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The judge in Maduro’s case is an Orthodox Jew — and displays a Torah verse in his chambers

JL;DR SUMMARY The article highlights Judge Alvin Kenneth Hellerstein, an Orthodox Jew who displays the Torah verse "Tzedek, tzedek tirdof" ("Justice, justice you shall pursue") in his chambers, as he presides over the high-profile case of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on drug trafficking charges. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish EducationJusticeOrthodox JewJewish ValuesBill ClintonNicolas MaduroAlvin HellersteinTzedek TirdofU.S. Judiciary

Places mentioned

Caracas, Zulia, Venezuela
"The hearing followed the U.S. militarys extraordinary capture of the Venezuelan leader and first lady in Caracas on Saturday and their subsequent transfer to a federal jail in Brooklyn."
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"The hearing followed the U.S. militarys extraordinary capture of the Venezuelan leader and first lady in Caracas on Saturday and their subsequent transfer to a federal jail in Brooklyn."
New York City, New York, United States
"Raised in New York City, Hellerstein attended Bronx Science High School, Columbia College, and Columbia Law School."
Washington, Washington DC, United States
"Originally from the Washington, D.C., area, she is a 2023 graduate of Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism."

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This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 71996
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-01-06 05:31:03 UTC
Curated 2026-01-06 08:31:05 UTC