RBG: First Jew, first woman to lie in state at Capitol
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Image by Getty Images
As she made history during her illustrious life, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will do so upon her passing: She will become the first Jew to lie in state at the Capitol building, and the first woman, Jewish or non.
The former Supreme Court justice who died Friday aged 87 will first lie in repose at the Supreme Court building, on Wednesday and Thursday, before moving to the Capitol on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Monday. “Lying in state” is a term reserved for the Capitol.
She will also be only the second Supreme Court Justice to lie in state at the Capitol, after William Howard Taft, who had also served as president, in 1930.
The only other woman who lay “in honor” at the Capitol was Rosa Parks — but she did not get the distinction of lying “in state” because she was not a military veteran or stateswoman.
Ginsburg will be only the 35th person to lie in state at the Capitol. The first was Henry Clay, the revered Kentucky senator who died while still in office in 1852. The second was President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in 1865. Ginsburg’s coffin will lie on the Lincoln Catafalque, the Supreme Court said.
The most recent person to lie in state at the Capitol was Georgia Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights legend who died in August. Besides Parks, another three people have “lain in honor” at the Capitol.
There have been eight Jewish Supreme Court justices; the five who predeceased Ginsburg did not lie in repose. Not every justice is accorded the honor — most recently, Antonin Scalia, Ginsburg’s close friend and ideological opposite, lay in repose after his death in 2016. The Supreme Court did not supply a list of justices who have lain in repose.
Jewish tradition dictates that a body should be buried within 24 hours, with some exceptions, including the Sabbath and time to gather relatives. Non-Orthodox traditions have made allowances for other exigent circumstances. No information on Ginsburg’s funeral have been announced, and a dead person’s shiva, or period of mourning, begins right after a funeral — that means the Yom Kippur, which begins Sunday night, could cut short Ginsburg’s shiva period.
The Court also accorded Ginsburg the traditional honor of draping her chair and the desk in front of it with black wool crepe. A black drape has been hung over the courtroom doors. The tradition dates to 1873 and the death of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. Sitting justices who die in office have their desk and chair draped, and the death of all justices is marked by the drape on the courtroom doors.
The post Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be the first Jew and first woman to lie in state at the Capitol appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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