As we are all painfully aware, tomorrow marks the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on our country. Thousands of lives lost, families torn asunder, a nation in shock, a world in disbelief.
How could such a horrendous calamity even happen? That question has been discussed and dissected over and over again over these past two decades. There may be answers, but in a sense, there are no answers.
For what did the terrorists accomplish in the end? We as a nation recovered, slow and painful though it was. The world went about its business. Things returned to as much of a sense of normalcy as possible.
Oh, but you say. Our lives have changed, and not for the better. Heightened security everywhere, especially at airports. Continued efforts at inflicting more terror on us and on many other nations in the world. When does it stop?
The sad truth is, we are powerless to put an end to these attacks. As long as there are people in this world who love death more than they love life, the violence will continue. The hatred will continue. The ideology will continue.
It’s an ideology which is anathema to everything we cherish from our Jewish teachings. Uvacharta bachayim - therefore choose life: words that we read just this past Shabbat. Our raison d’être, as it were, is to embrace life and to live a life guided by the principles in our Torah, morals and ethics which have been adopted by all of Western civilization.
V’ahavta l’rei-acha kamocha - love your neighbor as yourself. The “Golden Rule.” How can you love your neighbor as yourself if you want to kill him or her? It is contrary to the most basic principles of decency that we hold sacred.
Perhaps we will be successful in thwarting future attacks as our government works tirelessly to monitor the terrorists. But I don’t believe we can eradicate the terroristic philosophy that drives these zealots to their deadly actions. Only they can change themselves - and as we know from psychologists, a person can only change if they recognize that they have a problem and are committed to doing the work necessary to change their destructive thinking and actions.
So realistically, what can we do? On a macro level, we can support our government as it continues its efforts to protect us and our nation. On a micro level, we can model the types of behavior that we wish everyone would embrace: be kind, be charitable, be honest and ethical, be accepting and open-minded…just be a good and good-hearted person.
As we approach Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in our calendar, let’s resolve to do better in the year ahead. Let’s resolve to set that example which we are commanded to be - or lagoyim-a light to the nations. And God willing, let this be the year when that light of positivity, of kindness and of love pierces the darkness that lives in the hearts of far too many people in our world.
A g’mar chatima tova to you - may you be sealed for a good year ahead.