September 2001

September 7, 2001

Shabbat Shalom!

Wow! The weeks are zooming by!

School begins on Monday....How am I ever going to fit in my boogie boarding?

Latest wonderful news:

Steve Fram is engaged

Mark Perlman is engaged

Abby Katz is married

April Hosenpud is married

Michael Coleman and Karen (his fiancee not his mother!) are on a safari in Africa!

We had a lovely dinner with the Pollacks (Patrick and Tony's parents) and the Sandweisses(David and Debbie's folks)

T'was fun catching up with everyone!

David Sandweiss is a doctor working with the public health department on a reservation in Arizona.  Their 2nd child is due in the winter..Debbie teaches in San Francisco...and is still best friends with Dana Newman who is also a teacher there. Patrick is moving to Indianapolis to take a position with Ely Lily as a research biologist (I think I have that right).

Tony is an accountant, is married and lives here.

I have been editing our Mad videos over the past few weeks...They are soooooo cute!

I feel like I've spent time with so many of you..You haven't changed a bit!!

We are still thinking about a Mad reunion next summer..or maybe the summer after????

Keep those bios coming!

Love,

Eemah

Dear Eema,

If you are interested... this is an e-mail my dad sent to everyone who ever

even thought about buying a computer.

xxooo Allison Adler

Dear Friends,

For your T.V. pleasure this season (starting in mid-Sept) my delightful

daughter is involved with the following shows:

"Family Guy" Weds at 9:30 on FOX as Producer

"Just Shoot Me " Thursdays 9:30 on NBC at  as Supervising producer.

She has also written 3 episodes of " Going to California" on Showtime ---The

first one airing at 10 PM this Thursday (30th) I believe.

Enjoy!!!

A proud Papa Al Adler

dear eemah,

this e-mail has been a long time coming.  i really

enjoy the updates you've been sending out, thanks for

keeping us all connected. 

After college in rhode island, a stint in Austin,

texas and then 3 years of law school at Michigan, i

moved to new york 2 years ago to play lawyer.  never

thought i'd last nearly this long away from the west

coast (and especially not this long in the city), but

every time i think its time to come back west, i end

up deciding that i'm not ready just yet.  one of these

days...

hope all is well,

best, josh spector - maybe '89?

Hi Eemah,

Just wanted to say a quick hello. We had a great summer here in Davis and throughout California. We took the three kids camping three times and had a blast each time. The last one was a mini family reunion camping at Lake Tahoe. My sister Susan flew out from Vermont with her husband and three kids. My Dad came up from San Diego and my mom (recently retired here in Davis!) also came up. We even had a cousin I hadn't seen in 20 years come!

The school year is upon us and I'm busy doing all sorts of projects around the house before the rains set in. I complain while I'm doing it, but I love to brag about it when I'm done. Its a love/hate thing.

Keep the e-mails coming. We love to read them and keep updated. It is kind of sad to leave the old Temple, but I change is always good!

We are in the process of switching over to a new e-mail address. Please switch us to stgreen@omsoft.com.

Thanks,

Steve Greenfield

(I may have sent this next one  already....oh well it's fun to read it again!!)

Hi Eemah,

Well I am finally writing some information on myself.

First of all I've been married for 18 years to Scott Silverman

We have two girls Jessica our oldest is 14 and is a freshman at La Jolla High

and she was in your Madrichim class last year how wierd was that. Since I was

in your 2nd class ever. Our other daughter Gracie is 9 and in 4th grade at La

Jolla Elementary. I sell Real Estate in San Diego and we live in La Jolla. My

husband is an Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that he founded

Second Chance/Strive. He bought Strive to San Diego from New York it helps

the hardest to serve get jobs and housing. I really can't remember my most

exciting time at Madrichim except we all had lots of fun and laughs.

Take care

Michelle (Raffelson) Silverman

September 14, 2001

Shabbat Shalom!

This has been such a horrendous week....My heart is breaking......I really don't know what to say........It truly is overwhelming........

I just wanted to be in touch and to wish you a Shana Tova......

Love,

Eemah

I'm including some articles that have been sent to me.

HonestReporting Communique

14 September 2001

"PALESTINIAN CELEBRATIONS"

* * *

Dear HonestReporting Member,

The crime against humanity this week was horrifying. Only a sick tyrant like Saddam

Hussein could rejoice in the carnage.

Or so we thought.

Palestinians in Beirut, Nablus and eastern Jerusalem rejoiced, danced and handed out

candies.

But that's only part of the story.

Palestinian groups, including the Arafat-backed Tanzim and the Palestinian police,

then used intimidation and violence to prevent journalists from distributing the

photos and videos of these celebrations.

One cameraman, on assignment for Associated Press Television News, was kidnapped and

threatened with death if his footage was aired. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's Cabinet

secretary, said the Palestinian Authority "cannot guarantee the life" of the cameraman

if the footage was broadcast.

