BUSINESS

Joseph Shenker

Rabbi and lawyer

One of New York City's top lawyers who is also an ordained rabbi, Joseph Shenker has turned his intellect and his talents to the pro-Hamas movement on campuses across the US, signaling a warning to those who participate in lauding terror and rape that they face long-term consequences for their actions. Shenker's practice Sullivan & Cromwell — a 145-year-old firm that counts Goldman Sachs and Amazon among its clients — announced this year that prospective applicants with a record of involvement in the protests would be rejected. "People are taking their outrage about what's going on in Gaza and turning it into racist antisemitism," Shenker told The New York Times in July 2024. In Israel during the Oct. 7 Hamas mass assault, he returned to the US determined to confront campus antisemitism, issuing trenchant criticism of law school deans for failing to protect Jewish students. "If the schools had done so, Mr. Shenker said, his firm's new policy wouldn't be necessary," the Times reported.