Why won't the family let Ruth see her mother when she is in the hospital in chapter 21 in "The Color of Water"?

is a memoir about a family comprised
of two distinct and
relatively segregated cultures. Ruth, the author's
mother, was raised as on Orthodox Jew. Her
family kept the Sabbath traditions
and rituals faithfully, were educated in Jewish
schul as
well as public school, and ate kosher. Her parents...