Psalms in the morgue and scrapped Rosh Hashanah sermons: American rabbis recall 9/11

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which coincides with Rosh Hashanah, American rabbis recount their experiences from the attacks and the High Holidays that followed days later. Rabbi Joshua Hammerman began his 2001 sermon with 'Today is the birthday of the world. It is also the end of shiva. Sept. 11 + 7.' Rabbis rewrote sermons, comforted grieving congregants, and addressed fear and hope. The article includes oral histories from rabbis who delivered food to Ground Zero volunteers and officiated conversions amid the chaos.

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which coincides with the start of Rosh Hashanah, American rabbis recall how the events reshaped their High Holiday sermons and their communities. Rabbi Joshua Hammerman of Temple Beth El in Stamford, Connecticut, began his 2001 Rosh Hashanah sermon with the line: 'Today is the birthday of the world. It is also the end of shiva. Sept. 11 + 7.' He acknowledged widespread fear but urged congregants to choose hope and lift themselves 'up off the ash heap.' Many rabbis had planned to speak about violence in Israel, including a suicide bombing at a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem that killed 16 people a month earlier, but the attacks closer to home forced an abrupt shift. Rabbi Andy Bachman, then executive director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU, recalls delivering food and water to volunteers at Ground Zero and supporting students having breakdowns. He notes that Rosh Hashanah services that year included volunteers covered in ash. The article includes oral histories from rabbis about the immediate aftermath and the holiday services that followed.