Meet Judge Alvin Hellerstein, the Orthodox Jewish Judge Presiding Over the Maduro Case

Before a judge was even publicly assigned to preside over the criminal case against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Manhattan federal court, the online reaction had already taken a familiar turn. In corners of social media where facts rarely slow speculation, Israel and Jews were invoked. 

Then the assignment was announced: Senior U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, a 92-year-old Orthodox Jew with one of the most distinguished judicial careers in the country, would oversee the case in the Southern District of New York. The conspiratorial commentary only intensified.

Judge Hellerstein’s role in this case has nothing to do with Israel or global Jewish politics. It has everything to do with his record.

Appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and serving in senior status since 2011, Hellerstein has presided over some of the most consequential cases of the past quarter-century—including litigation arising from the September 11 attacks, the release of the Abu Ghraib photographs, the civil case against Harvey Weinstein, and major financial fraud prosecutions. More recently, he has handled high-stakes Trump-related litigation, including ruling on efforts to move Trump’s New York hush-money case into federal court and issuing decisions related to the Trump administration’s use of emergency deportation powers. The Maduro case is simply the latest in a long list of complex matters entrusted to him because of his experience and judgment.

Hellerstein has never hidden his Jewish identity. In a 2013 law review article published by Touro Law School, he described himself plainly as an Orthodox Jew and reflected on how Jewish learning shaped his understanding of law and responsibility. He has quoted the Torah verse “Justice, justice you shall pursue” to a defendant standing before him in court; sent his children to Ramaz, a Modern Orthodox day school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side; served as president and chairman of the Board of Jewish Education; and even appeared on Behind the Bima, a podcast hosted by Boca Raton Synagogue’s Rabbi Efrem Goldberg. That same verse—“Justice, justice you shall pursue”—hangs on his wall, a guiding principle that for him appears to be both Jewish and universal.

At the same time, Hellerstein is clear-eyed about the limits and responsibilities of judicial power. He rejects the idea that faith excuses bias or replaces legal rigor. Instead, he speaks candidly about the unavoidable humanity of judging—and the humility that demands. In his Touro Law article, he writes:

“Yet, it cannot be denied that judges are influenced by who they are and how they were brought up, and certainly I would not deny that. Indeed, can I be so certain in my disclaimer? After all, who, but God, can see the operation of a human mind, even one’s own mind?”

For Hellerstein, that awareness deepens his obligation to pursue justice carefully and without self-deception. He goes on to describe the responsibility he feels as both a judge and a Jew — mindful that, at the end of the day, he too will stand before the ultimate Judge in the beis din shel ma’aleh (Heavenly court):

“As a judge, and as a Jew, I consider that everything I do reflects God and affects His image. It is as if my orders and rulings, my decisions and opinions, stand before me in heaven, to judge me when I am to be judged. Justice is elusive, but it must be sought by passion and intelligence, so that the finished result reflects not only being Jewish, but being righteous, just, and correct. Let others pick the strands; I will stand by the results.”

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