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/09/13/News/News.34751.html

See also:

http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010912/us/attacks_ap_pro

test_1.html

The Jerusalem Post also reports that armed Palestinians trapped foreign

photojournalists inside a Nablus hotel on September 11 while thousands took to the

streets in celebration of the U.S. terror attacks. The journalists were reportedly

forced to remain confined in the hotel, guarded by armed Palestinians -- both in

uniform and wearing civilian clothes -- while the festivities continued in the streets.

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/09/12/LatestNews/LatestNews.34700.html

According to Israeli Radio correspondent Danny Zaken, at least two news organizations

had footage of the celebrations in Nablus and Ramallah that showed Palestinian

policemen shooting joyfully in the air. Zaken reported that the news agencies refused

to broadcast the material after senior officials in the Palestinian Authority

contacted the heads of the news organizations, threatening the lives of news personnel

and warning an end of access to PA sources if they broadcast the reports.

Obviously, since these images portray Palestinian affinity with the fervently anti-

American tactics of the WTC terrorists, they greatly damage the Palestinian cause in

the eyes of the world.

Asked for his reaction to the pictures of celebrating Palestinians, Secretary of State

Colin Powell told Fox News, "It is a searing image in my mind."

A strong statement was issued by the Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents

hundreds of mainstream journalists in Israel. The head of the FPA, Dan Perry, who is

also the bureau chief of the Associated Press in Israel, issued this statement:

"The FPA expresses deep concern over the harassment of journalists by the Palestinian

Authority as police forces and armed gunmen tried to prevent photo and video coverage

of Tuesday's rally in Nablus where hundreds of Palestinians celebrated the terror

attacks in N.Y. and Washington. We strongly condemn the direct threats made against

local videographers by local militia members and the attitude of Palestinian officials

who made no effort to counter the threats, control the situation, or to guarantee the

safety of the journalists and the freedom of the press.

"We call on the PA to ensure freedom of the press and the free flow of information and

to prevent elements operating within PA jurisdiction from making or carrying out

threats that aim to impede this and effectively impose censorship. We hold the PA

fully responsible for the safety of each and every journalist operating within their

areas, especially those who were filming and covering Tuesday's events in Nablus."

Did your TV station and newspaper show the despicable scenes of Palestinian

celebration? Or did they succumb to intimidation?

We encourage you to contact local editors and producers, and demand that they show the

videos and publish the photographs.

A full list of U.S. newspapers is online at:

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Newspapers+U.S.+list

A list of major media contacts is online at:

http://www.honestreporting.com/a/contact.asp

Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.

HonestReporting.com

========== SAMPLE LETTER ============

To the Editor:

I am sickened to hear that Palestinian officials are using violence and intimidation

to suppress the distribution of photos and videos depicting Palestinians celebrating

the American tragedy.

I urge you to publish these images. Anything less will be succumbing to the forces

which oppose our beloved freedom of the press.

Beyond this, I urge you to report the story of how senior officials in the Palestinian

Authority have contacted the heads of news organizations, and threatened the lives of

news personnel who distribute these damning images. Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Arafat's

Cabinet secretary, said the Palestinian Authority "cannot guarantee the life" of the

Associated Press cameraman who shot footage of the celebrations. (Associated Press,

Sept. 13)

I also urge you to report how armed Palestinians trapped foreign photojournalists

inside a Nablus hotel, to prevent them from capturing images of the celebrations.

(Jerusalem Post, Sept. 12)

I also urge you to expose the ongoing anti-American ideology which prevails in the

Palestinian-ruled territories. Days prior to the terrorist act, the Palestinian daily,

"Al-Ayyam" declared that the Palestinian Authority has stepped up depictions of

President Bush as a murderer, accompanied by increasing publicity for calls to attack

the U.S. The paper encouraged Palestinians to "harm American interests in the Arab

world, with all possible means, in all places, at all levels, because the United

States does not understand the language of logic and wisdom, but only the language of

interests and force." ("Al-Ayyam" - Aug. 30, 2001)

Your standing strong against this intimidation will send a message to all dictatorial

thugs that, despite violence and intimidation, freedom of the press will prevail.

============================

SEE THE CELEBRATIONS ONLINE

Visit the following links for more documentation of Palestinian celebrations.

(Since many URL's do not fit onto one line of this e-mail, you will need to paste the

parts into your browser, and remove any spaces that appear in the URL.)

Reuters -

http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010911/wl/crash_tradecen

ter_palestinians_dc_2.html

BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1538000/1538861.stm

Beirut Daily Star - http://www.dailystar.com.lb/12_09_01/art31.htm

Boston Globe -

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/255/nation/Leaders_deplore_but_people_rejoice+.shtml

Chicago Tribune - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-010911world.story

Salon.com - "Rejoicing in the streets of Jenin"

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/11/west_bank/index.html

Even the Guardian (UK), the stalwart supporter of all things Palestinian, led its

article ("Palestinian Joy -- Global Condemnation") with this:

"Palestinian gunmen at refugee camps in Lebanon fired into the air in celebration

yesterday as the rest of the world united in revulsion at the 'monstrous' and

'abhorrent' attacks in the US. In East Jerusalem, people distributed sweets wrapped in

the colours of the Palestinian tricolour and sounded car horns."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,550498,00.html

======================================

Encourage as many people as you can to join the growing movement of HonestReporting.

