Volume 67, Issue 3

9/11 Recap
by Shael Sokolowski

 While citizens nationwide were mourning the deaths of some 3000 people on September 11th, members of the Wilf Campus joined their compatriots in commemorating perhaps the worst attack in American history.  Although the ceremony was well received by student attendees, the program did not draw nearly as many students as its planners had projected.     

Promptly at 7:30 AM, a communal shacharis was held in Lamport Auditorium. Yeshiva Student Union (YSU) President Shai Barnea, remarked that a “good crowd” had attended the minyan. Following davening, Yeshiva’s Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Yosef Blau led the nearly 300 present in a responsive recitation of Tehillim. A moment of silence was then observed at 8:46 AM, memorializing the first plane’s slicing into Tower 2.  The silence was then pierced by a poignant blast of the shofar, the ram’s horn traditionally sounded on the high-holidays, which is said to resemble human wailing.

Thereafter, Barnea addressed the audience. He iterated, among other things, that Hashem’s method of running the world is beyond human comprehension, and the closer we become to Hashem the more obvious this reality becomes.  He also touched on the question of why some people live and others die. 

Following Barnea’s opening comments, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Michael Rosensweig delivered the keynote speech. It seemed as though the turnout peaked during Rosensweig’s address though attendance and dipped, subsequently, following its culmination.

According to Yeshiva College sophomore Menachem Wecker, “it was tremendous.”

To conclude the event, Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS, made a few brief remarks and Jewish Studies Dean Rabbi Michael Shmidman delivered an emotional rendition of kel maleh rachamim.

When asked about his thoughts on the memorial, Barnea recounted, “I think the program itself did justice to the tremendous day and the burden it carries.” He also reminded students that “all credit must be given to Rav Rosensweig for giving a tremendous keynote address, as well as to Rabbi Charlop who was primarily responsible for organizing the memorial.”

Although well organized and nicely coordinated, the commemoration was not well attended. “Some PR guy asked to move to the middle section [of Lamport auditorim] so that it would seem like the event was packed for their pictures,” recalled a Yeshiva College alumnus. “In truth, though, there were many empty seats.” Organizers noted that this was the case probably because of the early hour of the event.

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