In Memory of Stephen Susman
By Rabbi Shmully Hecht
“Last Thursday, my wife and I paid a visit to the Legacy Museum and the Peace Memorial in Montgomery, AL. At the former, there were several stories of wrongfully incarcerated African Americans. Brian Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative got them off. You should go there. Steve Susman”
I received that email in 2018 among many in my twenty-year correspondence with Steve. He was simply put, a man of fairness with zero tolerance for a calumny of any kind, the slightest lie, legal distortion and injustice, regardless of scale or size. The circumstances of the perpetrator and victim’s background were irrelevant, and no detail went unnoticed. He was obsessed with truth and the dissemination of equality across all ethnic, racial and socio-economic lines. If a billionaire was wronged by a homeless man Stephen would seize the latter’s tent as compensation. If the reverse occurred, he would bankrupt the enterprise and have the underdog repossess their assets. Period. He exuded a flair of Texan bravado underpinned by a sharp analytic shtetel mind. A yidisha kap. Behind the tenacious lawyer was the innocent Jewish boy from New Haven of humble beginnings.
Steve loved, supported and argued on the village green for a strong Israel. And he did it like a cowboy armed with words immersed in intense dialectic. As victor, he remained compassionate for all humankind including our enemies. He attended a reform synagogue but shared orthodox traditional leanings in his heart and as he got older, he seemed to regret his illiteracy of traditional Jewish text and lack of breadth of his own tradition. He sincerely wanted to catch up personally for lost time and was extremely proud that his children sustained a strong Jewish identity. Had the great lawyer lived longer we probably would have started studying Talmud together. I regret not having the chance while he was still alive. Lesson learned. Any Talmud takers? Please email to schedule.
Steve visited us numerous times on campus where he held lengthy formal and informal legal discussions. He convened among the students like a peer and held court like an older brother. The cigar-smoke-filled room and passing around of bourbon shots were a perfect campus setting for big Steve, the coach of a Socratic order. The Yalies adored him, and he always made time to mentor and converse with undergrads and Law students alike. He once once relayed that all his Yale classmates were retiring in their sixties while he was opening a new Law office in New York.
On one occasion I visited him in the Susman Godfrey New York office with Israeli Ambassador Gideon Meir. Steve spoke about his interest in the arts and passionate hopes for Israel to excel therein. Israel was always on his mind. In fact, the last time I saw him was at a Shabtai NYC event at which he interviewed Israel’s Supreme Court Justice, Hanan Melcer. It was a lovely Sunday morning, and we all enjoyed a brunch buffet attended by New York intellectuals of all ages and persuasions. Gail Victor’s apartment was brimming with a diverse group of legal scholars, clerks, attorneys, writers and thought leaders seeking insight into the contrasts and similarities of the US legal system and that of State of Israel. Stephen was on fire as he and Hanan formed a warm lasting relationship, socializing hundreds of feet above the East River over bagels and lox.
You taught us how to fight, Steve. With our minds and ideas, that is. You taught us how to argue, civilly and respectfully. You reasoned like the ancient sages of our people, be it Abraham, Moses, Hillel and Rabbi Akiva. You will be remembered among them, and we will miss you dearly.
Rabbi Shmully Hecht is cofounder and Rabbinical Advisor of Shabtai and can be reached at shmully@279crown.org