It's easy to tell your friends by sending a message from

http://www.honestreporting.com/a/friend.asp

======================================

(C) 2001 HonestReporting - All rights reserved.

E-mail: action@honestreporting.com

======================================

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HonestReporting Communique

14 September 2001

"TERRORIST TRAGEDY"

* * *

Dear HonestReporting Member,

We grieve with the American people and pray for the well being of the

victims of the nefarious terrorist actions in New York and Washington. To

the families of those who lost their lives, we extend heartfelt condolences.

HonestReporting presents a sampling of articles from this week. We urge

members to write letters to the editor regarding this week's tragedy.

A full list of U.S. newspapers is online at:

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Newspapers+U.S.+list

HonestReporting presents the following key points to use in writing letters:

a) There is a myth that radical Moslems are angry with America because

of its association with Israel. In truth, as reported in The New York Times'

profile of Bin Laden, "One Man and a Global Web of Violence," the global

jihad is "against the corrupt secular governments of the Muslim Middle

East and the Western powers that supported them." (January 14, 2001)

b) In enduring months of domestic terrorism, Israel has been saying that no

other country would tolerate such a horrifying threat to the safety of its

citizens. But international voices decried Israel's policies of pre-emptive

defense. Now that the rest of the world better understands the problem, it

will hopefully appreciate Israel's need to take measures to protect its

citizens from Palestinian terror. Indeed, Israeli targeted killings will look

tame compared to the expected American military response.

This situation is mindful of world condemnation when Israel destroyed

Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. Ten years later, when Western forces

squared off against Saddam Hussein, there was great appreciation for

Israel's foresight in eliminating the Iraqi nuclear threat.

c) According to a CBS poll, two-thirds of Americans think the U.S. should

retaliate even if innocent people are killed. Contrast this to world reaction

when Israel surgically eliminates Palestinian terrorists, and an innocent

bystander is occasionally killed as well. Why is Israel subject to a double-

standard?

d) The strategic bond between Israel and the U.S. will now be stronger than

ever, as they join in fighting the common enemy of Islamic terrorist

fanaticism, which seeks to replace democracy as the reigning world

system.

e) Upon hearing the news of the American carnage, Palestinians rejoiced,

danced and handed out candies. This information has been largely

suppressed in the media due to Palestinian intimidation of journalists. In

order to protect the cornerstone of democracy, freedom of the press, these

images must be published, and the Palestinians must be exposed for

seeking to deny the free flow of information. (see accompanying

communique)

Thank you for your ongoing involvement in the battle against media bias.

HonestReporting.com

========================

FISK STOOPS TO NEW LOWS

The horrors of the terrorism could not be rationalized. Or so we thought.

Robert Fisk of The Independent (UK) defied the civilized world and blamed

Israel, America, and even the defeat of the Ottoman Empire for the WTC

terrorist attack.

Fisk's September 12 column, "The Wickedness and Awesome Cruelty of a

Crushed and Humiliated People," proclaimed: "...This is not the war of

democracy versus terror that the world will be asked to believe in the

coming days. It is also about American missiles smashing into Palestinian

homes and US helicopters firing missiles into a Lebanese ambulance in

1996 and American shells crashing into a village called Qana and

about a Lebanese militia paid and uniformed by America's Israeli ally hacking and

raping and murdering their way through refugee camps."

"...America has bankrolled Israel's wars for so many years that it believed this would

be cost-free. No longer so."

Fisk claims that there will be an "immoral" attempt to "obscure the historical wrongs

and the injustices that lie behind yesterday's firestorms." Who is the immoral one

here -- democracies such as the United States and Israel, or those who support the

terrorists?

Fisk's column can be read online at:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=93623

Comments to:

feedback@inuk.co.uk

====================

THREE IMPORTANT COLUMNS

(1) After a two-month stint in Israel, The New York Times' Clyde Haberman returned to

New York and the fury of the mega-terrorism. His September 12 column is required

reading: "When the Unimaginable Happens, and It's Right Outside Your Window":

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/nyregion/12NYC.html

"Do you get it now?"

"It is a question that many Israelis wanted to ask yesterday of America and the rest

of the finger-pointing world. Not in a smart-alecky manner. Not to say, "We told you

so." It was simply a question for those who, at a safe remove from the terrorism that

Israelis face every day, have damned Israel for taking admittedly harsh measures to

keep its citizens alive...

"In Israel, there is no such thing as six degrees of separation. In a country that

small, two degrees is more like it. If you don't know a bombing victim personally, you

almost surely know someone who does. You may safely bet that an extraordinary number

of New Yorkers will have the same relationship to someone whose life was cruelly

extinguished yesterday in Lower Manhattan."

