Ori Herstein remembers Joseph Raz
Joseph Raz vignettes:
Joseph was my dissertation advisor, mentor, and friend. Technically, he was also my colleague at King’s College London, although in this case “colleague” feels to me presumptuous. Altogether, I knew him for nineteen years. Following are a few memories of our times together, which I will always cherish.
Coming to dinner at our London flat with Penny and our friend Sandy, Joseph passed on the borscht – “I did not like it when my mother made it for me, and I still don’t like it”. This statement made my wife (born in Moscow) wonder exactly how deep Joseph’s Russian roots ran. A couple of years later in Israel, she (cunningly) sharply shifted to speaking to our boy in Russian in Joseph’s presence. This elicited amusement from Joseph, who seemed to more or less make out what she was saying. She later threw an antiquated Russian curse word into a story she was telling us; resulting in Joseph perking up (“Haa!”), as the dormant memory of a word he had seemingly not heard in decades suddenly seemed to reappear before his mind’s eye. “That’s it,” she later exclaimed to me, “Joseph blew his cover!”
Borscht aside, Joseph enjoyed fine food and drink. So much so, that it seemed as if all his neighborhood restaurants knew him. When at his local Indian restaurant, Joseph would pour his curry on flat naan bread, spread the sauce around, and proceed to eat them together with a knife and fork. No rice. We shared many meals. In fact, my one and only time at a Michelin Star restaurant was with Joseph. He suggested the restaurant. It was terrific. And he paid.
In my first year as Joseph’s PhD student, I bumped into him and Penny by the Columbia Law School’s elevators. He smiled and nodded, and then we stood there waiting in silence. When we walked into the elevator, I politely removed my iPod earphones (it was 2005). “What are you listening to?”, Penny asked. “Jacques Brel”, I said, explaining that although I do not speak French, I like his music nonetheless. Joseph replied “I feel exactly the same way,” looking at me inquisitively, as if considering whether there was more to this Israeli guy than meets the eye.
Joseph and I sitting with our feet slightly elevated at the far corner of the Columbia Law School faculty lounge. Spending half an hour discussing the previous day’s seminar with Ronald Dworkin. And then spending the second half hour gossiping about the previous day’s seminar with Ronald Dworkin.
Favorite Joseph saying: “there is a wobble in the argument”
“I thought you did well in the viva, and the dissertation is good, so that you fully deserve your elevation from the status of a student to the higher one of a Dr.!
Joseph”
[I have this email framed]
Driving Joseph from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, I spoke with him of a PhD student of mine. The student, I told Joseph, was by far more capable than I was at that stage of my own career. Joseph said nothing. Yet he seemed elated with this statement. I think it was his proudest moment of me as his student.
Joseph coming to my aid when defending a paper at the daunting Analytic Legal Philosophy Conference.
Having written some critical remarks about another scholar, I was worried that they must now hate me, and will surely destroy my career. Walking together back from lunch by his London flat, I confided in Joseph. With a wry look on his face, he informed me that “there is no reason here for paranoia”.
I once sought Joseph’s advice about whether or not to stay in London fulltime or to move to Jerusalem. Numerous conflicting emotions, considerations, and calculations were pulling and pushing me in both directions. “I do not know how to approach this matter. It’s too complicated”, I told him. Joseph looked at me and said, “just be rational”.
When our son was born, Joseph asked my wife what our baby boy had taught her about the world. Years later, every now and again she still ponders the question.
Trying to keep up with Joseph walking the streets of Central London. Trying to keep up with Joseph walking the streets of the Upper West Side. Trying to keep up with Joseph exploring the gorgeous campus of Cornell University.
Professor Ori Herstein, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem & King's College London