This past Wednesday, we held the first session of our experiment in joint adult education with the Tri City Jewish Center.  The topic for this five session course is Jewish beliefs and practices surrounding death.  So obviously, one of the matters that we will be going into is how Judaism deals with mourning.  Now, I am not going to give away that whole section of the course, but I do want to say a little bit about it.

When it comes to mourning for the loss of a loved one, without question or doubt, the ancient rabbis who established our practices demonstrated themselves to have a profound grasp on what today we would call, the psychology of mourning.  They were beyond wise in the manner in which they mapped out an individual’s journey from deep grief to a return to life in the world.

The first thing they did was to recognize the great pain we endure when faced with loss.  Unlike other religious traditions, they did not try to cover it up and call upon mourners to transform their grief into joy.  Instead, they called upon us to confront and embrace our grief.  Rather than instructing us to hide it, they instructed us to put our world on hold and focus on our grief intensively, for a full week.  We call that week “shivah.”

But they recognized that the intensity of our grief is not something we should be lost in.  So they devised a plan through which to wean us away from that intensity; not away from grief itself, for they recognized that we will carry a piece of that grief always, but away from our abandonment to our grief.  To that end, they established stages of mourning.  The first, as I said, was “shivah.”  After “shivah,” comes “sheloshim.”  The word “sheloshim” literally means “30.”  “Sheloshim” is a period of 30 days following the death in which, aside from the first seven, “shivah,” we can start to re-enter our lives.  We can go back to work, or school, or whatever activities we are involved in.  However, we are expected to continue to say “Kaddish” and we are forbidden from involving ourselves in activities of merriment, like going to parties.

When “sheloshim” concludes, while we are still expected to say “Kaddish” for the remainder of the eleven months following the death, everything else can return to normal; indeed, is expected to return to normal.  We are expected to get on with our lives.

I share all this with you not to short circuit our adult education course, but rather for a very different reason.  A week ago yesterday marked the end of “sheloshim” for the tragic events of September 11^th.  From a Jewish perspective, our time of intense mourning was supposed to come to an end, and we were expected to, as best we could, normalize our lives.  However, one does not have to be a professional social analyst to recognize that we as Americans are far, far, far away from that goal.

We keep hearing the call for us to normalize our lives.  The President is really pushing this.  And as much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with him.  That is precisely what we need to do.  It is imperative that we move beyond the trauma of September 11^th.

As many of you know, my daughter Shira is spending this year studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  As difficult as it was for us to experience the events of September 11^th here in Iowa, it was far and away more difficult for those young American students, thousands of miles away, in a foreign land, to experience them.  Their home was under attack, and they were not home.  The distance between them and us was that much greater, and they felt that distance keenly.  As you probably can imagine, their sole desire was to remain wrapped around CNN.  But the program of studies at the Hebrew University would not permit for that.  Their classes continued.  Their homework continued.  Their tests continued.  We spoke to Shira and her pain and frustration was quite evident.  So the Cantor and I emailed the Hebrew University liaison in New York, complaining that these kids need a little space, and perhaps some counseling, to help them emotionally process what is happening to their homeland.  Her response was simple.  There was to be a memorial service, but it is the Israeli way to put these things behind you and get on with life as soon as possible.

Are the Israelis hard, unfeeling people?  No.  Far from it.  However, while we Americans have had to endure one terrible terrorist attack, the history of their country has been a history of having to live with terrorist attacks.  In this matter, they are, without question or doubt, the world’s experts; an expertise attained through painful experience.

The Israelis understand something, which is the same thing that President Bush understands, which it seems most Americans are having a good deal of difficulty accepting or comprehending.  That something is that, aside from direct military action against the terrorists, the best way to defeat them is to normalize your life as soon as possible.  For the goal of the terrorist is not just to perform the act of terror.  The goal of the terrorist is to use the act of terror as a catalyst through which to effectively disrupt the lives of his enemies.  For the terrorist, the ideal act of terror is meant to be an attack which keeps on attacking long after the physical smoke has cleared.

And that is precisely what is happening to us here in America.  Osama bin Ladin did far more than just destroy the two towers of the World Trade Center and damage the Pentagon.  He did far more than just brutally claim the lives of some 6,000 people.  He has significantly disrupted the very fabric of life in America.  His victory is not just to be found in the success of four airplane disasters, all of which took place during the course of one morning in the month of September.  It is to be found in all the anguish and the pain and the trauma and the phobias - the great fears - which have captured the hearts, minds, and souls of so many Americans ever since that morning.  Indeed, his victory is not yet complete.  It is still growing.  With every passing day, it continues to grow.  For example, our small congregation in Davenport, Iowa will be privileged to celebrate four B’nei Mitzvah services, as 5 wonderful young people become Bar or Bat Mitzvah, over the next four weeks.  I have learned of situations concerning at least two of those services where beloved family or friends have decided not to attend because of a fear of flying; a fear that did not exist for these people before September 11^th.

As if the events of September 11^th were not enough, now we have this whole business with anthrax.  True, there is definitely someone out there who is using anthrax as a form of attack.  Whether it has to do with Osama bin Laden or not, we simply do not know.  It could be a crazy person, like the Unabomber, or this could be the work of one of the many American hate groups, taking advantage of the chaos of these days.  We just don’t know.  But like the events of September 11^th, these anthrax attacks are also paralyzing our nation.  While the attacks themselves seem to be targeting the national media and major political leaders, and not the general population, still everyone is jumping at shadows.  The other day I heard a radio report of how a tunnel in Minnesota was closed to traffic in both directions for quite some time because of a report of a white powder being found there.  The white powder turned out to be road salt.  The night before, temperatures there dropped into the twenties and that road was icing up.  So the transportation department spread some salt.  And there ensued a panic.

The bottom line is “sheloshim” is over, and we need to get on with our lives.  We need to stop handing the terrorists more victories than they have already achieved.  But that is easier said than done.

It is easier said than done because there are those in our very own society who are working, sometimes vigorously working, to keep us from getting on with our lives.  These are not members of Osama bin Laden’s Al Quaida network.  These are Americans like you and me, who would be outraged to be associated with terrorists.  Indeed, they present themselves as being the outspoken opponents of terrorism.  Yet in pursuit of their own purposes, they have come to capitalize on the tragedy of September 11^th and the crisis we find ourselves in.  They continuously push these events in our face for their own personal gain.

Who am I talking about?  The list is varied, and sometimes weird.  For example, in yesterday’s Quad City Times, I pulled out two separate car dealership ads replete with American flags, red, white, & blue printing, and the phrase, “Keep America Rolling.”  I know we have all heard that phrase on the television as well.  What are they saying?  Show your outrage for the events of September 11^th and your support of America by buying a car from us.  There was yet another car dealership ad, also with flags and red, white and blue, and a little boy giving the thumbs up, and flanked by stars, the statement, “We will contribute to the Red Cross Disaster Fund for every vehicle sold!”  Talk about crass marketing!  Aside from all the other opportunistic aspects of that ad, why do they have to attach their support of the Red Cross Disaster Fund with your purchase of a vehicle?  If they really care, why don’t they just support the fund?  Does it mean, if you do not buy a car from them, they won’t support the fund?  And interestingly enough, they never state how much of your purchase price they will contribute.  For all you know, you could buy a car for $20,000.00, and they will contribute a dollar.

Now, car dealerships are not our only local culprits.  From that same newspaper, I pulled an ad from an appliance store with a large red, white, and blue banner stating, “Help Keep America Strong Sale.”  Fight terrorism by buying a Maytag refrigerator from them.

If there is advantage to be had out of the suffering of others, it is a sad commentary on our society that you can always depend upon politicians to make the most of it.  So it is in our case today.  Many of you have seen the television ad in which a candidate for governor of Illinois waves the flag and uses the events of September 11^th as a foundation for her platform.  With a straight face she informs us that to show that she won’t give in to terrorism, if she’s elected governor, she will expand O’Hare airport.  I am sure that prospect has Osama bin Laden shaking in his boots.