Comments:

letters@nytimes.com

* * *

(2) Michael Gove - "The Spirit of Munich is Alive in the Middle East, The West should

support democracy, not more concessions to terrorism" - The Times (UK), September 11

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,248-2001313763,00.html

Gove warns: "The talks which the West demands that Israel continues to hold with the

Palestinian Authority will only confer further legitimacy on a terrorist state. It is

not just that Arafat's territory harbours terrorists. It IS terrorist. Militarily,

culturally, spiritually..."

Comments:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/section/0,,79,00.html

* * *

(3) Michael Kelly - "When Innocents Are the Enemy" - The Washington Post, September 12

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14322-2001Sep11.html

"Of all the uses of terror, none in the past several decades has been more faddishly

popular (at least on the left), and none has been accorded more respectful media

coverage, than that of the Palestinians. Yes, Palestinian terrorists and terrorists on

behalf of the Palestinian cause murdered innocents -- but that was understandable, the

argument went. The Palestinians had been wronged. They were oppressed. They were weak.

What else could they do?"

...[T]he monstrous evil of Sept. 11... rose, with hideous logic, directly from the

philosophy that the leaders and supporters of the Palestinian cause have long embraced

and still embrace -- a philosophy that accepts the murder of innocents as a legitimate

expression of a legitimate struggle. If it is morally acceptable to murder, in the

name of a necessary blow for freedom, a woman on a Tel Aviv street, or to blow up a

disco full of teenagers, or to bomb a family restaurant -- then it must be morally

acceptable to drive two jetliners into a place where 50,000 people work. In moral

logic, what is the difference? If the murder of innocent people is for whatever reason

excusable, it is excusable; if it is legitimate, it is legitimate. If acceptable on a

small scale, so too on a grand."

Comments:

letters@washpost.com

======================================

CANCELLATION: The Israel solidarity rally scheduled for Sept. 23, 2001 in New York

City, which was expected to draw 100,000 supporters from across North America, has

been cancelled, due to the recent terrorist events.

More info: http://www.ujc.org

======================================

Encourage as many people as you can to join the growing movement of HonestReporting.

It's easy to tell your friends by sending a message from

http://www.honestreporting.com/a/friend.asp

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HonestReporting was founded by a group of individuals that affiliates neither to the

right nor to the left. We are only interested in ensuring that Israel receives fair

coverage in the media. We scrutinize the media for examples of blatant bias, and then

inform our subscribers of any offending articles, asking to complain directly to the

news organization concerned.

HonestReporting has nearly 20,000 members worldwide, and is growing daily. Now in

Spanish, too! http://www.prensaveraz.com

(C) 2001 HonestReporting - All rights reserved.

E-mail: action@honestreporting.com

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mailto:join-honestreporting@titan.sparklist.com. Or use our form at:

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"

Bloodied, Not Beaten: Americans Can Vanquish This Foe

Mark Helprin

Wall Street Journal

09/13/2001

America, it is said, is slow to awaken, and indeed it is, but once America

stirs, its resolution can be matchless and its ferocity a stunning surprise.

The enemy we Americans face today, though barbaric and ingenious, is hardly

comparable to the masters of the Third Reich, whose doubts about our ability

to persevere we chose to dissuade in a Berlin that we had reduced to rubble.

Nor is he comparable to the commanders of the Japanese Empire, whose doubts

about our ability to persevere we chose to dissuade in a Tokyo we had reduced

to rubble. Nor to the Soviet Empire that we faced down patiently over half a

century. Nor to the great British Empire from which we broke free in a long

and taxing struggle that affords a better picture of our kith and kin than

any the world may have today of who we are and of what we are capable.

And today's enemy, though he is not morally developed enough to comprehend

the difference between civilians and combatants, is neither faceless nor

without a place in which we can address him. If he is Osama bin Laden, he

lives in Afghanistan, and his hosts, the Taliban, bear responsibility for

sheltering him; if he is Saddam Hussein, he lives in Baghdad; if he is Yasser

Arafat, he lives in Gaza; and so on. Our problem is not his anonymity but

that we have refused the precise warnings, delivered over more than a decade,

of those who understood the nature of what was coming -- and of what is yet

to come, which will undoubtedly be worse.

The first salvos of any war are seldom the most destructive. Consider that in

this recent outrage the damage was done by the combined explosive power of

three crashed civilian airliners. As the initial shock wears off it will be

obvious that this was a demonstration shot intended to extract political

concessions and surrender, a call to fix our attention on the prospect of a

nuclear detonation or a chemical or biological attack, both of which would

exceed what happened yesterday by several orders of magnitude.

It will get worse, but appeasement will make it no better. That we have

promised retaliation for decades and then always drawn back, hoping that we

could get through if we simply did not provoke the enemy, is appeasement, and

it must be quite clear by now even to those who perpetually appease that

appeasement simply does not work. Therefore, what must be done? Above all, we

must make no promise of retaliation that is not honored; in this we have

erred too many times. It is a bipartisan failing and it should never be

repeated.

