Looking Back, Years Later

When we ask or answer, “Where were you on September 11,” we shouldn’t limit the question to our geographical location. Because for all of us, it was so much more than that. Where were you? Where was I? Where were we? And more importantly, where are we?

The question is without a doubt the most burning one of our era: If we cannot be heroes, if we have nothing for which to stand, nothing in which to believe, then the barbarian hordes are at the gates of Rome and its only a matter of time...

Like many great feats, the towers didn’t go up easily. It was the culmination of decades of political wrangling and years of laborious construction.

On that morning, nearly 3,000 innocents lost their lives, and nearly 300 million lives lost their innocence. Americans lost their sense of security. Suddenly, we all felt so vulnerable.

Whether or not we officially meet the diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, many of us may feel a heightened sense of anxiety while flying, or attending large public gatherings that we may think to be ideal targets for a terrorist attack.

I know that Jewish law requires one to obtain either confirmation of death or a Jewish certificate of divorce before remarrying. What happened to the women and men who, in many cases, did not know whether or not their husband or wife was in the building at the time of the crash?

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.

In advance of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the so-called “Chaplain of Ground Zero,” Col. Jacob Z. Goldstein spoke of his memories in the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center with a crew from Jewish.TV.

Ten years have passed since that fateful time and many are asking: where did that spirit of camaraderie go? Instead of a growing sense of unity, the past decade has seen our country become increasingly fragmented and polarized. What happened to the outpouring of solidarity and the heightened sense of patriotism that reigned strong immediately following 9/11?