September 2002 Remembering 9/11 By Rabbi Alvin Kass It's hard to believe a year has passed since that fateful event that has become known simply as 9/11. Who will ever forget the self-sacrificing devotion to duty of our police officers, fire fighters, and emergency workers? Who will ever forget the warm, generous, caring response of the American people from one end of the nation to the other? Who will ever forget the bravery of our armed forces who successfully brought the war to the malevolent miscreants thousands of miles away who dreamed up this sadistic assault on human decency? We are also deeply indebted to Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly who have calmly and intelligently broadened the mandate and mission of the New York City Police Department in order to meet the unprecedented needs of our time. Recognizing that the challenge of terrorism is ongoing in nature and that New York City as the "capital" of the world is a particularly attractive target, they have undertaken numerous initiatives to expand the Department's intelligence and counter-terrorist capacities. Their vision has skillfully and brilliantly given our Police Department a truly global reach. To be sure, the greatest test of 9/11 will always be borne by the families who lost loved ones on that sad day. I have frequently asked the victimized families of 9/11 about what one thing more than anything else enabled them to cope with their tragedy. Without exception, they cite the assistance and support of other people, not only friends and neighbors but also complete strangers. Unremitting love has infused so many with the mettle required to go on, and given them the assurance that God cares about their plight. Hasidism teaches: "Human beings are God's language." God has certainly had the help of so many good and wonderful men and women who have brought healing balm to the most grievous of wounds. These High Holy Days are a reminder that we are forever being tested. Misfortune, illness, and death are the constants of life which sooner or later touch all of us. You never know when the really big tests of life are going to come. Consequently, we've got to try to keep ourselves in top moral condition and bring to every situation the best of which we are capable. The paradigm for dealing with the tests of life is Abraham the Patriarch, about whom our tradition taught: asara nisyonot nitnasa Avraham avinu - "Abraham was tested ten times." The most difficult of those trials is described in the Biblical story of the akeda which is read in the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. Just as Abraham faced multiple tests and just as all of us are unremittingly challenged by tests of all kinds, so too in all likelihood there will be more tests similar in nature to what we faced on 9/11. If and when they happen, may we confront them courageously and decisively; and may our faith in God and love for each other sustain us through all of our trials and tribulations. Miryom, Sarah, Lewis and Sarah, Danny and Debbie join me in extending our best wishes: L'shanah tovah tikatevu v'techatemu - May you be inscribed and sealed for a Happy and Healthy 5763.