Let this spectacular act of terrorism be the decisive repudiation of the

mistaken assumptions that conventional warfare is a thing of the past, that

there is a safe window in which we can cut force structure while investing in

the revolution in military affairs, that bases and infrastructure abroad have

become unnecessary, that the day of the infantryman is dead, and, most

importantly, that slighting military expenditure and preparedness is anything

but an invitation to death and defeat.

Short of a major rebuilding, we cannot now inflict upon Saddam Hussein or

Osama bin Laden the great and instantaneous shock with which they should be

afflicted. That requires not surgical strikes by aircraft based in the United

States, but expeditionary forces with extravagant basing and equipment. It

requires not 10 aircraft carrier battle groups but, to do it right and when

and where needed, 20. It requires not only all the infantry divisions,

transport, and air wings that we have needlessly given up in the last decade,

but many more. It requires special operations forces not of 35,000, but of

100,000.

For the challenge is asymmetrical. Terrorist camps must be raided and

destroyed, and their reconstitution continually repressed. Intelligence

gathering of all types must be greatly augmented, for by its nature it can

never be sufficient to the task, so we must build it and spend upon it until

it hurts. The nuclear weapons programs, depots, and infrastructure of what

Madeleine Albright so delicately used to call "states of concern" must, in a

most un-Albrightian phrase, be destroyed. As they are scattered around the

globe, it cannot be easy. Security and civil defense at home and at American

facilities overseas must be strengthened to the point where we are able to

fight with due diligence in this war that has been brought to us now so

vividly by an alien civilization that seeks our destruction.

The course of such a war will bring us greater suffering than it has brought

to date, and if we are to fight it as we must we will have less in material

things. But if, as we have so many times before, we rise to the occasion, we

will not enjoy merely the illusions of safety, victory, and honor, but those

things themselves. In our history it is clear that never have they come cheap

and often they have come late, but always, in the end, they come in flood,

and always in the end, the decision is ours. "

---

TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES

  This, from a Canadian newspaper, no less, is worth sharing.

   America: The Good Neighbor.

    Widespread but only partial news coverage was given    recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from   Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television  commentator. What follows is the full text of his  trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional    Record:  

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the    Americans as the most generous and possibly the least    appreciated people on all the earth.

  Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and  Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the    Americans who poured in billions of dollars and

forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its    remaining debts to the United States.

  When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it   was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward   was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of

  Paris. I was there. I saw it.    When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United    States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes.

Nobody helped.

   The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. No newspapers in those countries are writing about the

decadent, warmongering Americans.

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in theworld have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the

Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International

lines except Russia fly American Planes?

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese

technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about

American technocracy, and you find men on the moon -not once, but several times and safely home again

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at.

  Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them.

When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the

New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me

even one time when someone else raced to the American in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating

over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.

  Stand proud, America!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++     This is one of the best editorials that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that one

man realizes it. I only wish that the rest of the world would realize it. We are always blamed for everything, and never even get a thank you for the things we do.

Maybe each of you can send this to at least one person

and they might send it to one of their friends until this letter is sent to every person on the web.

  I am just a single American that has read this,

   I SURE HOPE THAT A LOT MORE READ IT SOON.

September 17, 2001

Best wishes for the new year!

I found the following to be quite inspirational!

Love,

Eemah

Rosh Hashanah  

Chief Rabbi Professor Jonathan Sacks

-------------

Rosh Hashanah is a festival of time. Its central theme is the transition

from one year to the next. And to a remarkable extent Judaism is a religion

of time. Other faiths have holy places, holy people, holy objects. Judaism

is not without these things, but it is significant that the first thing God

calls holy is a day - Shabbat. The first command given to Israel as a

people, while they were still in Egypt, was to sanctify the new moon and

thus inaugurate the Jewish calendar. Our holiest days, Rosh Hashanah and

Yom Kippur, are about the consciousness of time.

Why? Because time is the greatest of all God's gifts, and He gives it to

each of us on equal terms. However rich or poor we are, there are only 24

hours in a day, seven days in a week, and a span of years that is all too

short. Few if any of us will achieve in  lifetime all we set ourselves to

do. The image with which the Torah comes to a close is of Moses, on the top

of a mountain in Jordan, seeing from afar the land he spent his life

journeying to but was not privileged to enter. For all of us there is a

river we will not cross. The single greatest question, therefore - the

question posed by Rosh Hashanah - is: how have we used our time? Which, of

the many things we would like to do, should we do?

According to Moses Maimonides, that is the call of the shofar. It is, he

says, an alarm-call, waking us from sleep. What he means is this: we live

through time but we are not always conscious of time, how precious it is

and how irreplaceable. The greatest difference between time and space is

that we can revisit a place but we can never revisit time. Once a day has

passed, it is gone except in memory. That is why the Torah urges us to take

time seriously. Too often the days and weeks go by and we wonder where they

have gone. That is what Maimonides means by "sleeping" through time. The

shofar is God's call to wake up. Its message is the lovely line from

Psalms: "Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

Only if we are conscious of time can we begin to use it well.

