9/11

Today I have to share my 9/11 memories.  They are as alive for me as if they just happened.

10 years ago, I was driving to work.  It was a glorious September day; the sun was shining, the trees were still green, the kind of day that made you happy to be alive.  I'm not a big organized religion person, although I am most definitely Jewish and love my religion very much.  I pray, but not asking for things, but in gratitude for whatever I want to be thankful for. I'm rarely in synagogue, because I'm not a group person, but I have a relationship with G-d that is at the core of my being.  So, on 9/11/01, I was driving along 124 in New Jersey and thanking G-d for such a beautiful day and for me being able to appreciate it.

The radio was on, as usual, and I was listening to my favorite classical music station.  And then the music was interrupted and on came the news.  At that point I was stopped at a light.  And I was in a state of disbelief.  What, the Twin Towers had been attacked?  No.  Not possible.  But this is the radio station of the New York Times; they don't play tricks on listeners.  So the light changed and I drove on, and as I made my way under a bridge, the news continued and I started to cry.  And pray.  And hope.  I can remember it as if it were today.

All those innocent people.  Those poor folks on the planes.  The firefighters.  The horror.  And all because some bastards want to destroy the US in the name of their G-d.  Folks, there are many paths to G-d for many people.  And none of them demand that innocent lives be destroyed.  G-d didn't create us to have us destroy each other in His/Her name.  People go to battle and say that G-d will grant them victory. That's how battles are decided.  Right.  Uh huh. By G-d choosing one side or another. Would G-d really do that?  We ate of the Tree of Knowledge, and this is now our responsibility to be humane.  We were created in G-d's image, and now we take that image and destroy it.   And G-d weeps because people use Her/His name in vain to destroy G-d's creation. 

There is nothing else to say.  May G-d, who made us, keep us safe and secure in our homes.  May G-d. who loves us, never have to weep again at the deaths of innocents.  May there be peace among the nations, and may the lion and the lamb lie down together, and may all humanity say Amen.