Seeking to create a forum for Jewish concerns in the legal community, a group of attorneys recently formed the Bronx County Jewish Bar Association.
There are longstanding Jewish affinity groups in Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester, but the Bronx has long been without one.
Association founders Matt Kluger and Cary London said a major part of their drive to start a new group for Jewish lawyers who practice in the city’s northernmost borough was their frustration with major legal organizations’ responses to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and with they see as a lack of unity among Jewish lawyers.
“To combat antisemitism — that’s a main goal,” said Kluger, who now serves as the Bronx County Jewish Bar Association’s first president. “To respond to an uptick in levels and occasions of antisemitism and to stand in the Bronx proudly for Jewish values and for the state of Israel.”
The groups other goals include responding to forms of hate in the Bronx legal community, among the other typical networking operations of a legal association. The association is committed to increase representation among Jewish attorneys in the judiciary, wants to provide continuing legal education and panels relevant to Jewish professionals and support Jewish students.
“The Bronx County Jewish Bar Association was created to ensure the Jewish legal community has a strong, visible voice in the Bronx. We’re committed to fighting antisemitism, strengthening professional networks, and advocating for a judiciary that reflects the communities it serves – including the need for more qualified Jewish judges on the bench,” said London, the group’s vice president, in a statement.
