Bear with me as I ramble a little bit.
It’s presumptuous to link 9/11 with Elul in a theological sense or to suggest that the victims were somehow punished for our collective sins. But since 9/11 (both in 2001 and today) is, in fact, in the month of Elul, I think it’s appropriate to use our memory of, and reaction to, such a horrific tragedy as a launchpad for teshuvah.
The Halakhah emphasizes the close relationship between death and repentence. Our fast days, which primarily commemorate national tragedies, are treated as days of teshuvah. It’s important to recognize that tragedy can have this effect even if we don’t see it as a direct punishment for sin. When thousands of ordinary people are suddenly killed while going about their daily routines, it should remind us that death does not wait for us to be ready.
I was thinking about this during davening this morning when the gabbai signaled to the shaliach tzibbbur to skip to Kaddish after Shemoneh Esreh. It’s Monday and skipping the long tachanun is usually appreciated; we all like to finish a few minutes earlier. But then it occured to me, the victims of 9/11 never had a chance to say minhah. If they skipped tachanun on that fateful morning, they never had another chance to say it.
Then another thought occured to me. Maybe the reason that U’netaneh Tokef is such a meaningful part of Yamim Nora’im davening is because, by emphasizing this idea, it further motivates us to do teshuvah. If our fates are sealed for the upcoming year, we may not have another chance to say al chet.
In all likelihood, the attack on the World Trade Center will not be the last tragedy we witness. The library I’m sitting in may collapse and I may not be able to daven minhah this afternoon. But if I do, I’ll have in mind those who didn’t have that luxury five years ago, today.