25 years have passed since 9/11, yet the memories still sit in our bones. Anyone over 40 remembers exactly where they were when our world changed. I was in Piedmont Hospital, visiting a congregant after minyan. I looked up at the TV above the bed just as the 2nd plane hit the tower. In that moment, everything froze. We knew instantly: America would never be the same.
For many of us, the memories are still painful. Some of us knew victims or their families. The day before, on Monday, September 10th, my son Joshua received a call inviting him to interview at the World Trade Center for a job early the next morning. Later, the interview was moved to 2:00 p.m.—Baruch Hashem. By then, there was no World Trade Center. Thank Gd, thank Gd, thank Gd, he was safe. Every parent knows that prayer of gratitude when a child is spared. Watching the horror unfold, Joshua saw his roommate, Steven Westerman from Atlanta, on TV, fleeing the scene.
My brother-in-law Steve felt the blast from the 1st tower while he was at a nearby business meeting. He ran outside and saw the 2nd plane hit. Jack Hyman told me about his brother and brother-in-law, who missed their ferry from Staten Island because of a problem with a dog—and arrived late for work, late enough to live. Dozens of religious Jews who had gone to Selichot that morning were—thank Gd—late for work.
The images remain engraved upon our hearts: planes crashing into buildings; people running through clouds of ash; human beings jumping from towers that no longer stand; nearly 3,000 souls lost. And even as we grieved, we saw celebrations—with clapping, singing, and dancing—from Palestinians and other parts of the Islamic world. 25 years later, America is still not the same.
But there was one day—one sacred day—when America felt different. On 9/12, we came together as one family. American flags appeared everywhere. Strangers spoke to one another. People donated blood, thanked 1st responders, checked on neighbors, and called loved ones just to say, “I love you.” For one brief, shining moment, no one cared whether you were Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, religious or secular, Black or white. On 9/12, we were simply Americans.
We desperately need that 9/12 spirit today. Americans are being poisoned by contempt. Too many leaders, commentators, and online voices have taught us to treat disagreement as betrayal—and fellow citizens as enemies. That’s not patriotism. It’s a sickness of the soul. History shows that when societies break apart—politically, economically, spiritually—antisemitism rushes in to blame the Jew. We see it today from the far right and far left, from Tucker Carlson to Hasan Piker. We see synagogues attacked, Jewish students intimidated, Jewish businesses vandalized, and Israel used as an excuse to threaten Jews here at home. Division in America is not just unpleasant. It’s dangerous. When hatred becomes acceptable, it comes for the Jews 1st.
This brings us to ask: What is the future of Jews in America? Should we be buying homes in Israel? Or do we remember that since Jews came to America in 1654 they had to fight for their rights, but ultimately they were accepted as Americans? In fact today—even after all the recent antisemitism—opinion polls consistently report that Jews are viewed more favorably than other religious groups.
So, what’s the future of Jews in America? How you answer depends on whether you’re a Begin Jew or a Bialyk Jew. In the Tachanun prayer of forgiveness we plead: Habeyt miShamayim ur’ey ki hayinu la’ag vakeles bagoyim ([Gd] Look from Heaven and see that we have become an object of scorn among the nations). It’s a cry of pain: “Gd, they hate us. What should we do?”
Menachem Begin had an answer. After Israel destroyed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981, he declared: “If we had not destroyed the reactor, another Holocaust would have happened.” The Begin doctrine was simple: If your enemy says he wants to destroy you—believe him. And act. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers. We will defend ourselves—with or without your aid. Begin believed a Jew must stand tall: dignified, unapologetic, and honorable.
In contrast, there’s the famous poem by Chaim Nachman Bialyk, written after the Kishinev pogrom in 1904 called, “In the City of Slaughter.” Bialyk’s fury was aimed less at the Russians who slaughtered Jews than the inaction and passivity of Jews who responded only by praying.
So who are you? A Bialyk Jew—pious but passive in the face of violence and humiliation? Or a Begin Jew—a Jew who stands tall—proud, alert, unapologetic, willing to act to defend himself? In today’s world we need to be Begin Jews. We have no choice!
There’s a troubling phenomenon in the Jewish world today: the “As a Jew” disease. Someone says, “As a Jew…” and then condemns Israel, demeans Jews, and gives cover to antisemitic views. It includes people like Peter Beinart, Naomi Klein, Adam Friedland, and politicians like Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer. They wield Jewish identity like a shield—as if their genetics grants them moral authority to speak for the Jewish people. But Jewish identity without Jewish responsibility is hollow.
How should we respond? 1st of all, we need to acknowledge that the State of Israel is not perfect. Criticism is legitimate. But when it’s hurting, family stands with family. We must summon the courage to be like Abraham, who was called Ivri (Hebrew), meaning “the one who stands on one side while the world stands on the other.” We may stand alone with Israel—but we stand on the right side.
