Alan Dershowitz at 770 event
Alan Dershowitz at 770 eventMeir Cohen

Defense attorney and former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz was honored at the headquarters of the Chabad – Lubavitch movement in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn on Thursday, in recognition of his work in the Sholom Rubashkin case.

Dershowitz was the guest of honor at the special event, which began at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and continued at the main synagogue at the Chabad movement’s headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway.

Hundreds gathered lined the street between 770 and the Jewish Children’s Museum, celebrating the completion of the Torah scroll, which was paraded down the street before being brought to the main synagogue at 770.

The Torah scroll was written with the support of a philanthropist who chose to honor Dershowitz for his advocacy on behalf of Sholom Rubashkin, a Chabad businessman who was convicted of fraud and money laundering in connection with his kosher slaughterhouse business in Iowa.

“It is nearly impossible to quantify the relief, the joy, and the hope, that Alan has brought – and continues to bring to so many in need – through his loving and compassionate willingness to help anyone in need, in any way he can,” the donor said during Thursday’s event, Collive reported.

“A Sefer Torah is only valid, once each and every letter – which our sages teach us represent souls – is complete. Very much in line with Alan’s deeply inspiring legacy and his relentless efforts to caring for each and every individual human being, whose plight reaches his attention.”

Rubashkin was given 27 years in prison, a sentence which drew criticism from many jurists – including Dershowitz, who suggested Rubashkin had been discriminated against with the unusually lengthy prison term.

"I was outraged by the sentence, because it appeared to me to be about ten times longer than sentences for comparable cases involving non-Jews or non-Orthodox Jews," Dershowitz told Hamodia.

"I think if he weren’t a Hasidic Jew, he would not have gotten that sentence. And the evidence of that is there are other cases in this district involving non-Jews where the sentences were much lower for more serious frauds and crimes.

A broad bipartisan coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, including Nancy Pelosi and Orrin Hatch, urged the White House to commute the remainder of Rubashkin’s sentence.

After serving more than eight years in prison, the father of ten’s sentence was commuted by the Trump administration.