Ruth Bader Ginsburg: First Woman, Jew to Lie in State at U.S. Capitol

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, the first woman and the first Jew to be accorded that honor.

Ginsburg, 87, died last week of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Mourners and admirers filed past Ginsburg’s flag-draped coffin in the Rotunda. Her personal trainer, who had supervised her notoriously strenuous workouts, performed push-ups in front of her coffin as a tribute.

Earlier, Ginsburg lay in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt officiated at a Jewish memorial service there, as reported by the Times of Israel and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

“This was Justice Ginsburg’s life’s work, to insist that the Constitution deliver on its promise that we the people would include all the people,” Holtzblatt said of Ginsburg, who died Friday at 87. “She carried out that work in every chapter of her life as an advocate, arguing six times before this court for equal treatment for women and men, as a judge on the DC Circuit court, and as a justice on this court.

“And as a path-marking role model to women and girls, of all ages, who now know that no office is out of reach for their dreams. Whether that is to serve in the highest court of our land, or closer to home for me, as the rabbi of their community. Nothing could stop Justice Ginsburg’s unflagging devotion to this project. Not even cancer.”

President Donald Trump paid his respects to Ginsburg on Thursday at the Supreme Court, and former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) did so at the Capitol on Friday.

President Trump is expected to nominate Ginsburg’s successor on Saturday.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.