09/11/2026
On a day when we prepare to mark the Jewish New Year - and reflect on the year that has past and the opportunities ahead - we also reflect on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11.
On a marker like a 25th Anniversary - we have been able to see so many more stories from that day - and stories that have continued 25 years into the present. We are given a wider window into those who were lost and those who were saved. We are seeing even more stories of heroism - along with more stories of suffering. Over the years since 9/11, we have witnessed so much compassion surrounding those who still live with trauma and sickness - along with the challenges they have faced to receive respect, assistance, and basic human decency.
9/11 is ultimately a human story - parts of which we are still trying to come to grips with and parts of which our global politics is still wrestling with.
On this day of reflection, remembrance, and hope - let's remember the humanity, the spirituality, and the relationships that get so many through times of trauma and pain. We can't ever remove the pain or the trauma. But we can try to understand it and learn from it.
The holy days ahead in many ways are just that. Looking back at the good and the bad in the past so that we can try to help ourselves, our community, and our world turn in a new direction. Even if that turn is slight, incremental, or almost imperceptible - it is a turn none the less - and a turn in the right direction. Over time - that is how we make change.
9/11 - a day filled with so much to mourn and so much to be thankful for. Just as the High Holidays are a time to mourn those we have lost, a time to reflect on what we can do better in the year ahead, and a time to celebrate this wonderful opportunity life and our tradition have given us to heal, to love, and to move forward.
We never forget - but we never allow ourselves to be trapped by our past. That is 9/11. That is the command of our upcoming high holy days.
