(1.30) Ruth Bader Ginsburg is coming to town! For the general public, this announcement will serve as more of a traffic advisory: Tickets to the event were meted out to members of the congregation and I doubt there are any extras just lying around. (Facebook event page.)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the second woman to be appointed to the position. She was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Carter in 1980, and was appointed as an Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Clinton in 1993.
It’s pretty exciting just knowing that Justice Ginsburg will be coming to the very place where founder Roger Williams first asserted that civil authorities had no power to punish a breach of the “First Table” — the first four of the Ten Commandments — but rather that religion should be a matter of personal conscience.
Moderators for the event are Judge Bruce Marshall Selya, Senior U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, and Rabbi Leslie Yale Gutterman, rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth-El. The Rabbi recently wrote a timely piece in the ProJo “The narcissism of small differences” which begins “Emo Philips is an American comedian . . .” So he’s cool.
I wish Justice Ginsburg could visit the Roger Williams National Memorial where the idea of the separation of church and state, and liberty of conscience, were first realized here in America, but unfortunately they are closed Tuesday.
5pm to 7pm, Tuesday, January 30, Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Avenue (directions)