RBG, Queen of Justice

It was a hot day in July 2016 when I received word that my request to interview Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for Hadassah magazine had been granted. I had been waiting months for the response and was thrilled to pieces, even though I had to leave the North American Jewish Choral Festival early. I took a train to DC on a Friday, the last possible day before the court recessed for the summer. After the weekend, she was flying to Venice to be presiding judge in Shylock’s Appeal, a mock trial that commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Venice Ghetto and 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

RBG welcomed me graciously into her chambers. To be able to interview this great champion of justice was one of the most memorable moments in my career as a journalist.

We talked about her Jewish identity; her dedication to the Constitution; her tireless work for gender equality; the numerous "firsts" she achieved; the odds she surmounted career- and health-wise, and more. She gave me a tour of her chambers, including a closet filled with her distinctive collars (jabots) that she varied depending on the occasion. She pointed out several works of art that frame the biblical words, Tzedek, tzedek tirdof (Justice, justice you shall pursue), and this gem of a photo with her buddy, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, on an elephant in Rajasthan, India.

RBG's collections of writings, “My Own Words” with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, includes this reminiscence by Scalia:

“She is a really nice person. I’ll tell you, [this] shows you how tenderhearted [she is:] when we were in India together, we went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and there is a doorway where you first get sight of it, you know the story of it, this guy built it for his deceased wife. She stood there, when we got there, in that doorway – tears were running down her cheek. That emotional. I mean, I was amazed.”

When the full profile was published RBG autographed the cover and sent it to me. See below! You can read the full profile here, as well as a brief story I wrote right after the interview that appeared online.

Yehi Zichra Baruch.