"When my men and I arrived at Ground Zero, where the Twin
Towers were located, fires were raging out of control and
the smoke was burning our eyes," so reported Colonel
Jacob Goldstein, chief chaplain of the New York Army
National Guard on his experience on 9/11 2001. "The
first thing I noticed was the ash. Cars, people, buildings-
everything was covered in ankle-deep ash. Some time
later it occurred to us that many people who had been
inside the World Trade Center had been completely
burned, cremated by the intense heat of the explosions.
This ash was their remains." During the next few days and on
Rosh Hashanah, Goldstein sounded the shofar at the Ground
Zero site.

We all remember moments surrounding 9/11. My friend Allan Rinzler of
Dayton Ohio expressed these thoughts. "I was sitting at my kitchen table eating my breakfast,
reading the paper and watching CNBC financial reports on TV.
They began showing a shot of the first tower in flames after being hit. Then I saw
the second plane fly into the second tower.

"Once it started in this fashion, most people never left their homes. The streets
were eerily deserted. Many businesses closed as the employees never showed
up nor did the customers. Restaurants had their worst day in years. People were just
so stunned that they stayed home with eyes glued to the television
sets as we saw the Twin Towers afire and finally collapse."

Rinzler pinpoints the great anguish of that event. "We saw people jumping out
of the Towers to their death rather than stay inside and burn to death. We
saw the emergency responders on site risking their lives to try to save
people. Unfortunately, we saw some of them die as well. We saw the
clouds of smoke and debris cover the area as the Towers collapsed."

Now that I have cited two brief memories of that day, let me tell my own story.
For me, it was a fairly simple beginning to the tense days that followed - a knock at
my door at our shul, Temple Israel. Sam Green, the computer specialist, was
quite upset - "Rabbi, something terrible has happened in New York."
We had no working TV in the synagogue so several people from the
office, the cantor and I listened to the report over the radio. "A plane has
crashed into one of the buildings of the Twin Towers," the announcer
related anxiously. Then the tension built for he practically shouted out
"a plane has crashed into the other tower, both buildings are in flame
on the upper floors.....I don't believe it - people are jumping out of the
windows....how very tragic."


I returned to my office at the synagogue in Scranton Pennsylvania- only to be told
in the next hour that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon in Washington.
Later on that chaotic day, I learned that on Flight 93 the hijackers
had been overwhelmed by the passengers, who caused the plane to crash
in Pennsylvania rather than allow it to reach its destination in Washington D.C.
The feeling surrounding these terror attacks, as we assumed they were,
was indescribable. The phone began to ring; computer messages
were received. The attacks of 9/11 were imminently real.

One of the most dramatic events which occurred in those first days
after 9/11 was the receipt of a statement from the Beliefnet internet site written
by Arthur Magida who had grown up in Temple Israel several decades
earlier. He had become a lecturer and now a college professor dealing with
religious writing. I had read several of his essays about
religious rituals and their impact on society. He had also written
five books which were most informative.

His statement on "9/11"
became one of the key religious testaments to which people would relate
as they were trying to understand this enormous tragedy. I was proud
because he was from my Scranton synagogue, but I was even more
moved by the way he provided a structure for people of all
faiths to deal with those dark and trying days.

"Engage in tikkun olam says Judaism - repair the world. Make it a good world, an honorable world,
a decent world. A world worthy of its Creator who had such high hopes for it." Magida now begins to deal with
the tragedy which had occurred.

"Don't inflict injury through act or deed, to any sentinent creature. Engage in good conduct,
right conduct, blessed conduct. Recognize the specialness
of all of us, our worth, our decency." There is a uniqueness in each of us
which Magida wants to emphasize.

"And now something indecent has happened and it strikes at the very core,
not just of our nation, but at something deeper and more fragile than
that; at our sense of who we are and what we are and how we are
to live our lives. We try to repair the world and it collapses down on us."

Like the prophets of old he calls out. "What can we do at such moments?
Be kind and remember that we are not saintly, but pervious to calls
for rage and revenge."

Now Magida suggested a path on which to tread and in that
calamitous time of 9/11 we needed to hear suggestions with
clarity. "Try to be loyal," he started out, " to the best part of our
selves, for without the rememberance that we harbor goodness and decency
(although possibly regarding this particular instance
of terror not forgiveness.)"

He compared briefly the structural and human loss. "More has
been taken from us than two landmarks and yet to be counted lives;
lacking such rememberance will scourge our humanity and our decency,
which are too invaluable to be added to the notches already on the gun
handles of those responsible for Tuesday's frightful carnage."

