God and Abraham Playing “Theological Chicken”: Spitzer and Dershowitz Face Off in Mock Trial

Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer faced off against famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz November 16 in a mock trial before an audience of 1,300.

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The one-hour trial, which took place at Temple Emanu-El synagogue on New York’s Upper East Side, sought to answer the question once and for all:

Was the biblical patriarch Abraham guilty of attempted murder and endangering the welfare of his son, Isaac?

You remember the story:  Abraham led his son Isaac up a mountain and then, when they got to the top, tied Isaac up and placed him on a pile of firewood, then prepared to slash his throat, offering his beloved son as a sacrifice to God.  Abraham released Isaac when he heard a voice telling him to stop; and instead, he sacrificed a ram they found with its horns tangled in a thicket.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan presided over the Old Testament-inspired case.  Dershowitz defended Abraham against charges that he was an abusive parent, while Spitzer prosecuted the case on behalf of the state.

Spitzer, who was Dershowitz’ student at Harvard Law School, made his case with sarcasm that drew laughs from the crowd.  “Voices told me to do it! God spoke to me!” he mimicked Abraham’s best defense.  But prosecutor Spitzer thought that a flimsy defense and insisted, “The voice of God is no defense to criminal acts.”  

But Dershowitz defended Abraham, citing Scripture and, with a wry reference to the O.J. Simpson trial, insisting “If you believe in the Bible, you must acquit.”

In the end, the 1,300 citizen jurors ruled in favor of Abraham–blaming God for the whole kerfuffle.