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Judaism

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Abraham Lincoln, and American Jewish History

On September 18, 2020, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on both Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat. In Hebrew, dying on Rosh Hashanah makes one righteous, or Tzaddik. Adding Shabbat increases the righteousness exponentially. Outside the Supreme Court that Friday night, Shabbat and Erev Rosh Hashanah, a diverse crowd of grieving Americans recited the Mourner’s Kaddish in honor of Justice Ginsburg, who was Jewish. Outside the Supreme Court the following night, sundown on Shabbat and the first day of Rosh Hashanah, they sang Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam… for Havdalah. The custom of Havdalah marks the close of Jewish Read more