A man of contradictions
Many words of praise were uttered Saturday upon the death of revered Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin. He was well versed in Israel's history and in foreign literature; he regularly read the Bible and the Mishnah and the Talmud (books of oral Jewish law) as well as Chekhov's writings; he dove into the depths of the law, both global and local. Cheshin had a unique, flowery style, and was particularly well known as someone who did not blindly follow in the path of his predecessors -- he never conducted himself in the shadow of other great jurists. He once said, "I generate my own shadow for myself."
When then-Justice Minister Dan Meridor took steps to appoint Cheshin to the Supreme Court, he justified his choice by explaining that Cheshin was extremely accomplished in many fields, had climbed up the ranks in the State Prosecutor's Office, gained experience in academia where he both studied and taught, and was the first private sector attorney to be named to the state's highest legal institution. Everything pointed to his being well suited for the Supreme Court, but the underlying reasoning was the feeling that Cheshin would be among the very few with the power to stand up to then-Chief Justice Aharon Barak's legal dominance; that he would be able to take an opposite viewpoint to Barak in ideological disputes.
He was an unpredictable judge. He was a champion of the Zionist movement and of human rights. On the one hand, he prohibited the so-called "neighbor procedure" (IDF use of human shields when arresting wanted Palestinians), but on the other hand he bitterly fought Barak to protect Israeli soldiers operating in the Palestinian territories even at the cost of harming human rights. On the one hand, he expanded the definition of a criminal act in the case of a group rape, ruling that no always means no, but on the other hand ruled against a play that harmed the good name of Jewish fighter Hannah Szenes, arguing that freedom of expression does not protect playwright Motti Lerner. If Culture Minister Miri Regev was familiar with his minority opinion on the Lerner play, she would surely have used it in her battle for government intervention the theater.
Above all, however, Cheshin was known for his battle against corruption. He opposed closing the case against former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on suspicion of corruption surrounding a Greek island. He clearly expressed his antagonism toward corruption in the public sector. When he retired from the Supreme Court he headed a committee that awarded a "quality of government" award to candidates who decidedly stood up to institutional injustices and triumphed.
Integrity and kindness were the dominant themes in the song of his life, which ceased on two occasions: Once when his son was killed in a terrible hit-and-run accident, and again when he lost his battle against cancer this weekend.
He also had weaknesses: He was impatient and sometimes made remarks that did not fall into line with what one would expect of a judge, but his weaknesses only served to round out his character, placing grace alongside criticism.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו