Rabbi Lamm's Address at September 11 Rally

Yeshiva University President Rabbi
Dr. Norman Lamm Adressing Students "We gather today both as Americans and as Jews to express our concern, our heartbreak, and our feelings about the future on a day that has been described by one of the highest military officials of this country as "worse than Pearl Harbor". It is a black day in American history, and incidentally today is the 23rd of Elul, which is the anniversary of the Nazi destruction of the Vilna ghetto. So both as Jews and as Americans this is a day of irvuv - confusion, chaos for all those whose lives, were lost, whose lives were affected, or will be affected by the loss. The men and women, whether Jews or non-Jews, whether good people or not such good people, all of them are betzelem Elokim, and we mourn for them and with the people who are left. I know that in the coming days we will learn that there are probably people who are close to us, relatives and alumni - I got a call this morning about a very close friend of mine, a graduate of Yeshiva and a graduate of Cardozo. His offices are on the 85th floor of the World Trade Center and fortunately he went to another office in Jersey this morning; his entire law firm was disintegrated. Everyone is dead. We will be hearing more of this as time goes on. And we have to become accustomed to the feeling of depression and dejection so we now express our hope and our tefillah that our people be safe and all people be safe who have survived, and that in the days and years, weeks to come and months to come, we will take account of what happened and do what has to be done.

R' Shamshon Raphael Hirsch makes the following comment about the passuk in Tehillim "kaili kaili lomoh azavtani?" - "My G-d, my G-d, why have you abandoned me?". He asks is it proper for Dovid Hamelech to take G-d to task and ask Him to give an accounting of why He did it. Can we understand that, we who are mortals, bossor vedam, coming before the Melech Malchei Hamlochim and ask him, "lomoh azavtani?"

He answers with a very fine grammatical point that speaks volumes. He said that if Dovid Hamelech wanted the Ribbono Shel Olam to explain himself, he would have said "Kaili Kaili, madua azavtani?". But the word "lomoh" is not quite the same as "madua". "Madua" means "why" - explain yourself. "Lomoh" means "le-mah"- for what purpose. I know that I have suffered. I know I am a man. I know that I'm forsaken. But what should I get out of this? What should I feel is the purpose of my dejection, my pain, my suffering and my tragedy? And we have to ask that question too, as was hinted at before by the president of the student council - there are things we can learn from this. There are things that the world can learn from this. The whole world can learn that not only Israel suffers from terrorism, but it has universal consequences. And if Israel and other such countries are in jeopardy because of terrorists, so is every country in the world including the most powerful single superpower in the world. We also are threatened by terrorism. We've learned that this shibboleth of saying that destroying your enemy before he destroys you - Haboh lehorgecho, hashkeim vehorgo - is not a terrible moral sin of assassination, but is simply in self-defense. America, the same America that joined, although at a weaker voice, with the European countries in blaming Israel for assassination are the ones who protected Bin Laden only a few years ago and may have to do so again very, very shortly.

And now we've learned something about the questionable morality of moral equivalency. To say that "well, you have the Israelis, you have the Palestinians- since they are more armed and they have more at stake and they're terrorists… " The confusion of perpetrator and victim, this moral equivalency of saying, "well both", the statements issued by the State Department with disgusting regularity, "both sides have to decide what to do" - as if those who are being attacked are on the same level as those doing the attacking.

There's a gemara in Berachos that speaks about zeva'ot, earthquakes and other natural phenomenon that destroy people. The gemara says, "Where does it come from?" It explains how when the Rebbono Shel Olam considers the fact that His people are oppressed amongst the nations- some beautifully picturesque aggadic language- morid shtei dima'os, he emits two tears drop into the Yam Hagadol - into the great sea of the Mediterranean. And from this, these two divine tears - "The sound, the falling of the divine tears is heard from one end of the world to another" - I sometimes think that this applies here to the Ribbono Shel Olam shedding two tears, one for America and one for Eretz Yisroel -the two major victims of near eastern terrorism. And the sound of those tears, "kolom holech misof haolom vead sofo" - the entire world must learn that no one, not even the European Union - no one is saved from international terrorism. What could happen to Israel, happened to America, could happen to any country. It is only a pity that this had to happen in order for the world to appreciate and sympathize with the struggle that Israel is undertaking. It's a pity that it didn't occur to them before. Especially coming so soon after the disgrace and the outrage of Durban.

So what do we do? How do we respond? The first thing is tefilla.

"Teshuva, tefilla utzedaka." Rosh Hashana is coming and we will say that several times during Rosh Hashana. Say tehillim as we said together… daven with kavonoh- great kavonoh- and to learn with a great deal of zest and enthusiasm knowing that the mitzvah of talmud Torah has certain zechuyos which can help redeem us redeem Israel and redeem the world. We have to continue our tefillos with deep kavonoh and with emunah and with bitachon.

But, we also must remember what the gemorah in Sotah tells us. By Moshe, in the time of Yetzias Mitzrayim, finding himself surrounded by the sea on one side and the sea on the other and the Jews complaining, he davened. "Vayitzak Moshe el Hashem" - He cried out to the Ribonno Shel Olam. So the Ribbono Shel Olam said, "Ma Titzok eailai? Daber el b'nei yisral vayisau" - Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them march. The gemorh says "veoso sho'a, Moshe Hoyo ma'arich betefilla" - at that time, that dangerous time, Moshe was deeply involved in tefillah. "Omar lei Hakodosh Barukh Hu" - The Ribbono ShelOolam turns to Moshe in his davening and he said to him, "Yedidai tomim beyom" - my people, my friends, my Jews are drowning, "Veatoh Ma'arich betifillah lifonai" and you have time for a long shemone esrei. And He said to him, "Moshe, eis lekatzer ve'eis leha'arich" - there's a time to do things quickly and a time to do things at length. To do things at length, to daven slowly and carefully and with a great deal of kavanha and to spend a lot of time on it is appropriate when there is nothing else you can do. But there are times when the tefillah has to be very short, and Moshe was a master of the short tefilla. When he prayed for Miriam, "Keil noh refoh no loh" - There's no shorter prayer in the entire Torah. But that was a time for tefilla, and here the Ribbono Shel Olam is saying to him "this is not the time" - "Bonai shli'im betzar. Hayam soger, vehaoyeiv rodef, veatah ma'arich betfilah?" - with all that's taking place, you're doing nothing practical but you're doing only something spiritual? Of course the spiritual is important, but now is a time for action - "raise your staff, and get to work."

We have to do things too. One of the things we have to do is give blood, not just for now but some time in the future as well because of the nature of the catastrophe that struck us. Listen to what Mr. Rosengarten said. Don't rush down, but do it in a way that is organized and systematic and therefore most effective.

And we have to write to our government officials two different kinds of letters. One to congratulate them for what they did in Durban, and the general attitude of the current administration. First, We should never take them for granted, and let them know we appreciate it. And second, we must write to demand a very vigorous and aggressive stance on terrorism and let the government know that we would stand behind them if indeed they will take that action. It means that when the time comes for volunteering for the general weal and welfare of all New Yorkers and all Americans, Yeshiva should not be behind. When the call will come, we'll discuss with the faculty, administration and the rebbeim, and there are time that you will have to do something and I know that, as always the students of Yeshiva University will be at the forefront of activity on behalf of all that is right and peaceful and just.

I want to conclude with something that may seem irrelevant, but is not, and that is a tefila that has a story behind it. About three years ago, my wife and I went to Prague and in Prague we went a little bit North to the city of Tereizin, which was right by the infamous concentration camp, Tereizinstadt. We went through the barracks and we discovered that about several weeks earlier a discovery was made. You know, looking at the barracks is no simple thing. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were squeezed in. We saw the shower rooms. We saw the gallows. We saw the walls up against which Jews were shot. We also saw, of course the burial grounds of those who were fortunate enough to come to kever beis olam. But they found one room that the Nazis had not destroyed and they simply forgot about it. It was a tiny room, and the reason they didn't know about it was because that room was cold and it was used to store potatoes. And 50 years after the Shoah, someone discovered the room and emptied the potatoes and found something marvelous - that on the wall, Jews had come in, stepped on the potatoes and davened there. It was a little Shul under the very nose of the Nazis. And on the four walls were inscribed different pesukim from the tachanun. The one that grabbed me most, the one that devastated me, was on one wall - right when you look at it, you move a bit over and you see the gallows and the shooting wall. It says, " Kah, Shimechoh loh shochachnu, na al tishkochainu" - Ribbono Shel Olam, here in the midst of this dread Gehennom, this Hell we didn't forget your name. Please G-d don't forget us." That's my tefillah too. We must say to the Ribbono Shel Olam, "Es shimechoh loh shochachnu" - we have not forgotten your name. We are your people - the am Hashem. We must continue in the ways of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and the Masorah of our avos- ways of Torah, tefilah, teshuva and tzedoka. We must pray that Hakadosh Boruch Hu not forget us. So with tefila, with tzedoka and with "daber el Hashem beyisohu" we stand behind all decent people in opposing terrorism, and helping the victims and praying to HKB'H, and never forgetting with us Hashem Yisborach. May all of us have the zechus to help overcome what has happened and see the nechamas tzion veireha and geulah for am yisrael in our time.

Transcribed by Yair Sturm