Dancing on 9/11?

We monitored the forecast out of concern for falling showers, but nothing could have prepared us for the prospect of falling towers.

Chassidic master Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin once said, "Not only is it announced in heaven whom you will marry, it is also announced in heaven the location, the date and the people who will attend the wedding." Remarkably, the day chosen in heaven to feature our wedding would play host as well to the most catastrophic hour in American history.

9.11.01. The day the Twin Towers were toppled.

9.11.01. The day Esty and Dovi Scheiner were wed.

Late on my wedding day, when I should have been taking a refreshing shower, I found myself weeping bitterly, my face bathed in hot tears. I asked my spiritual mentor, "How can I tell my legs to dance as thousands of my fellow citizens prepare to bury their loved ones?" My Rabbi explained that this was not a question of Happiness vs. Sadness, it was a matter of Good vs. Evil.

The events unfolding in our city did not call for surrender, they called for swift retaliation. Terrorists had just torn down a magnificent structure, now it was our calling to help build it back up.

Marriage in Judaism centers on the creation of a Jewish home. A Jewish home is not only constructed physically but is essentially constructed spiritually. A Jewish home is one in which G-d is a dominant partner. Prayer and Torah study, charity and hospitality, form the true foundation of the Jewish home.

So, as rescue workers were sifting through the rubble at the site of the World Trade Center, Esther and I donned our hard hats and headed towards our chupah, just over the bridge in Brooklyn. With a plume of black smoke suspended in the skies above our wedding canopy, it was clear to both of us that our challenge in life would be to build more than a Jewish home -- it would be to build a Jewish tower. Hour by hour, deed upon deed, we hope to raise our tower until its turret touches the sky. A lasting tribute to the Twin Towers that will be remembered forever.