Jewish Americans Grieve Justice Ginsburg As Jewish New Year Begins

The first Jewish woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died Friday night as millions of American Jews were getting ready to celebrate the first night of Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish new year.

Justice Stephen Breyer learned midway through the traditional Mourner’s Kaddish that his colleague had died. When word of Ginsburg’s death spread, many Jews were in services, praying from their homes as congregations broadcast over livestream.

Rabbi Shira Stutman fought back tears from a mostly empty Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, as she delivered the news toward the end of the service.