This week, following the attacks of September 11, has been designated Patriot Week. So far, the State of Michigan is one of ten in the nation to have passed resolutions (now permanent here in the Great Lake State) recognizing these days as such.I don’t know about you but I am pretty wrung out. And I don’t even have the right to say that, having lost only my innocence and nothing, or no one, dearer.
In synagogue last week, our rabbi read what I thought was a beautiful essay by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld. If the name rings a bell to certain Jews who came of age in the 70’s, he was a co-author of The First Jewish Catalog. As my contribution to Patriot Week, I share Rabbi Strassfeld’s essay. I hope it moves you as much as it moves me and that you will read it and perhaps share it with others this week.
Thank you, Debra. I tend to honor these anniversaries in a more private, solemn way. When elaborate events such as the 9/11 10-year anniversary are staged in the name of “patriotism,” I worry. Our current political climate, stressing patriotism, also breeds separatism in many ways. And this can lead to racial and religious fear and bias (as history shows).
Of course, I mourn the losses of 9/11, and will always remember the lessons in the tragedy. But we’ve let many other important anniversaries go by with much less commemoration.