27 Sep SUCCOS AND TWENTY-TWO YEARS POST 9/11

The Yom Tov of Succos
is upon us. All over the
globe, Klal Yisroel sits
under the schach and
reflects back to over 3000
years ago when Hashem
protected us from hunger,
certain dehydration, and
the nighttime frost in the
wastelands of the desert.
We remember Hashem’s constant Presence
manifested in the Ananei HaKavod, the Clouds
of Glory, which cloaked us lovingly for almost
forty years. This look back is an exercise in
sharpening our awareness that Hashem’s
presence is always above us whether or not we
can see an Ananei Hakavod.
Recently, the entire world took a sober look

back at a much more recent event, just twenty-
two years ago: the horrific tragedy of 9/11.

As Torah Jews, we saw the Hand of Hashem
in that sad drama as well. Firstly, in the
manifestation of “Hinei lo yanum v’lo yishan,
Shomer Yisroel – He (Hashem) does not sleep
nor slumber, the Guardian of Yisroel” as
hundreds of Jews were saved from a terrible
fate on that tragic day. Whether they were
still at Selichos, reviewing a Daf, getting off a
plane to retrieve tefillin, had just lost their job,
and even being pulled down moments before
to meet a shidduch, the stories are numerous
and awesome.

But, as Succos teaches us that everything
is being directed by Hashem, let me share
with you, as we remember that terrible day,
the powerful biblical prophecy concerning
9/11 that is apparent in Parshas Ki Savo, the
parsha that was read the week of disaster. The
Torah states in the tochacha, “Yisa Hashem
alecha goy marachok – Hashem will bring up
upon you a nation from the distance; Miktzei
ha’aretz – From the other end of the world.
[A]sher lo sishma l’shono – [A nation] that
you did not understand its language.” In the
post-9/11 analyses, it was discovered that
the intelligence agencies such as Interpol,
the CIA, and numerous others, did not have
advance information about the terrorist cells
involved in the attack because they did not
have enough cryptographers that were experts
in Arabic.
Then, the pasuk continues, “Goy az panim
asher lo yisa panim lazakein v’naar lo yachon
– An impudent nation which has no respect
for the elderly nor is it compassionate to
the youth,” which is a perfect description of
the homicidal terrorists who did not think
twice about blowing up mothers with their
baby carriages or maiming the elderly. The
prophecy then reaches a crescendo, “Ad redes
chomosayich hagvaos vihabetzuros asher atah
botei-ach bahem bichol artzecha – Until there
will come down your towers, those that are
most high and fortified, in which you have

complete faith in all of your land.” Our faith
in the indestructibility of the Twin Towers was
absolute and the emphasis in the pasuk of in
all your land is quite suitable for buildings
named the ‘World’ Trade Center. “Vehaitzar
licha b’chol sha’arecha – And the enemy
will oppress you in all your gateways.” The
modern day gateways are airports, bridges and
tunnels and after 9/11 all of these were totally
shutdown.
Finally, the pasuk completely blows us away
with the statement that the enemy will come
“Ka-asher yideh hanesher – Like the eagle
sweeps,” a perfect description of the sudden
attack of two widespread huge airliners.
Instead of the more frequently used word,
yauf, to fly, the word used for the flying of
the eagle is a very rare word, yideh. This
word, yideh, is not used any other time in the

entire Torah. It is made up of the letters, yud-
daled-alef-hei. Amazingly, in gematria, daled

plus hei equal nine, while yud and alef equal
eleven. Thus, the word yideh is exactly 9/11.
I discovered something further. In the
difficult gematria known as At-Bash, where
aleph equals taf, beis equals shin, and so on,
the word yideh is calculated as follows. The
letter yud equals mem, daled equals kuf, alef
equals taf, and hei equals tzadik. These letters
combined, mem-kuf-taf-tzadik, spell out the
words keitz meis, which means “an appointed
time to die.”

So as we look back through the millennium,
when we gaze at our schach, we should realize
that we don’t need to look back far at all to see
the obvious, ever-present Presence of Hashem
in all of our lives. May this boost our Yiras
Shamayim, and in that merit may Hashem
grant us a joyous Succos, with good health,
happiness, and everything wonderful.