{"id":35232,"date":"2020-08-21T03:40:28","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T10:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=35232"},"modified":"2020-08-20T14:29:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T21:29:06","slug":"real-life-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2020\/08\/21\/real-life-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Real-life learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clockwise from top left: Prof. Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir, Prof. Guy Davidov, Ohad Amar and Vardit Dameri Madar of Hebrew University\u2019s Clinical Legal Education Centre. (photos from cfhu.org)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Five representatives of Hebrew University\u2019s Clinical Legal Education Centre (CLEC) took part in an online discussion about the legal aid the organization offers to disadvantaged individuals and groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one of the jewels in our crown. CLEC has taught our students how social responsibility is an important part of the legal profession,\u201d said Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir, dean of HU\u2019s faculty of law. \u201cAnd it continues to do exemplary work during the coronavirus pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides offering professional legal assistance to underprivileged people in Israel, particularly in the Jerusalem area, the centre provides students with hands-on experience. Each clinic, which is comprised of 16 students and includes six hours of field work each week, is overseen by an attorney and an academic advisor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main goal is to demonstrate to students the difference between law in the books and law in action,\u201d said Prof. Guy Davidov, CLEC\u2019s academic director. \u201cIt is essential in showing how the law works in real life. We don\u2019t want to be detached from the community in our ivory towers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another key objective of the centre, Davidov said, is to present the potential (and limitations) of the law as a tool for social change, which also is better understood in practice and engagement.<\/p>\n

To illustrate the scope of the centre, Vardit Dameri Madar, CLEC\u2019s executive director, told the assembled Zoom audience the story of Hanna, a 32-year-old mother of six children, including one who has mental challenges. Hanna lives in severe poverty and is divorced after having suffered years of physical and mental abuse. She survives on minimum income benefits.<\/p>\n

Just as the coronavirus struck, Hanna had her benefits stopped, said Dameri Madar. In spite of the pandemic forcing people to stay in isolation, the country\u2019s housing department demanded that Hanna come to its offices in person to fill out the necessary documents to receive her benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike a TV show such as LA Law<\/em>, problems do not get resolved in the time it takes to watch an episode,\u201d Dameri Madar explained. \u201cIn real life, it takes a long time to get a response from the housing department.\u201d<\/p>\n

After sending letters to the department and raising the issue in the media of Hanna\u2019s possible eviction, a precarious circumstance shared by thousands of Israelis as the virus started, CLEC was able to make a difference \u2013 the housing department relented and allowed people to fill in their applications online.<\/p>\n

CLEC handles 600 cases per year. The centre aims to address policy changes that affect broader populations; it initiates 35 to 40 policy change projects a year through tests cases, position papers, shadow reports, draft legislation and alternative models. CLEC also organizes about 90 lectures per year for the general population, as well as for specific groups, such as youth, single mothers and social workers.<\/p>\n

This coming year, CLEC will run eight clinics, on the topics of at-risk youth, international human rights, marginalized communities, disability rights, criminal justice, the wrongfully accused, multiculturalism and women\u2019s economic empowerment.<\/p>\n

CLEC, too, has formed a Corona Crisis Program that manages existing cases related to poverty with responses in \u201creal time\u201d; provides Social Justice Operations Rooms on Facebook, with legal aid available in Hebrew and Arabic; and promotes policy changes stemming from the Facebook room and clinical activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided that Facebook was a good tool to help answer people\u2019s questions at a time when the rules were in flux,\u201d said Ohad Amar, the lecturer at CLEC who started the Facebook groups.<\/p>\n

From the Facebook groups, the public has easy access to specialized aid from attorneys, students and volunteers. To date, its 60 volunteers have helped more than 1,500 people.<\/p>\n

Ariel Elkayam, a second-year law student, said \u201cthis is the best thing that happened to me with my studying here. I am so lucky to get to do this work. With the centre, you do teamwork. It really gives you a sense of belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elkayam\u2019s recent work with CLEC has been advocating for at-risk youth who have been fined and arrested for being out on the streets with nowhere to go during the COVID crisis \u2013 at a time when Israeli law enforcement has been clamping down on homelessness.<\/p>\n

Every year, approximately 140 students are accepted to the CLEC clinics. For more information, visit openscholar.huji.ac.il\/clinicallecen\/book\/clec-experience-assistance-impact-law-students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sam Margolis<\/strong> has written for the <\/em>Globe and Mail, the <\/em>National Post, UPI and MSNBC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clockwise from top left: Prof. Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir, Prof. Guy Davidov, Ohad Amar and Vardit Dameri Madar of Hebrew University\u2019s Clinical Legal Education Centre. (photos from cfhu.org) Five representatives of Hebrew University\u2019s Clinical Legal Education Centre (CLEC) took part in an online discussion about the legal aid the organization offers to disadvantaged individuals and groups. \u201cIt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[19715,19714,19716,3076,19717,1834,2251,19720,19718,5491,1959,19719],"class_list":["post-35232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-ariel-elkayam","tag-clec","tag-daphna-lewinsohn-zamir","tag-education","tag-guy-davidov","tag-hebrew-university","tag-law","tag-legal-aid","tag-ohad-amar","tag-social-justice","tag-tikkun-olam","tag-vardit-dameri-madar"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}