A strange thing has happened to time in our time. I remember the

predictions we used to make when I was a student in the late 60s.

Automation, we believed, was about to transform work. Technology would

inaugurate new age of leisure. The working week would be cut from 40, to

30, and then to 20 hours. We would have time in abundance; the problem

would be to know what to do with it. It hasn't turned out quite that way.

For many, life has grown ever more hectic, juggling family and career and

our multiple other commitments. Mobile phones, faxes, laptops and e-mail

mean that we are constantly available. We take our work with us wherever we

go. During our working years we have all too little time to breathe, to

enjoy the silence of the soul and the wonder of the world. We thought we

were about to master time. Instead we have become its slaves.

Judaism is about mastering time. That, for example, is the power of the

first thing God called holy: Shabbat. The most important principle of time

management is to distinguish between the urgent and the important. There

are things that are urgent but not important, and there are others that are

important but not urgent. The things that are urgent usually get done. The

phone rings; you answer. You have a deadline; you meet it. What gets lost

are the things that are important but not urgent. The result is that years

can go by and at the end of them you wonder: What have I achieved?

Shabbat is the world's greatest tutorial in time management. It is the one

day in seven dedicated to the things that are important but not urgent:

meals with the family, time with friends, and being part of a community,

sharing its prayers and celebrations. Six days a week we can be driven by a

sense of what we don't yet have. One day a week we give thanks for what we

do have. That is the greatest defence against burnout I know. Our sages

said that on Shabbat we have a neshamah yeterah, an "extra soul." The word

for soul in Hebrew comes from the word meaning "to breathe." On Shabbat we

breathe a little deeper than the rest of the week.

There is a Jewish way of waking up in the morning. It consists of the

lovely prayer we say first thing each day. Modeh ani: "Thank you, living

and eternal king, for restoring my soul to me with compassion." Thank you,

God, for giving me back my life. To take that prayer seriously is to

realise that each day is like a rebirth. Every morning is cause for

thanksgiving. It is a simple prayer, and yet in it I sense something

awesome: the Jewish passion for life. Our people has suffered more than

most, yet Jews never gave up, never despaired, never lost their sense of

humour or their indomitable hope. Jews knew that each day is a new

beginning. Yesterday may have been tragic, but today is a new chapter in

the book of life.

Judaism means sanctifying time, and that, in turn, means seeing nothing as

pure chance, everything as an opportunity. Every encounter is a possibility

- to lift a troubled spirit, lessen someone's loneliness or turn a stranger

into a friend. Each day is a line we write in the story of our lives, and

the real challenge is to enhance the lives of others. What makes a life

meaningful is not what we get but what we give. The good we do lives after

us. It is the greatest thing that does.

For me, Judaism is the most compelling answer to Macbeth, who called life

"a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts his hour upon the stage, and

then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and

fury, signifying nothing." Life signifies everything if we turn it into a

blessing. The whole of Torah is an elaborate, beautifully orchestrated way

of celebrating time.

The word shanah, "year," means two things that are usually considered

opposites. It means both "repetition" and "change." In one sense each year

is repetition: we pass through the same seasons, the same cycle of time.

But each year is also different. We encounter new problems, different

events, unexpected situations. The question posed by Rosh Hashanah is,

Which meaning will prevail? Will we stay the same or will do things

differently next time? Will we learn from our mistakes? Will we change and

thereby grow? The answer depends on the Rosh, the "head," the mind. Do we

invest time or merely spend it? That is up to us. The shofar is God's call

telling us that time is short and yesterday will never come again. See each

day, says God, as a gift from Me. Make a blessing over it and turn it into

a blessing. May that be true for us in the year to come. Shanah tovah!

September 25, 2001

As Yom Kippur approaches, here are some wonderful words to share....

Love and Best Wishes for 5762!

Eemah

From out of the rubble

by Rabbi Michael P. Sternfield

Chicago Sinai Congregation

15 West Delaware Place

Chicago, Illinois 60610

Rosh Hashanah 2001

Given the tragic course of events on September 11th, as you might

surmise, I had no choice except to scrap the High Holy Days

sermons I had written over the summer. You'll have to take my

word for it. They were terrific! All kidding aside, the traumatic

circumstances under which we have gathered to welcome this New

Year are more painful and difficult than any most of us have ever

observed, with the possible exception of the Yom Kippur War of

1973.

Now that we are beginning to receive more detailed information

about the events leading up to and following the devastation of

the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, there are many

dramatic stories that are emerging:

-  The heroic struggle by the passengers on the plane that

ultimately crashed in Pennsylvania in which they tried so valiantly

to thwart the hijackers.  In doing so, they lost their own lives, but

likely saved God only knows how many others;

-  The thousands of firefighters, police, city workers and

volunteers who have been toiling around the clock, at significant

peril, in hope of rescuing even a few survivors, with every life

considered precious;

-  The forlorn, dazed family and friends wandering from hospital to

hospital in the vain hope that their dear ones might still be among

the living;

- And, of course, the stories of desperate passengers phoning

home one last time to bid farewell to dear ones. or calling or "911"

to describe the hijacking inspiration for what I would like to share

with you this morning.