Israel is also fighting a war of images. Hamas has become a PR expert—casting itself as little David and Israel as Goliath. How perverse is that? After the war, they could open a PR agency. They’re so good they might even convince the world that smoking is good for you. Just last month a report by UNICEF—not a friend of Israel—on malnutrition in Gaza, completely shatters the allegations that Israel starves Gazans. It reports that the rates of malnutrition in Gaza are NO worse than those in neighboring Arab countries—and were not much worse even during the war. In fact, Israel has facilitated millions of tons of food, water, and medical supplies to enter Gaza. Hamas steals it, then sells it to its own people.
This reminds me of Woody Allen’s watch. Woody Allen once joked, “My grandfather, on his deathbed, sold me this watch!” That’s Hamas—stealing and selling the food meant for their own children.
Instead of building schools, shelters, and a thriving economy with the many billions that flowed into Gaza, Hamas built terror tunnels, rockets, and hatred. That’s the moral difference the world refuses to see. Instead of teaching peace, they teach their children to hate. As a friend in Israel said: “While my son is in kindergarten learning songs about Shabbat, Gazan 5-year-olds are singing songs about capturing Jerusalem and killing Jews!”
Jonathan Tobin put it simply: “Everyone wants a Palestinian state—except the Palestinians.” I’ll prove it to you. The jihadists on Oct. 7th did not shout, “2-state solution” as they slaughtered 1200 Jews. They shouted, Itbach Yahud (Slaughter the Jews)! And that cry was heard around the world: From Bondi Beach in Australia to the murder of Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington DC… from an attack on a Synagogue and Jewish school in Michigan to a firebombing in Boulder… and so much more. Jews have been warned not to wear a kipa or display a Jewish star in many places. The FBI reports that 70% of religion-based hate crimes in America target Jews. The numbers confirm what our souls already know: antisemitism has not merely returned—it’s been emboldened.
Behind every statistic is a frightened parent, a vandalized shul, a college student looking over his shoulder, a Holocaust survivor wondering how the world could forget so quickly. My friends, this is not politics. This is pain. This is memory. This is the Jewish people being asked once again to stand tall in a world that too often demands we cower.
With Oct. 7, in addition to the gruesome tragedy, something remarkable happened across the Jewish world. Months before, Israelis had been bitterly divided politically and religiously. And then, on that one terrible morning, it subsided. The arguments did not disappear; they became smaller than our peoplehood.
Reservists who had vowed during the protests not to serve in the Army reported for duty. Strangers opened their homes to families evacuated from the Gaza border. Jews abroad filled planes with supplies, raised emergency funds, called Israeli cousins they hadn’t spoken to in years, and asked one simple question: “What do you need? What can I do for you.” In the face of Jewish blood, we remembered Jewish family.
Something unexpected happened on the next day, Oct. 8th. Jews who had not stepped into shul in years began to come. Young people proudly put on a kippah, a Star of David, an Israeli flag pin, and yellow hostage ribbons. We donated, volunteered, flew to Israel, and held one another. We remembered that we are one family. It was the Jewish 9/12 moment.
We understood that the answer to Jew hatred has never been hiding or cowering. The answer has always been Jews being Jews. Jews learning and teaching Torah. Jews living proudly and faithfully. You see, when Jewish life is vibrant and confident, hatred loses its power. It’s been 3 years since Oct. 7. Let’s keep that Oct. 8 spirit alive in the New Year.
In the Akedah sacrifice of Isaac story we read today in the Torah, Isaac asks, “We’re going to offer to Gd a sacrifice, but where is the lamb?” His father Abraham answers, “Gd will provide.” That’s not an explanation. It’s faith. Abraham is saying, “I don’t know, my son how this will turn out. I only know this: Gd will provide what we need, and it’ll be OK.”
My friends, Jews have been in America for 362 years. We helped build this extraordinary nation making contributions far beyond our numbers. I believe America is a Gd’s country because its people are from all over Gd’s world. With America’s freedom, their unique energies and talents blossom to greatness. I believe Gd loves America. And one way or another—as a Jew and as an American—I know it’ll be OK.
And now, my friends, this is our charge: we must become 9/12 Americans again. Not for a day. Not for a ceremony. Not only when tragedy forces us to remember. We must choose it now. We must choose the love after the ashes. We must stand shoulder to shoulder again—not as enemies, not as Red states and Blue states, left and right—but as one American family under the watchful eye of Gd.
And so I pray, Hashem help us to take to heart the lessons of 9/12 and Oct. 8 to love our fellowman and fellow Jew and to understand that what unites us is far greater than what divides us. Let’s look at every human being and say: “You, too, are created in the image of Gd.”
May Hashem bless us with a swift and successful end to the wars in Iran and in Israel, and bring lasting peace. Am Yisrael Chai (May the Jewish people live)! And yes, Gd Bless America! It seems most appropriate that it was a Jew, Irving Berlin, who wrote “Gd Bless America,” words that still ring out and touch our hearts. So, what better way to usher in our hopes for this New Year than for us to rise and join with me in singing “Gd Bless America,” followed by the Hatikvah…
