Friend,

At the age of 12, my first date was at the observation deck of the World Trade Center. The view of New York was so beautiful I said the shehecheyanu.

Years later, I still remember the unholy smell in Manhattan after the September 11th attacks — burning wires, melted concrete, organic decay.

This year, Rosh Hashanah begins on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. I shared my reflections in Common Dreams — “Opening the Book of Life on the Day the Towers Fell.”

The devastation that day continues to shake me. We lost so many lives, each a whole universe. Their memories remain a blessing. For a moment in 2001, our country came together — mourning, healing, and supporting one another through an immense tragedy and uncertain future. We could have remained in that place of solidarity.

Instead, many of us accepted lies spread by political leaders who used the machinery of division to grow their power. My Muslim and Arab neighbors experienced an era of unspeakable bigotry and violence. We saw the establishment of ICE. And many across the country, including Jews in my community, were silent.

Today, and especially in this midterm election season, I see the resurgence of this hateful right-wing strategy, and in some cases our Jewish community is still silent, or worse — participating in it.

But Rosh Hashanah and the anniversary of 9/11 are an invitation to change course.

In our election campaign 🪬All Hands: Jews for Election Protection🪬, we use the hamsa — a symbol across Judaism, Islam, and Christianity — as a reminder of our mutual connection and duty to protect one another.

As part of our teshuvah and atonement, we can recognize our failure to protect our Muslim, Arab, Sikh, Black, and immigrant neighbors after 9/11 and do better fighting the same machinery of fear and division today.

We can start by calling out smokescreen antisemitism — when our neighbors like Mahmoud Khalil and Salah Sarsour are targeted in the name of Jewish or American safety, endangering all of us and our democracy.

We can decry disgusting baseless attacks on Muslim and Arab leaders, like from those who told New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani to skip the 9/11 memorial.

We can reach for each other. We can ask for forgiveness, and forgive.

We can march forward together, in solidarity, to build our shared world to come — olam haba.

Shana tova u’metukah, wishing you and yours a sweet new year,

Eli Williams-Szenes
Director of Advocacy and Political Affairs, Bend the Arc

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