First, let me go back several years to a another national tragedy,

another time our country was plunged into mourning, which I am

sure you remember vividly.  I am referring to the explosion of the

space shuttle Challenger.

That year, I came across a copy of a beautiful Yizkor sermon by

Rabbi Kenneth Berger to his Miami congregation. Having gotten to

know Rabbi Berger personally, I read his sermon with great

interest.  He spoke of his feelings upon reading the details of the

tragic explosion of the space shuttle "Challenger." He speculated

on what the astronauts might have been thinking and feeling

during their final moments.

Somewhat like the passengers on the American and United Airlines

jets of September 11th, and also like those trapped on the upper

floors of the World Trade Center, the Challenger's astronauts did

not die immediately, as was first thought, but survived for five

minutes until their spacecraft crashed into the ocean. Rabbi Berger

spoke of the regrets each one of them must have felt as certain

death approached: the good-byes they never said, the people

they had taken for granted, the things they would have done

differently, if only they could have had another chance.

The rabbi completed his sermon with these words:

"Soon it will be time for Yizkor, and the scene of the Challenger still

haunts me ... the explosion and the five minutes. "If only I...."...

And then the capsule hits the water. It's all over. Then you realize

that it's all the same... five minutes, five days, fifty years. It s all

the same and it's over before we realize...."

Finally, Rabbi Berger concluded his sermon with an emotional

personal reference:

"Sunrise, sunset. My beautiful wife, Aviva, 18 chai years together;

my daughter Avi, a bat mitzvah already; swiftly flow the years....

and then it's over."

This was such a moving sermon in and of itself, one worth reading

and re-reading, as I have many times. However, Rabbi Berger's

Yizkor sermon has a chilling footnote that elevates this simple

sermon, far beyond its intrinsic merits. His Yizkor remarks may go

down as one of the greatest sermons ever delivered, not on

account of eloquence alone ---- but because of its supreme irony.

For you see, a short time after he delivered this sermon, there was

yet another aviation disaster. Near Sioux City, Iowa, a United

Airlines jet crash landed, killing most of those aboard. The rabbi

and his family were among the passengers. Miraculously their son,

Jonathan, was thrown to safety by the impact. But both Rabbi Ken

Berger and his wife Aviva lost their lives. And now, indeed you

know the rest of the story.

As destiny would have it Rabbi Berger's sermon was to be more

than an inspirational address. Inadvertently, he had inadvertently

delivered a farewell message to his dear ones and to his

congregation, a message which will endure for the ages. Listen

once again:

"That scene still haunts me ... the explosion and the five minutes.

If only I.... And then the capsule hits the water. It's all over. then

you realize that it's all the same-five minutes, five days, fifty years.

It's all the same and it's over before we realize...Sunrise.........

sunset."

As I began to read the stories of the passengers on the ill-fated

flights, and those trapped on the upper floors, huddling with their

cell phones, I was so reminded of Rabbi and Mrs. Berger's tragic

deaths and this unforgettably ironic sermon.

These terrible, terrible events have so much to teach us,

particularly the national catastrophe which pains us so deeply.  

These tragedies have great lessons to teach us all. They should

make it clear why we who, thank God,  are so fortunate just to be

alive must do our very best to leave nothing unsaid to our dear

ones and friends. The ones we love and care for so deeply.... now

is the time to hug them,  to let them know just how much they

mean to us --- not some time later. lf we take to heart the

meaning of Rabbi Berger's story, if we can even try to imagine how

the passengers and trapped office-workers must have felt,

desperately conveying their final thoughts to their parents or their

children or their friends, then we may really grasp the essence of

these High Holy Days ------ which is simply ---- not to wait.

Remorse for what we never expressed to those who now are

dead is a pathetic, self-indulgent emotion, unless it leads us to be

more giving of praise and expressing of affection for the living.

And should you say, "Fine. But what about those with whom I

have conflict or anger?" Then what I have just said applies all the

more so: There can be no reconciliation with those who have

passed away from this earth. So as Hillel said so succinctly: "If not

now, when?"

I would like to share with you a personal insight, which I say to

myself almost every week of the year. Over the years I have

conducted nearly 2000 funerals. I must tell you that I go away

with the same question time after time. Inevitably, I look at that

casket containing the earthly remains of husbands and wives, of

parents and grandparents and what I see is a closed box. That

box has no ears and no eyes. The deceased, at least in my view,

has no awareness of all the beautiful words spoken about him or

her. And I wonder, each and every time, how many of these

moving tributes were ever spoken to that person which he or she

was still alive.

There is a long-standing custom of no flowers at Jewish funerals,

so as to symbolize both the sadness and finality of death. But I

think there is a better reason. To me, this custom says: "Save your

flowers for the living."

