Volume XXIV, Issue IX | www.jvhri.org Serving Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts
Mother’s Day
19 Iyar 5778 | May 4, 2018
PHOTOS | CLIFFORD CRITTENDEN OF ARLINGTON MEDIA, COURTESY OF THE LUSTIG FAMILY PHOTO | COURTESY OF MAGNOLIA PICTURES
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Filmmakers hope to inspire RBG’s millennial fans BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN NEW YORK (JTA) – One of the first scenes in a new documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg features the Supreme Court associate justice, then 84, vigorously lifting weights, doing leg exercises and holding herself in a plank position. The much buzzed-about workout routine has only added to her status as a cultural icon among young progressives. Though Ginsburg joined the Supreme Court in 1993, becoming the second female justice on the high court, she attained
pop culture icon status in the last decade as her dissenting opinions made her a loud liberal voice on an increasingly right-leaning court. Fans have given Ginsburg, now 85, the nickname “Notorious R.B.G.” (a riff on the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.), memes of her have gone viral and “Saturday Night Live” has done sketches about her. “RBG” producers Julie Cohen, 54, and Betsy West, 66, decided to make a documentary about the Jewish jurist’s life for RBG FANS | 23
The caisson with the casket of Lt. Col. Jack Lustig heads to the burial site at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 23. Steve Lustig, center, walks with his mother Phyllis and his brothers Gary and Brian in the background.
A final goodbye
Father’s funeral has unusual twist
BY LARRY KESSLER
One of the most difficult things for an adult to do is bury a parent, but for an Attleboro man, the experience of saying a final goodbye to his father, whose service in the Army included stints in Korea and Vietnam, was both poignant and unforgettable. That’s because the funeral of Steve Lustig’s father, Jack, was the second of three held on consecutive days in January at Arlington National Cemetery: his father’s good friend and West
PHOTO | MARTY COOPER
surrounding the burials made Lustig’s experience extremely rare. Not only did the three men, who died within a month of each other last summer, ask to be buried at Arlington, but the trio – whom Lustig described as “golfing buddies” – were buried in adjoining plots. The Arlington tributes required patience from the families, as the burials had to wait until they could be scheduled. His father, Jack Lustig, died GOODBYE | 19
The Arlington experience is deeply moving and impressive BY LARRY KESSLER
Sen. Gayle Golden (D) asks Rhode Island senators to support a resolution to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel’s 70th anniversary. The resolution was introduced April 24.
Point roommate was buried on the day before and his uncle was buried on the following day. Lustig said he attended the services of both his father and his uncle. The three men, two of whom were Jewish and one Catholic, received burials with full military honors and religious rites. And, while Jewish funerals at Arlington aren’t unusual – more than 2,000 Jewish military service members have been buried there since the Civil War – the circumstances
Steve Lustig’s experience at Arlington National Cemetery, as he buried his father on the same week as his dad’s West Point roommate, and brother, were laid to rest, was a compelling, deeply moving and inspiring experience. Lustig, 57, of Attleboro, a selfdescribed “Army brat” who lived in 18 places in 16 years across the United States, agreed to elaborate on that experience for The Jewish Voice. We asked him what was going through his mind on the day of his father’s funeral, and what the experience meant to him. Here’s his response:
“I felt fairly normal from the time I drove to Arlington National Cemetery to the time I stepped off the shuttle where the Old Guard and caisson were waiting for us. “Once the Old Guard started the ceremony, I felt my mind in suspension as I could do nothing but watch in awe the soldiers and horses move in a perfectly-synchronized orchestration. All soldiers were motionless until given specific commands, all soldier motions happened in perfect unison and constant rhythm. “The soldiers were highly accomplished and well-trained. ARLINGTON | 19
Steve Lustig speaks at the graveside service for his father, Lt. Col. Jack Lustig, at Arlington National Cemetery