Honoring RBG

Commentary

I wrote yesterday about the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In that post I focussed on the unfeeling, ghoulish, (and in the case of Mitch McConnell, hypocritical) statements of the President of the United States and the Majority Leader of the Senate within hours of her passing.

The president’s comments were especially unnerving:

“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!”

Lest we forget, Trump’s favorite daughter, Ivanka and her husband (and senior presidential advisor), Jared, are Orthodox Jews. Certainly they know the traditions observed after the death of a Jewish loved one.

First, there is the “Shiva,” meaning “seven.” Shiva refers to the seven-day period of formalized mourning by the immediate family of the deceased. Family members “sit shiva” during these seven days, welcoming friends and family into their homes to honor their loved one. Couldn’t Trump’s Jewish family remind him of the ritual of shiva and implore him, for the sake of decency, to refrain from statements like the one above until Justice Ginsburg’s family finished sitting shiva?

Then there is Shloshim (thirty), which is the thirty-day period following burial. During shloshim, a mourner is forbidden to marry or to attend a seudat mitzvah (religious festive meal). Men do not shave or get haircuts during this time.

While I wouldn’t expect a pagan like Trump to honor shloshim, which is for for family members, I would expect, in respect to Justice Ginsburg and her family, that he would withhold from blatant politics at least until the completion of shiva. But who am I kidding?

Perhaps “Javanka” might atone for their religious oversight, by watching this clip from New York’s Central Synagogue and passing it on to Daddy to reflect on.

Hallelujah!