Every funeral is, to a large degree, an exercise in futility. To tell

you the truth, if I could, I would do away with elaborate funerals

altogether and opt for simple private burials---but I would make

sure that virtually everyone--while they could still appreciate

it---would have a gigantic celebration of their life---with all their

friends and family present; where each person could express all

the thoughts, memories and sentiments which all too often are

reserved for funerals. That's what I would do!

And let's be perfectly honest, as significant as these memorial

services have felt,  as much solace as they definitely provide for

our nation or our community, they really don't do anything for the

dead, except to express the prayer that they should rest in peace.

Its too late to tell any of them anything.

Among the historic symbols of the High Holy Days, none is more

instructive than the image of the Gates of Repentance. It is said  in

the Midrash that the Gates of Repentance are open to all those

who wish to enter." (Midrash Rabbah)

This is the vision our rabbis would have us see at the threshold of

the New Year --- a gate opened wide for us to enter. This is the

task which awaits us at this most sacred season. Rosh Hashanah

like every other day, is symbolized by an open gate, not by a brick

wall.

As long as there is the  breath of life, but only for that long, and

not a moment longer, the gate is open for us to show love, to

express friendship, to tell our friends and family just how much

they mean to us, to say how grateful we are for their

companionship, or perhaps to beseech their understanding and

forgiveness.

We all saw for ourselves what can happen to a human being in a

split second.  Life turns on a dime. Today, anything is possible,

tomorrow, who knows? Today, this moment  is all we have..

If we do nothing else on this unique and tragic Rosh Hashanah, let

each of us, at the very least, share with those closest to us, just

how much we care for them and then this day's sacred purpose

shall have been fulfilled.

In that same spirit, the gates are open for us to reconcile anger, or

resentment, jealousy and unforgiven offenses. There is no greater

blessing we can bestow upon those we love than the simple

expression of appreciation. There is no more sublime way to heal a

wounded spirit than for the other to say, with sincerity: "I'm sorry.

Will you forgive me?" And there is no greater gift we can present

to another human soul than to bestow the gift of forgiveness.

The Talmud teaches us: "Elu devarim sh'ayn lahem shiur"  "These

are the obligations whose benefit is beyond measure, the fruits of

which each person may partake in this life, and for which we will

receive blessings even in the world to come: [and they include] to

perform acts of love and kindness...and... to make peace where

there is strife."

I truly believe that this is the high purpose for which the High Holy

Days are intended: for the reconciliation of relationships, for the

making of amends, for expressions of love and of appreciation I

imagine that God, on High, must be looking down upon us, at this

very hour, hoping, "praying" (as it were) that we will not waste

the lesson that we have just been taught in the midst of this

terrible tragedy.

Everything I believe about God's Compassionate  Spirit compels

me to feel that God wants our High Holy Days to be a spiritual

success; that God wants us to emerge from this day and this

catastrophe  more at peace with ourselves and with the others

who are a part of our lives.

This, I believe, is God's will May it be ours as well.

ONE

  As the soot and dirt and ash rained down,

  We became one color.

 

  As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building We

  became one class.

 

  As we lit candles of waiting and hope

  We became one generation.

 

  As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the

  inferno

  We became one gender.

 

  As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength,

  We became one faith.

 

  As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement,

  We spoke one language.

 

  As we gave our blood in lines a mile long,

  We became one body.

 

  As we mourned together the great loss

  We became one family.

 

  As we cried tears of grief and loss

  We became one soul.

 

  As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes

  We become one people.

 

  We are...

  One color

  One class

  One generation

  One gender

  One faith

  One language

  One body

  One family

  One soul

  One people

  We are The Power of One. One Nation, Under God, Indivisible. We are

  United.

  We are America.

September 29, 2001

Hi!

After you have read Rabbi Sternfield's sermon from my last message....Please read the following from Trisanne Rosenberg!

Wow!

Love,

Eemah

Shannah Tov to you.  I hope you had an easy fast.  Everything is very well

here inspite of the horrors of Sept. 11.

I was very surprised to open my

e-mail and read Rabbi Sternfield's sermon.  If you didn't already know, the

Rabbi Berger (of blessed memory) referred to in his sermon was my

brother-in-law. We named our son, Kenneth, in his memory and my daughter's

middle name in Aviva in her memory. He co-officiated at Sam and my wedding

just 5 months before he and his wife were killed on United flight 232.

There is not one Yom Kippur that goes by that we receive calls from friends,

acquantances or someone that tells us that their rabbi in their shul gave in

whole or in part the "Five Minutes to Live" sermon.  I want to let you know

that Rabbi and Mrs. Berger have three beautiful children.  Avigail, 27, who

was also on the United flight with her parents.  She was very badly injured

and it is a miracle that she is alive and leads a normal adult life.  She

and her husband just celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary last week.

Ilana, 25, graduated from Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia

University 2 years ago.  She is getting married at the end of October.  Sam

and I have the honor to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.  Jonathan

will be 21 in November.  He was also survived the plane crash. Jon is a

sophmore at Pitzer College in California studying philosophy.

Trisanne Rosenberg Berger

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