As people of faith, the horrors of that day compel us to recall several truths:
1) We must honor the memory of all of the victims, and recommit ourselves to supporting their families, as well as those who were injured or suffered consequences of those awful attacks.
2) We must honor the bravery of all those first responders and so many others who fought terrorists on airplanes, fought fires, rescued or attempted to rescue many, those who treated the injured, and all of the other helpers who responded to this crisis.
3) We must recommit ourselves to confronting evil and fighting for a more just and secure world.
4) We must reject extremism, fanaticism, and radicalism.
Unfortunately, these lessons remain painfully relevant.
This week, we mourn the deaths of six Israelis, Yaakov Pinto, 25, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Pash, 57, Yisrael Mentzer, 28 , Yosef David, 43, Sarah Mendelson, 60, Rabbi Mordechai Steinsteg, 79, hy''d, who were murdered this Monday in Ramot, Jerusalem at a bus station by Palestinian terrorists. May their memories forever be a blessing, and may Hashem comfort their families. We also pray for the healing of the 21 Israelis who were founded in the attack. Many of you likely know people who take that bus route or live near that bus stop. We also pray for the recovery of two Israelis who were injured in a terror attack at a hotel in Kibbutz Tzuba (west of Jerusalem) this morning.
We mourn the deaths of four IDF soldiers killed this week in the war in Gaza: Lt. Matan Abramovitz, 21, from Ganei Tikva; Staff Sgt. Uri Lamed, 20, from Tel Mond; Sgt. Amit Arye Regev, 19, from Modiin; Sgt. Gadi Cotal, 20, from Kibbutz Afikim, hy"d. May their memories be a blessing, and may Hashem comfort their families.
This week also saw the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist shot while speaking at Utah Valley University. His murder adds to the troubling trend of political violence in the US which has been perpetrated by and impacted people on all sides of the political spectrum. Regardless of our views, or how we personally felt about Charlie Kirk, we must condemn his assassination, feel the pain of the extinguishing of the life of person, and reject political violence and extremism. I join the chorus of voices in extending my condolences to his wife and two young children.
I believe that it is imperative that we pray for and work toward an America in which difference of opinion is respected and violence and extremism is rejected.
In spite of all the terrible news this week and the difficult anniversary, we also have cause to celebrate this week, as Israeli-Russian Elizabeth Tsurkov, a student at Princeton University in New Jersey, who was kidnapped in March 2023 while conducting research in Iraq and was held for 2.5 years by the pro-Iranian armed group, Kataeb Hezbollah. We pray for her speedy recovery.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ben Kean
