Chabad-Lubavitch
centers across the United States are planning a plethora of events
commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon that claimed the lives of more than 3,000
people.
From a walkathon
to honor victims of 9/11 co-sponsored by the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at
Binghamton University in New York to a memorial gathering at the Dell Jewish
Community Campus in Austin, Texas, with participation from the Rohr Chabad
Jewish Student Center at the University of Texas, the tributes revolve around
one central cohesive theme: bringing light into a world constantly under the
threat of darkness.
Chabad of
Oregon’s aptly titled “From Darkness to Light” ceremony on Sept. 7 at
Portland’s Old Opera House promises to be an evening of communal pride,
featuring live performances by local bands and appearances by representatives
from the Portland fire and police departments, who will receive an award of
recognition for their courage as first responders during 9/11.
“The memorial
event at Chabad of Oregon was deliberately fashioned by co-directors Rabbi
Moshe and Devora Wilhem to build a loving and humane society,” says Charlie
Shiffman, retired director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland and
longtime member of the Portland Chabad community. “That is the best response to
9/11.”
The Judaism
website Chabad.org has also produced a special section in advance of the
anniversary where visitors can find a collection
of articles and first-person recollections from the days, weeks and months
following the attacks, as well as leave their own thoughts and reflections. The
site’s multimedia portal Judaism.TV also released a series of clips from a
recent interview with the “Chaplain
of Ground Zero,” Col. Jacob Z. Goldstein, who spoke
of his memories in the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers.
For Rabbi
Sholom Leverton, director of Chabad of the Windsors in West Windsor, N.J., the
commemoration of 9/11 is not only an opportunity to remember those who were
murdered, but to serve as a reminder of the collective responsibility to bring
as much light into the world.
“Because of our
close proximity to New York City, for many people in this community the pain
and the loss is personal,” explains Leverton, who is scheduled to deliver an
invocation at a public memorial service Sept. 11 at Ronald R. Rogers Arboretum
in West Windsor Township.
West Windsor
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh will be at attendance at the event.
“We don’t get
rid of darkness by confronting it head-on,” proffers Leverton. “We get rid of
darkness by doing good and creating a sense of spirituality and holiness in the
world, and then the darkness vanishes on its own.”
Chabad of
Scripps Ranch in S. Diego, Calif., is hoping to increase the world’s light by
the hundreds – literally – during its “Shabbat 500” memorial event planned for Friday
night.
“We’re calling
it a Sabbath dinner with 499 of your closest friends,” says Rabbi Motte
Fradkin, co-director of Chabad of Scripps Ranch and coordinator of the event.
“It’s going to be an evening dedicated to the celebration of community spirit.”
To that end,
the event will include a brief memorial ceremony, prayer services held outside
under the stars, the singing of traditional Chasidic melodies and a multi-course
kosher dinner.
“As a Jewish community, we strongly believe in the power of goodness and
kindness to combat the evil of the world,” asserts Fradkin. “The bright light
of 500 Sabbath candles burning together can dispel much darkness.”
 |
| Rabbi Sholom Leverton and West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh |
Law
and Ethics
On a slightly
more logistical front, those convening in New York City on Sept. 13 for the
Terrorism and Counter Terrorism in American and Jewish Law conference sponsored
by the Institute of American and Talmudic Law (IATL) are hoping to tackle many
of the political and moral issues related to 9/11.
Topics to be
addressed at the all-day conference include: Ramifications and approaches in
Jewish law of those whose remains could not be recovered after the 9/11
attacks; U.S. and Israeli counterterrorism law, policy and politics; and
resolving the ethical challenge posed by the need to respond to terrorism and
the conflicts between incompatible values.
“One of the
core issues that we’ll be addressing is what are the fundamental values that
drive us,” says Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, one of the conference’s key speakers, dean
of IATL and scholar-in-residence at the Chabad House at Harvard University.
“We’ll be discussing what right one has to interfere with people’s free will
while trying to protect the innocent, the potential of over-suspicion of
involvement in terrorist activity and methods of interrogation that could
possibly deprive people of their liberties – many of the same issues that secular
experts are speaking on.”
“The Talmud is
a set of laws that were established over the course of some 250 years,”
notes Rabbi
Mendel Wolf, the institute’s educational director. “There are rabbinical
discussions on terrorism, the laws of war, and who’s considered a soldier. All
of these topics are the core questions when you deal with terrorism.”
“We felt that
it was important to join in with the rest of the city in commemorating 9/11,”
adds Rabbi Noach Heber, co-founder of IATL. “Dealing with what happened and
understanding how it happened can help us prevent another terrorist attack from
happening again.”
Leverton
believes that such observances can reawaken the sense of national solidarity
that followed that fateful September day.
“There were no
strangers that day,” recalls the rabbi. “Everyone and anyone shared the common
horror and pain and fright. Everybody was attacked – blacks and whites, Jews
and non-Jews, Muslims and Christians. There was a common bond; we were all connected.
If we can re-establish that connection, then surely those people didn’t die in
vain.”
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