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Darkened Skies, Blue Skies: A September 11th Refectionby Rabbi Steven Moskowit

!t was a beauti"ul Au#ust mornin#, the temperature a com"ortable $%de#rees& ! was ridin# on my "avorite fat, a road that e'tends "or miles alon#

the shoreline& My le#s "elt stron#, and despite the #ustin# head wind, ! wassettin# a "ast pace& (he dune #rass blew in the breee, the waves lapped atthe e'panse o" sand, and when ! looked up at the blue sky, ! "ound it absento" clouds&

!t was a per"ect day& ! could "ocus on my ridin#& ! could contemplate thebeauty o" the moment&

And then it happened&

(he per"ect sky ) nearly as deep and blue as a September day ) reminded

me not o" the #randeur o" *od+s creation, but o" a mornin# nearly 1 yearsearlier& -ithout warnin#, the per"ect moment was #one, stolen& ! was takenback to an earlier day+s blue sky, one that ended in darkness and clouds o"smoke and ash& Memories o" that terror.stricken day /lled my thou#hts&

0ourteen years a#o, on what be#an as a #lorious "all mornin#, ! was drivin#to my oce& ! looked to the sky, appreciatin# the e'traordinary day& (herewere no clouds, only the clear blue sky& ! silently o2ered praise to *od "or thisbeauti"ul creation ) and then ! turned on the radio, only to hear reports o" the/rst plane strikin# the 3orth (ower& Soon ! was headed home, drivin# east onthe 4on# !sland 5'pressway, the west.bound lanes eerily empty save the

occasional emer#ency vehicle careenin# toward the city&

! lost no "amily members or "riends that day, and thank"ully not even onemember o" the syna#o#ue ! served, and yet ! remain wounded& 0ourteenyears later, time has moved "orward& 5i#ht.year.olds have become 66.year.olds, colle#e #raduates on the brink o" careers and the rest o" their lives&

(ime has moved backward, too& 7ears later, moments are too o"ten stolen&(error still /nds its way into my soul& (he sky stands as a silent reminder o"that day& A per"ect blue sky and a "avorite mornin# bike ride turn into thedrive back to our house a"ter collectin# my children "rom school, and my

"eeble attempts to e'plain to them ) an 8.year.old and 9.year.old ) whathappened to our city& As ! drove my children home that day, ! knew the worldthey were born into had been "orever chan#ed& 0ourteen years later, ! still donot know e'actly how&

Yizkor. -e remember&

7/23/2019 Darkened Skies, Blue Skies

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! cannot escape the memories& 7ears later, tears interrupt mundaneactivities, tin#in# them with lon#in#& ! eye my mother+s "avorite assovercandy in the supermarket& ! recall my "ather+s lon#.a#o advice about drivin#&! am haunted by melancholy as the skies remind me o" yesterday, silentlyaskin#: Are they still near;