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So I’ve been watching news coverage and responses to the death of #RuthBaderGinsburg. And as a Jewish woman, I have some concerns.
So some caveats as usual: I am Canadian, and further, Canadian and American Jewish culture are not the same. I am also sharing this information with no rancor for those with good intentions.
So all of this is to say that I think all of the memorials I’ve seen are lovely and I take them in the spirit they are given. But I would also encourage you take a moment to learn about Jewish customs as one way to honour Justice Ginsburg.
One of Justice Ginsburg’s greatest strengths was her ability to find common ground with people who had different views than she did, so this information is shared in this spirit.
First of all, Justice Ginsburg was Jewish. I can’t repeat this enough. It is troubling to see her ethnic identity erased in discussions of her life. If her Jewish heritage is mentioned at all, it is only in reference to her parents.
Jewishness is an ethnicity, a religion, and a culture. And Justice Ginsburg’s Jewishness was fundamental to her work. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/09/19/rbg-ruth-bader-ginsburg-holocaust-jewish/
Her work was inspired by the Jewish commandment, Tikkum Olam, or repair the world. I like to interpret this as leaving the world better than you found this. And this was central to Justice Ginsburg’s social justice work. https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/in-jerusalem-ruth-bader-ginsburg-celebrates-her-commitment-to-tikkun-olam/
As others have noted, https://twitter.com/ruth_franklin/status/1307109092511678470
And what’s more, https://twitter.com/ninatotenberg/status/1307169055313457152
Justice Ginsburg also died right as Shabbat began, and those who die in this day are also considered tzadik. So the fact that she died on the first night of Rosh Hashanah and on Shabbat is doubly significant. And extremely meaningful for all Jews.
Third, Jewish mourning rituals are not the same as Christian mourning rituals. We do not say Rest In Peace, and Jews do not believe in heaven.
