U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced last month that she is giving $9,000 to Israeli schools teaching Hebrew and Arabic.
The grant went to schools run by Hand in Hand, which seeks to enable “integration and equality in Israel through a growing network of Jewish-Arab public schools and shared communities,” according to the organization’s website.
The Stockholm-based group Jewish Culture in Sweden awarded Ginsburg, 86, with its 2019 Gilel Storch Award, worth around $27,000, which Ginsburg said she’ll divide evenly between Hand and Hand and several other organizations that also strive to encourage tolerance.
“From the earliest grades, the children are taught to speak, read and write in Hebrew and Arabic. They learn the shared values of Jews, Muslims and Christians, among them, helping others, welcoming guests, opposing oppression and caring for the earth,” said Ginsburg in her acceptance speech.
“I am a judge born, raised and proud of being a Jew,” she added. “The demand for justice, peace and for enlightenment runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition.”
Rebecca Bardach, director of resource development and strategy at Hand in Hand, said Ginsburg stands out as “an extraordinary example of how one person, guided by core values and unwavering determination, can make a dramatic difference in people’s lives.”
Ginsburg is no stranger to Sweden as, early in her legal career, she co-authored an article in the Columbia Law Review about civil procedure in the country, in which she did research for it at Sweden’s Lund University.