On 9/12 the phone was ringing off the cradle at the synagogue. Members
were calling in to see how the shul was be protected."Rabbi, whoever
those terrorists are - they must have ties all over the country. We all
saw what they did to the twin towers and Pentagon - the synagogues
are next." The Scranton police chief was ahead of us all. Before we
could call him, his office called our synagogue and the other three
synagogues in town plus the Yeshiva and Day School. A meeting was
set up for leading synagogue officers, rabbis and the police. Protection
was underway.

My role becaame twofold- one in terms of the synagogue itself; the
second in terms of the ecumenical leadership of the city. A meeting was
called for Thursday, 9/13, at the office of the Catholic diocese where two
rabbis, 10 ministers, 15 priests assembled. For the eight years I had
been a rabbi in Scranton, the ecumenical body met monthly. Items
like the summer camp run by the Catholics and Protestants; the Martin
Luther King Jr. annual memorial; the Holocaust Day events had been our
main agenda. Now we had to deal with vicious hatred which had
killed almost 3000 people on American soil. As priests, ministers,
rabbis we knew that we had to demonstrate how specifically the religious
community must function to calm the fear of the average American.

At our meeting, it became evident that each of us was going to utilize
our Sabbath services to make an impact on our constituents."Can you
imagine the fear and anxiety of the members of our community
who watched these air strikes on TV over and over again? They must be
wondering what type of federal leadership could have allowed this." When
that was put forward, everyone jumped on the bandwagon with
suggestions. Somehow this evil had to be isolated as the act of
a demonic group (we did not know it was Al-Queda yet) which could
be specifically challenged by belief in God and in the strength of America. After
much discussion, the decision was made - a 24 hour prayer vigil
in the heart of the city, well advertised and highly publicized, so anyone
who desired could participate. The statement by Magida would
be printed up and made available. When the vigil was held, hundreds
of residents of Scranton and the surrounding areas attended.
During my two hours, I read many appropriate Psalms in Hebrew
and English.

When I first arrived in Scranton in 1993, there was a morning when
I found swastikas on the large pavement blocks next to our synagogue.
We called the police who came quickly, and with some neighbors we
cleaned those sidewalks. Once there had been a rock thrown through
a synagogue window. That was repaired in silence. 9/11 was
different. Within 48 hours it became clear that Moslem terrorists
were behind the attacks. Who knew what they were planning
for the Jews in the United States. "The American Jewish Yearbook," in
its review of the 9/11 events noted how important it was that
"the security of Jewish public institutions in America be assured."

When the conversation with the police lieutenant was held,
it sounded like this. "Rabbi, your
building has too many entrances and exits. There is no way that they
can all be secured." My president answered. "This is really serious -
thousands of innocent people have been killed in the United States
and there is no way to protect all of our doors." "Well, I will discuss
this with the chief - we realize that your congregation is really
frightened." By Friday before Shabbat services, our synagogue, the three
other local synagogues, the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish day school,
the Yeshiva, the Home for the Aged all had security systems under
police jurisdiction. Moreover, police cars were checking all the
Jewish buildings much more frequently. Our congregants saw
themselves as American citizens who had to be properly protected.

By Thursday two days after the attack, Scranton was a truly patriotic
community like most communities in the USA, large and small. There were American flags flying in front of stores in
the downtown area and in the suburbs. People were driving around in cars
carrying loads of flags. They handed them out to anyone who would
take a flag. The leading local columnist, the late Joe Flannery wrote.
"I have been a patriot for a long time...almost back to World War I, but I have
never seen the city draped out in such red, white and blue finery."

President Bush called for services, around the country, at noon on Friday September 14. The main Catholic church in town was filled; some Protestant
churches drew large turnouts; we had a few people who came to the
synagogue. We directed them to return at 6:15 for Mincha and Maaariv.
To be prepared, I asked the caretaker to put out a few more chairs. Was
I in for a surprise.

We had three Jewish religious events which gave our members an
opportunity to synthesize for themselves the meaning of 9/11. First,
there was Kabbalat Shabbat on September 14; next on Sunday,
September 16, with a Sofer from Israel, there was the ceremony to begin
the writing of our new Sefer Torah; third the first morning of
Rosh Hashanah.

For Mincha there were 40 people present. By the time Kabbalat Shabbat
services began, almost 200 people were in attendance; by the end of the service
another 150 had come. For a small congregation of several hundred
members, it was quite an outpouring. The ushers had to ferry more and more chairs into the sanctuary.
As someone vividly remembers, there was a "surge
for synagogue seats" that Friday night.

