Prof. Suzanne Stone was almost alone in the American academic world when she began researching Jewish law at Yale University some 20 years ago. The field of Jewish Studies, which was just then beginning to take root, was taught in the social sciences departments but not the law schools. A few years later, when she arrived in Israel as a visiting professor, she expected Jewish law to be far more prevalent.

"I discovered that this was not the case," she says smiling. Today there are already courses on the subject in quite a number of prestigious American universities. In three institutions, there are even professorships in Jewish law. Some people would even claim that there is actually far more serious activity in the field in the U.S. But the stubborn debate in Israel about including Jewish law in the official legal system is what limits discussion of the subject here.

"There are classes I teach with the whole range, from students with rabbinical semikha [ordination] to non-Jews," says Stone, 54, director of the Program in Jewish Law and Interdisciplinary Studies, Cardozo School of Law, at Yeshiva University in New York. Stone is considered one of the leaders in the field in the U.S. and around the world. She came to Jerusalem this week to deliver the annual Zalman Bernstein Memorial lecture at the Shalem Center. Stone's view is that Jewish law is a highly relevant field for the legal system of the 21st century - but it should not be introduced into the legislation.