, including one, Leo Frank, that I had never before heard of. I found this book very interesting, as well as startling and depressing as he documents the ongoing anti-Semitism in today's world.
January 11, 2016
Gift from my daughter-in-law, together with a cool T shirt from Politics & Prose, my favorite book store in Washington D.C. This is a short book and a quick read. Nothing deep. It's a selective survey of "Jewish Lawers." Dershowitz is both a good lawyer and a good writer. I enjoyed the book, but didn't learn very much.
March 17, 2016
Pretty good but uneven book. A lot of the material was familiar. There was too much emphasis on Abraham's adventure at his father's idol shop. There were also some very stirring and powerful parts. So I rated it "three stars" owing to some unevenness.
My copy is autographed so not available for resale.
My copy is autographed so not available for resale.
November 21, 2015
Abraham The World's First
Abraham The World's First but Certainly Not the Last Jewish Lawyer by Alan Dershowitz is a fascinating book. It demonstrates from Biblical times, how Jewish people can reason things and be idol smashers. I highly recommend this book.
Abraham The World's First but Certainly Not the Last Jewish Lawyer by Alan Dershowitz is a fascinating book. It demonstrates from Biblical times, how Jewish people can reason things and be idol smashers. I highly recommend this book.
November 1, 2015
Excellent.
May 28, 2025
Generally okay but slow. Also, not a fan with the opinion that Abraham was not proper in following God’s instructions.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews