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On this Shabbat as we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, we are asked to do something that is both simple and profoundly difficult: to remember. We remember the year that has passed. We remember the people who have shaped us. We remember moments of joy and moments of loss. And this year, as we gather on September 11, we also remember a day that changed our country and touched countless lives.

Twenty-five years later, September 11 remains a day of grief. We remember the thousands of lives lost, the families whose lives were forever changed, and the first responders and ordinary people who ran toward danger to help others. As I will share this evening, Jewish memory is never only about looking backward.

The Torah teaches us again and again: zachor – remember. Remember so that memory can shape how we live. On Rosh Hashanah, that idea becomes especially powerful. We don’t remember simply to remain in the past. We remember because the past places a responsibility upon us in the present. The people we lost on September 11 cannot be brought back. But we can ask what their memory asks of us.

Twenty-five years ago, I suggested that the events of that horrible day could inspire us to be kinder, to notice the person who is struggling, to value the people sitting beside us and to recognize the courage of those who serve and protect others. We also shared with one another that we would refuse to take another day, another conversation, another embrace for granted.

There is a line in the High Holy Day liturgy that says: Remember us for life, O Sovereign who desires life. Zochreinu l’chayim – Remember us for life. Perhaps this year we can hear those words in two directions. We ask God to remember us for life. And we, in turn, promise to remember them by the way we live our lives.

Rosh Hashanah is called Yom HaZikaron – the Day of Remembrance. It is a day when we stand between memory and possibility. We cannot change what happened yesterday. But we can decide what kind of people we will be tomorrow. That may be one of the deepest messages of the shofar.

The shofar is not a speech. It does not explain the past or predict the future. It is simply a human breath transformed into sound. Thus tonight, once again we remind ourselves to wake up, pay attention and begin again.

And so, as we remember September 11, we also remember that life is fragile and therefore precious. As we enter a new year, may we carry the memories of those we have lost not only in our hearts, but in our actions. May their memories inspire us to choose life more fully. May we cherish our families and friends. May we reach across the divisions that separate us. May we honor those who serve others. May we have the courage to help when help is needed. And may we never forget that even after the darkest day, there is still the possibility of rebuilding, of healing, and of beginning again.

May this new year bring healing to those who carry grief, strength to those who carry burdens, peace to those who live with uncertainty, and hope to all who enter this new year together. And may the memory of those we lost be not only a blessing, but a call to us to make our own lives a blessing.  

SHABBAT SHALOM – L’shanah tovah tikateivu v’techateimu.

May we and all our loved ones be inscribed and sealed for a year of life, health, peace, meaning, and blessing.