My heritage as a Jew and my occupation as a judge fit together symmetrically. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of Jewish history and tradition.
– Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
We were devastated by the loss of Justice Ginsburg, and we mourn with America. Few people have so irrevocably altered the lives of so many. Ideas that once seemed so radical, today are common sense because of her efforts – chief among them equal protection of the law and what that means for the most vulnerable among us, including women, children and families.
But we cannot simply mourn. Our heritage demands that we take action to honor her legacy.
Let’s do this.
1. Justice Ginsburg always chose her words carefully from her early years as a lawyer arguing landmark cases to her powerful dissenting opinions from the bench of the US Supreme Court, and finally, her dying wish to her granddaughter that her seat not be filled until the next president is sworn in. Together let’s ensure her seat is filled only after every vote is counted. Sign the petition here and text RBG to 50409 to have Resistbot automatically send signed letters to your Senators urging them to keep her seat vacant.
2. There is a custom in many Jewish communities that, at the end of a shiva period, mourners take a walk around the block to symbolically mark the end of an intensely inward time and return to the world. As such, NCJW/Essex will join with other NCJW sections and Jewish communities across the country as we take a symbolic walk around our blocks or local courthouses on Friday, October 2, at noon. We will circle our office at 70 South Orange Avenue to remind people that this work in the world matters, critically. Please bring a mask. We will be observing socially distancing. Email Stephanie Abrahams, Director of Advocacy, at sabrahams@ncjwessex.org to RSVP.
3. Honor Justice Ginsburg by celebrating her life. Join us for a virtual group tour of The Illinois Holocaust Museum Exhibit: “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Curator Arielle Weininger will discuss the history of RBG and the exhibition, complete with embedded audio, video and photographs of artifacts as seen in the exhibition. A live Q&A with a docent will follow. There are two sessions, Tuesday, October 6 2020, at 1 p.m. and Thursday, October 8 2020, at 5 p.m.