Jewish Groups Mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Various Jewish groups paid homage to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18 at the age of 87 from metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Following the news of her death at her Washington, D.C., home, Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement, “Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”

The justice became a pop icon and earned the nickname the Notorious RBG.

“As the sun sets on Rosh Hashanah, we mourn Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first female Jewish SCOTUS Justice,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. “We honor her memory & her words: ‘Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.’ We promise, #RBG.”

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris hailed Ginsburg in a tweet as “a giant of American jurisprudence, she championed women’s rights & gender equality. She exemplified courage & conviction throughout her life. We’ll never forget her speeches to @AJCGlobal.”

His tweet also featured a 1996 New York Times adaptation of a speech Ginsburg gave to the AJC in 1995 in which she said, “I am a judge born, raised and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of the Jewish tradition. I hope in my years on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and courage to remain constant in the service of that demand.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted, “We join all Americans in mourning the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg #RBG who brought dignity, grace, and brilliance to our Nation’s highest court for 27 years. May her memory always be a source of blessing.”

The tweet also featured a cartoon of Ginsburg greeting the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. The two had a close friendship while serving on the high court together.

“She fought fiercely and unflinchingly to advance and defend the rights of women and minorities.” — Ronald Lauder

J Street tweeted, “If this year has taught us anything, it’s how to mourn as we fight and fight as we mourn. RBG’s memory shall be a blessing and her example an inspiration as we give our all to defend our democracy.”

Jewish Democratic Council of America Executive Director Halie Soifer tweeted that she was “devastated” over Ginsburg’s death. “#RBG embodied the Jewish value of tikkun olam & fulfilled the commandment to pursue justice, which hung in her chambers in Hebrew. May her memory be a blessing & may we honor her dying wish.”

Ginsburg said in a statement to her granddaughter days before her death: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

The Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) similarly tweeted, “We will be forever grateful for her moral leadership and her fierce advocacy for women’s equality and for justice. This is a profound loss for our country. May her memory be a blessing.”

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder called Ginsburg “a trailblazer on behalf of gender equality.” His statement went on to say, “She paved the way for women in the law and on the courts. She fought fiercely and unflinchingly to advance and defend the rights of women and minorities, and, in the tradition of Justices Louis D. Brandeis and Benjamin Cardozo, embodied the principle of equal justice for all under the law, as well as the Jewish value of ‘tzedek, tzedek, tirdof’ — ‘justice, justice shall you pursue.’ Her life is a legacy and a testament, and her memory will be a blessing and a lesson forever more.”