After Kiddush I asked everyone to remain standing so the Cantor could
lead in the singing of "God Bless America" and then "Hatikvah." The voices
joined with the Cantor and literally raised the roof. They all sat down; now it
was my turn. I asked everyone present to join me in a prayer for
the nephew of a doctor in our congregation. The young man had been
killed in the Pentagon where he worked.

Now I began my remarks with quotes from President Bush's address to
nation on 9/11 itself.

"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist
attacks," Bush emphasized, "can shake the foundations of our biggest
buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America."

Then the President made clear why this terrible act had occurred. "America
was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom
and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from
shining.

"This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our
resolve for justice and peace...we go forward to defend freedom and all that is
good and just in our world."

I looked out at all the congregants young and old and I stated with a real sense
of pride. "I feel today that we are one nation, Jews, Christians, Moslems, Buddhists,
black and white and brown. We are one nation indivisible, united in our fear and
outrage, our compassion and resolve. From now on September 11 will be a second
Memorial Day to honor our civilian casualties of war." That line brought some
loud bravos from those present. I talked about our need to support our
President and to reach out our hands to bring comfort to those who
had lost loved ones. Interestingly in the next month $760 million dollars
was donated to assist the families who had suffered personal loss.

There were a variety of other points which I touched upon and then I
emphasized what was most significant. "Each of us is a reservoir of hope
and strength. Surely we all saw hope in the firefighters who stood in
burning debris, with boots melting, trying so hard to find more survivors.
That hope should be a part of all our lives. We must do all that we can
to help, 'veim lo achshav ematay' - if not now when."

Then I asked them all to rise - offered a prayer for America and all of us.
Next was Alenu - the Mourner's kaddish and Yigdal..

Our synagogue had not commissioned a Torah to be written
for almost 50 years so it was most unexpected that Sunday,
September 16, was the day selected, many months previously,
for the sofer to be with
us for the dramatic act of beginning a new Torah. About 170 people
showed up that morning. Although no Torahs were lost in
9/11 attacks, I compared the people killed to the Torah and how
their souls had gone up to heaven. "We have the great privilege
today to each place a letter or part of a letter on the parchment,
klaf. The first lines, which we will write today, will be from Bereshit-
in the beginning God created the heaven and earth." There were about
60 young people present of all ages - together led by me and the
Cantor - they said loudly - "we are the beginning - we will not let
the Twin Towers disaster stop us... Torah,Torah is our song."

The day worked out well - people forgot for a few moments that
it was less than a week since 9/11. The spirit of our new Torah
had been kindled. The President of the synagogue said aloud
"Temple Israel knows how to meet every crisis - this time
we did it with a new Torah." Our building had been plagued
by leaks and electrical problems - all of which technicians
had been hired to fix. Now our new Torah, when completed,
would always be remembered as the key to a new era
in our country and in our community.

Preparing for Rosh Hashanah 5762, beginning on Monday night
September 17, the Cantor was anxious to weave some
American patriotic melodies into the words of the tefillot. I suggested
that there would be a time during the services when we
could sing some of those melodies. I did not think it
was correct to change the traditional nusach.
At different times throughout Rosh Hashanah,we did sing the Star Spangled Banner,
America the Beautiful and God Bless America.

On the first morning of Rosh Hashanah, our congregants
knew that there would be great drama in the service. Before
the Torah reading I related the story of Shimi Biegeliesen of blessed memory.
When the first plane hit one of the Twin Towers where he was, he called
his wife and told her that he was OK. When the second
plane hit only 4 floors above him, he called again.
His wife was too emotional to listen so, in tears, she gave
the phone to a friend who had come into her house. Shimi
said "Take care of Miriam and take care of my children -
I am not coming out of this." Many people believed, when his
words were repeated to them, that Shimi had the strength
to act on his love and commitment.

In the two phone conversations of Biegeliesen before
his life was lost, I noted that we can see he had the presence of mind to ensure that
his wife would not be an "agunah" according
to Jewish law. By speaking both to his wife and to a friend,
he now had two witnesses to the fact that he was in the
Twin Towers and would not emerge. At this critical moment,
halacha was such a part of him that he did what was needed so
that his wife could easily remarry after he had died.

Then our guest of honor arrived - the son of one
of our members, whose Bar Mitzvah had been held in
this main sanctuary. The young man worked in the Twin
Towers, but on the day of the attack, 9/11, he was caught
in traffic since he was driving his car from his home
in Connecticut to work. Two hundred fellow employees
on his floor were killed, but he survived.

