In honor of this Labor Day week, here are some reflections on the history of the labor movement, and Jewish heroes who have fought for worker rights.
Also included in the wonderful gift bag of books were, no surprise, a couple of books about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, z”l. While not technically a labor leader, there is no doubt that her dogged pursuit of equity over the course of her legal career changed the workplace experience for Americans, particularly for women.
Of course, Justice Ginsburg’s story is deeply intertwined with the Ashkenazi immigrant experience in New York, and is even—in some ways—tied to Clara Lemlich Shavelson and her legacy. Justice Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Nathan and Celia (Amster) Bader. Nathan had immigrated to the United States from Russia at the age of 13. Celia, the fourth of seven children, was the first to be born in the United States, four months after the Bader family’s arrival. She worked in a garment factory to support her family and enable her brother to go to college. Throughout her life, Justice Ginsburg credited her mother Celia—who died the day before Justice Ginsburg’s high school graduation—with teaching her the importance of commitment and independence. Even more, Justice Ginsburg once said, “Neither of my parents had the means to attend college, but both taught me to love learning, to care about people, and to work hard for whatever I wanted or believed in.”
Today, our hilltop got a little busier (and a lot cuter!) as we welcomed our Aaron Milken Center students (back) to campus. Our littlest learners are going to grow a lot in their time here—learning not only letters and numbers, not only songs and blessings, but also empathy and compassion and fairness and community. And, my hope for them—as it is for my children, and myself—is that they grow to love learning, to care about people, and to work hard for what they want and believe in.
—Rabbi Sari Laufer