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No Jewish funeral for RBG?
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:23 am
According to Halacha, Jews are supposed to be buried within 24 hours (although I recognize that some people are flown to Israel to be buried which may delay the process but not by much). Ruth Bader Ginsburg was Jewish so I was wondering why she was not buried according to halacha. I understand that she wasnt Orthodox but I dont think that would matter. Wouldnt it have been a sign of respect if she would have been buried according to Halacha? Do non-Orthodox Jews have different "halacha" than Orthodox Jews when it comes to funerals and being buried soon after a person dies?

Note that this is not about her politics or law/judge work so please keep that out as I am trying to understand why she did not have a Jewish burial in accordance to halacha. TIA
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:27 am
I know some levayas that are delayed for various reasons, sometimes by days. That in and of itself would not preclude a kosher burial. IYH she has a burial according to halachah.
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Blessing1




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:30 am
This depends on if the family or if person had wanted a jewish funeral. Not all Jewish families are interested in a Jewish burial. Why should she have a halachik burial when she didn't live her life according to halacha? Some non religious jews want a jewish burial but many unfortunately don't care for it.

Last edited by Blessing1 on Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:35 am; edited 2 times in total
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SixOfWands




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:32 am
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt of Adas Israel Congregation, a Conservative congregation in DC, conducted the service at the Supreme Court ceremony. My guess is that she gave permission (a "heter" if you will) for the delayed burial.

It was a relatively traditional service, RBG was not embalmed, and the casket was wood.
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Reality




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:32 am
She's being buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

I guess her family isn't observant at all? I also was surprised that the family allowed her body to lie in state for so long. It's a very Christian thing to do.
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shabbatiscoming




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:35 am
Like any other not religious jew. They may not live their lives (or deaths) according to halacha. Not sure why thats do surprising really.
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malki2




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:43 am
She didn’t live like a Jew. Why in the world would you expect her to die and be buried like a Jew?
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:44 am
malki2 wrote:
She didn’t live like a Jew. Why in the world would you expect her to die and be buried like a Jew?


Why do you say that?
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amother
Azure


 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:48 am
NotInNJMommy wrote:
Why do you say that?


Because I don't believe she respected her alive or dead.
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malki2




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:48 am
NotInNJMommy wrote:
Why do you say that?


She was completely anti-religious. Not even getting into her radical agenda. In what way did she live like a Jew?
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vintagebknyc




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:50 am
malki2 wrote:
She was completely anti-religious. Not even getting into her radical agenda. In what way did she live like a Jew?


I think you mean she didn't live like a FRUM Jew
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stillnewlywed




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:51 am
I don't understand the question. She wasn't religious and never followed halacha. What would change in her death?
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:53 am
malki2 wrote:
She was completely anti-religious. Not even getting into her radical agenda. In what way did she live like a Jew?


Maybe you're saying that because you don't know how she lobbied to adjust the opening day of the court in the Fall and convinced Rehnquist to adjust the practice so lawyers observing RH or YK would not have to choose between their faith and their careers.
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:55 am
stillnewlywed wrote:
I don't understand the question. She wasn't religious and never followed halacha. What would change in her death?


How do you know she never followed halachah?

As much effort as it takes to keep halachah 100%, it takes even more to never keep it. I don't think it's humanly possible.
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stillnewlywed




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 11:59 am
NotInNJMommy wrote:
How do you know she never followed halachah?

As much effort as it takes to keep halachah 100%, it takes even more to never keep it. I don't think it's humanly possible.


Sorry I’ll rephrase that.
She never followed Halacha for the sake of following Halacha and keeping the Torah.
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NotInNJMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 12:00 pm
stillnewlywed wrote:
Sorry I’ll rephrase that.
She never followed Halacha for the sake of following Halacha and keeping the Torah.


How do you know that? How can we know anyone's kavannas or personal lives and know they never did that? Why is she any less deserving of being given the benefit of the doubt that she probably did do many mitzvos and had Hashem in mind?
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SixOfWands




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 12:06 pm
malki2 wrote:
She was completely anti-religious. Not even getting into her radical agenda. In what way did she live like a Jew?


She was far from anti-religious.

She had a mezuzah affixed to her office door. A poster on the wall read “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” the Hebrew injunction from the Torah meaning “Justice, justice shall you pursue.”

“I am a judge born, raised, and proud of being a Jew,” she wrote in an essay for the American Jewish Committee in 1996. “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.”

She even co-authored a feminist reinterpretation of the Passover story with Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt.

In 1984, S. Simcha Goldman, a Jewish soldier, fought in court against a military policy that banned him from wearing a yarmulke on duty. Ginsburg’s appeals court (the DC Circuit) declined to hear his case, but Ginsburg dissented from that decision. “A military commander has now declared intolerable the yarmulka Dr. Goldman has worn without incident throughout his several years of military service,” she wrote. “At the least, the declaration suggests ‘callous indifference’ to Dr. Goldman’s religious faith.”

She persuaded the SCOTUS not to hear cases when the first Tuesday in October was Yom Kippur.

Quote:
”Several years ago,” she began, telling me about the 2003 precedent, “Yom Kippur fell on the first Monday in October. Justice Breyer and I went to the Chief Justice [Justice Rehnquist] and pointed that out. We said that the Court should delay the opening in deference to the Holiday.

“The Chief was not persuaded. He said, ‘Why should we delay? We always hold our Friday conferences on Friday, even if it is Good Friday.’ So I replied to him ‘So move that conference to Thursday; that would be fine for us.’ The Chief was still not persuaded. Do you know what persuaded him?” she asked, looking right at me. “I explained to him that lawyers wait their entire career to appear before the Supreme Court. For many of them, it is a once in a lifetime chance to argue in the Supreme Court. What if a Jewish lawyer wanted to appear in court? We should not make that lawyer choose between observing his or her faith and appearing before the Court. That persuaded him and we changed the calendar.”


No, she wasn't Orthodox, or even observant. But she was far from "anti-religious."
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Blessing1




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 12:06 pm
NotInNJMommy wrote:
How do you know that? How can we know anyone's kavannas or personal lives and know they never did that? Why is she any less deserving of being given the benefit of the doubt that she probably did do many mitzvos and had Hashem in mind?


Non jews also do "mitzvah's" with god in mind. Her life isn't different then the life of a non jew. She didn't live like a jew or lead a jewish lifestyle. There are thousands of jews that their lives are not different then any non jewish lifestyle.
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malki2




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 12:09 pm
vintagebknyc wrote:
I think you mean she didn't live like a FRUM Jew


Living like a Jew means believing in the 13 principles of faith. It’s a completely semantical matter if you want to say that she lived like a not Frum Jew or not a Jew at all. She was a non-believer. Only Jewish by heritage and by eating bagels and lox and drinking seltzer. Period.
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Odelyah




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Sep 25 2020, 12:15 pm
malki2 wrote:
She didn’t live like a Jew. Why in the world would you expect her to die and be buried like a Jew?


in many important ways she did. and she was a very proud Jew.
People are complex; the world is not so black and white.
It's been a very long galus Sad
https://www.jewishpress.com/in.....9/25/
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