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NEW YORK -- Howard Mandell, a longtime civil rights lawyer in Alabama and a Center board member since 1985, has given up his law practice and turned to religious studies in a quest for a more spiritual life. In September, he enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary here for a six-year program that includes a year's study in Israel during the fourth year and culminates in his being ordained as a rabbi. He continues to serve on the Center's board of directors.
"The decision I made to go to rabbinical school was based on faith," Mandell said. "If anyone had told me 10 years ago that this is where I'd be today, I'd have said ıYou're talking to the wrong person.' But I've learned to let life happen, not try to control it."
A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Mandell came to Montgomery in 1970 to clerk for the Honorable Frank M. Johnson, then the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and a legend throughout the nation for his courageous, landmark civil rights rulings.
When he ended his clerkship, Mandell began a 25-year law practice in Montgomery, specializing in Constitutional and civil rights law and general litigation. In 1977, he helped establish the federally funded Legal Services Corporation of Alabama and served as chairperson of its board for five years. Active in county and state bar activities, Mandell also served on the board of a local children's home for 10 years.
After a four-year sabbatical from his law practice, Mandell was asked in 2000 by Montgomery's newly elected mayor to help him work to better community relations in the city. For the next two years, he served as city attorney.
"It was a unique opportunity to repay Montgomery for the gifts it gave me and also to make changes from the inside," he said. "In my role as a civil rights lawyer, I was used to seeking change from the outside."
In the latter part of the 1990s, Mandell began serious religious study and spent much time in Israel. Deciding to leave Montgomery, where he had lived and practiced law for almost 30 years, to undertake fulltime rabbinical studies was a difficult decision.
"I really enjoyed working with the mayor and serving as city attorney," he said, "But there was a spiritual need I felt only full-time religious study could fill."
He used the law to make the world a better place, and now he continues his efforts in a more spiritual way. "As for my own personal growth, I would like to become a more aware and humble person, one who can maintain and develop a meaningful and ongoing relationship with God," he said.
SPLC Report
June 2003
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