He was called to the reading of the Torah for an aliyah,
after which he recited the Birkat HaGomel. Everyone in the
sanctuary stood as the beracha was read by him. His father
embraced him and words of thanksgiving could be heard on
everyone's lips. We had all been witness to the continued
meaning of life after 9/11.



SIDE BAR

New Book on 9/11 Being Published

To mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Rabbi-Dr. Michael Broyde,
Professor at the Emory Law School in Atlanta Georgia, has edited a volume
of essays for the Beit Din of America, entitled "Contending with Catastrophe:
Jewish Perspective on September 11th."

In his introduction Broyde stresses that the necessity of this volume is to
place the 9/11 attacks in the area of Jewish family law. Specifically, he
refers to the Jewish individuals who disappeared because of this
tragedy. Their wives, who survived their husbands, had the
status of "agunot" until the Beit Din was able to release them halachicly.

The first part of the work contains essays by Broyde, Rabbis Yona Reiss,
Gedalia Dov Schwartz and Mordechai Willig, all members of the
Beit Din. Additional essays in this section of the book are by Rabbis
Chaim Jachter of the USA and Nechemia Goldberg of Israel and they
touch on other aspects of Jewish famiy law. The concluding essay
on legal aspects of this topic is by Maran Ovadiah Yosef, former chief
Sephardic rabbi of Israel. The translation of his essay into English provides
a treasure trove of halachic sources which he has at his fingertips.

Between the first and second sections of the book are documents relating
to the agunot cases which were ajudicated.

The second group of essays deals with theological issues: the presence
of evil and the occurrence of tragic events. Professor David Bleich
focuses on the problem of saving lives by killing innocent people.
This actually occurred with flight 93 where the passengers on the
plane overcame the terrorists, forcing it to crash in Pennsylvania
rather than in Washington D.C. Everyone on the plane died. Rabbis Norman Lamm
and Aharon Lichtenstein write specifically
about the theological implications of the tragedy. Professor David Shatz
provides a broader philosophical reflection on all the issues involved.

The final part of the book contains three prayers in Hebrew with an
English translation: a memorial prayer for the victims of
9/11; a prayer for the full recovery and heroic recognition
of the first responders and emergency workers who bravely entered
the burning towers of the World Trade Center; and a prayer for the safety
of all those serving in the American Armed Forces.
End of Side Bar


A few quotes from rabbis on Rosh Hashanah will help put
9/11 in perspective from the homilectical approach.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman said. "For although we are tired
and shocked, although we are fearful, we are unwavering. And
in the end there will be no more fear, no more terror and we shall
dwell as nations at peace. A new world will be born. On this
Rosh Hashanah that world is born."

Rabbi William Gershon noted. "I don't know why bad things
happen to good people. But this I do know. God did not send
the planes. God is down in the rubble with the firemen and rescue workers
digging for survivors; God is with the nurses and doctors who treat
the wounded; God is to be found in the countless number of
Americans who donated blood; God is to be found in the goodness
and compassion that is enveloping our communities all
across the country."

My personal understanding of the shofar blasts took on new
meaning. The broken "shevarim" emphasize the aching hearts of
every American and of people around the world. The "tekia" gives us hope
and determination to overcome the tragedy of our days. The "terua"
calls us to stride forward and insure the future of the USA.

Rabbi Scott Glass pointed out what many Jewish people felt. "Now
the citizens of this great nation will understand what happens
in Israel when violent acts are committed against civilians.
With this hideous attack on American soil, people will know the rage
which fills one's soul when innocent people, in their offices, traveling
to work, walking on the street, stopping in a restaurant, disappear
in a flash."

Rabbi Barry Freundel said. "Here in America, in New York and
Washington, there are patches of ground that have become sites of
searing desolation, veritable deserts, in the sense of places where
life has become impossible, where only wreckage and ruin can be found.

"But America will not scatter, America will not shatter, America
will not be lost.Wherever Americans are, we will come together....
doing marvelous and heroic good deeds."

Caught up in the powerful aftermath of this tragedy but also having
a sense of hope, I led a group of congregants to New York in November
2001. Extra hours were added to a regular two hour bus trip because of the
extensive security checks for every vehicle crossing the George
Washington Bridge from New Jersey into New York city. We were
on our way to see the Tenament Museum on the lower east side.

We came loaded with cards expressing the good wishes of our members
to New Yorkers who had suffered so. When the bus finally arrived at
its destination, we walked up to people on the street and in stores
and wished them a brighter future. With tears in their eyes, they
thanked us for the kindness of our words and for our presence. For
our group that day, the healing after 9/11 had begun.