Even religious types are seizing this marketing opportunity.  As we are gathered here, there are others gathered in that sacred assembly hall which we call The Mark for a “God Bless America Celebration” with Ralph Bell, an associate of Billy Graham.  This is a revival meeting.  It is taking place all weekend.  It started last night and will be going on through Sunday.  Admission is free, which means that they are not looking for your money, but rather your soul.

Last week, on one of our local morning radio shows, I heard an interview with a person who sells and installs fallout shelters.  Now I thought fallout shelters were something from my childhood, in the fifties.  It was a craziness from the past, born of the fears of a nuclear holocaust.  But now they are back, fully equipped to protect their occupants from biological warfare.

A couple of weeks ago, the TODAY Show did a feature on a store in New York City that sells gas masks, environmental protection suits, and all that is needed to create a plastic sealed room in your own home.  Now this is not a store that sells this stuff to government agencies or hospitals.  It sells it to people like you and me.  Just the other day, the TODAY Show interviewed this fellow who has designed and is marketing a parachute that you can use to jump out of an office building, as long as you are on the tenth floor or above.

Watching these features, I could not help but wonder, “Where does the TODAY Show dig up these people?”  But that question should lead to another question, that one being, “Why does the TODAY Show dig up these people?”

The answer to the second question leads us straight to whom I believe to be the worst offenders of them all - the national mass media.

Ever since September 11^th, the national media has been on a feeding frenzy.  If it is difficult for us as Americans to let go of our grief and to normalize our lives, one of the primary causes for our difficulty is that the media will not permit us to do just that.  They have got this story and they simply will not let it go.  It is no longer about informing the public.  It is about the media market and their share of it.  As with the stories of the gas masks and the parachutes, the media has gone far beyond reporting the news.  It is actually going out and seeking new angles, no matter how hard they have to look, just to keep this story alive.  Today on the TODAY Show was a perfect example.  The wife of one of the passengers who was on the flight that crashed near Pittsburgh - one of the passengers who is believed to have helped in subduing the terrorists - was flying this morning on the same flight to San Francisco.  The TODAY Show caught her at the airport and interviewed her.  How did she feel about flying?  “Fine.”  Why was she flying to San Francisco?  To meet with some of her husband’s business associates to discuss setting up a charitable foundation in his memory.  Did she see any significance or symbolism in her flying on the same flight as did her husband?  “No.  Not really.”  They would not let that question go, and they kept pushing it.  They were looking for something that was not there, but which they wanted to be there.  Why was she flying the same flight as her husband?  For the same reason as if any one of us wanted to leave the Quad Cities in the early morning, and we wanted to fly a particular airline because we collect frequent flyer miles on that airline, then we would be flying the same flight every time.  But the TODAY Show wasn’t looking for news.  It was looking for drama; drama to perpetuate this story.  And what was saddest of all was that they did not think that the establishment of a charitable foundation in the memory of this victim was drama, or significant, enough for them.

If that report wasn’t bad enough on today’s TODAY Show, it was followed by a report on the inadequacy of the airlines security checks on checked luggage.  As I listened to that report, I could not help but wonder, “Whose side are these guys on, anyway?”  We are looking to normalize American life and return people to their typical routines; we are looking to help Americans overcome the trauma of these horrible events.  Yet there is the media, in the guise of reporting news, spreading more fear among our people, intensifying our trauma rather than relieving it.  Whether they admit it or not, in doing so, they are serving as the agents of Osama bin Laden.

So many people have commented on how depressed they feel.  I myself have been having nightmares, nightmares which include opening anthrax envelopes.  The American people need help in overcoming the ongoing effects of this tragedy.  We need hope.  We need inspiration.  We need to get back to enjoying our lives rather than fearing the world around us.  But in order to accomplish that, we need to call to task every one of those fellow Americans who view our suffering as their opportunity for gain.  They are abusing us and we have to tell them to stop.  On September 11^th, America was the victim of a cruel attack by terrorists.  We must not let the opportunists among us to perpetuate that victimization.

AMEN