Michael Avi Helfand

Brenden Mann Foundation Chair in Law & Religion @PeppLaw; Visiting Professor @YaleLawSch; Senior Legal Advisor, OU @TeachCoalition_; Senior Fellow @Hartman_Inst

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

And thanks to @mjschwartzman for texting me multiple GIFs from Ferris Bueller's Day Off in response to my metaphor :)

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Grateful to @laurameckler for taking the time to speak with me for her latest (along with @laurenmlumpkin) @washingtonpost article, "The Sweeping Ways Religion Is Mixing with Public Education."
https://t.co/YK0IbziQ3X

[Pepperdine News @Pepperdine_News]

How should courts balance religious liberty and the separation of church and state? In @CityJournal, @PeppLaw professor @MAHelfand examines recent Supreme Court decisions and the future of First Amendment religious freedom protections.
https://t.co/zvJDpgnRTm

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

For more about laws still on the books that continue to exclude religion from such programs, see our work at https://t.co/BRb77O7U4R.

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

My latest @CityJournal, w/@nsgarnett, exploring the growing trend of states eliminating rules that unconstitutionally exclude religion and religious institutions from government funding program.

https://t.co/uBc8ZzgaLe

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

@chrishampsonlaw @SoCalTaxProf @mark_storslee I don't think so. It's pretty close to final right now.

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Thanks @SoCalTaxProf!

And for those who might be looking for the extended version of the argument, here's my co-authored article with @mark_storslee, Government Religious Speech and the Establishment Clause, 79 Vand. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026), https://t.co/abuHPi20ll.

[Paul Caron @SoCalTaxProf]

Why the Ten Commandments Don’t Belong in Public Schools, by
@MAHelfand @PeppLaw @thedispatch
https://t.co/OWJneAjSer

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

And many thanks to @valerificent for the editing!

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Finally got around to sharing some thoughts @thedispatch on the Ten Commandments litigation—and why the recent federal court decision upholding a requirement to post the Ten Commandments in public schools goes way too far.

https://t.co/EXvUTQJjW0

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

And if you're looking for a more in depth look, here's my forthcoming article in the @NotreDameLRev, "Mapping Carson: New Frontiers of Religious Exclusion in Government Programs"

https://t.co/fGbonVRcuN

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Some initial thoughts in @CityJournal on St. Mary Catholic Church v. Roy--the next blockbuster Supreme Court case addressing the boundaries of religious liberty when it comes to government funding:

https://t.co/eoHa6JgRSb

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Okay, I confess, some commentary on the litigation over the first Jewish Charter School bugged me a bit. Grateful to the @JewishJournal & @DavidSuissaJJ for letting me express why--and for pulling my favorite line of the column into the subtitle: https://t.co/JjBcyzeuWa

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

And if you want a rebuttal (because why not), check out @shbarclay's amicus brief in the Arkansas Ten Commandments litigation (pages 14-15) filed by the @PeppLaw Religious Liberty Clinic: https://t.co/a8MwXcwyb3

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Appreciate @washingtonpost reporter @laurameckler for quoting me in her story about the 5th Cir opinion upholding the 10 Commandments in public schools. Here's my attempt to stuff the entirety of my & @mark_storslee's article into 2 sentences.
For the rest https://t.co/abuHPi2yaT

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

And, for the first time, I also get to hang out (within limits) with Helfkid1 on campus. So if you're looking for me on the front end of the week, I'll be on East Coast time. As always, thank you Sarah Emerson Helfand for making this somewhat insane schedule possible!

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

And so begins Spring 2026, year 7 of my transcontinental commute to @YaleLawSch . . .

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

New this year is a course I'm teaching titled "Antisemitism and the Law," which has been quite an undertaking in terms of the preparation.

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

Please note that league participants were informed that the very modest proceeds from my victory would all best sent as a donation to the @Beth_Din: https://t.co/JvcMh6IgNQ

THE END

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

A few months back, I was a scholar-in-residence at Cong Shaare Tefillah. My good friend, @davidyolkut , made sure that the president of the shul included in his introduction that I was an embarrassing 4-6 in our fantasy football league--a league I've been in for over 20 years 1/

[Michael Avi Helfand @MAHelfand]

. . . Any questions as to why this was included in the Announcements can be directed to Former Scholar-In-Residence Panelist, David Yolkut, Esq."