09/11/2026
Today, as we mark both and the anniversary of , 3 JWB chaplains reflect on the significance of these two dates coinciding and on the connections between remembrance, service, resilience, and renewal.
“By far the most dramatic portion of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy is the chanting of U’netane Tokef a prayer invoking the words “on Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed, who shall Live and who shall die … " The attacks in New York and in the Pentagon, but a few days before Rosh Hashanah emphasized this prayer invoking my heart hundred fold. Knowing that such attacks would lead to war…would this Rosh Hashanah be my last? Though I survived multiple combat deployments, I have never read that prayer the same again”
Ch. Rabbi Irving A Elson, Cap (Ret), USN, Director JWB
"A widespread Jewish custom is to sound the Shofar each day during the month of Elul -- which precedes Tishrei and the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. However, the Shofar is not sounded on Erev Roshanah, which this year's falls on Friday, September 11th. While this one-day cessation/hiatus of practice Shofar blowing is observed to denote the difference between the sounding of the Shofar that is blown for the Mitzvah proper and that which simply helps us prepare for such...this year is uniquely special. May this year's lack of Shofar sounding on September 11th be our collective "Moment of Silence" in memory of all those innocent victims, martyrs and heroes who lost their lives 25 years ago this day. And may all the angels in Heaven bow their heads in somber remembrance thereof before the throne of Almighty G-d who will surely remember us this High Holiday season, and grant us all a good and sweet New Year, physically and spiritually."
Ch. Rabbi Shmuel Felzenberg, Col, USA
"When I think about my time in Afghanistan in 2013–2014, I remember the local nationals who worked on the base and the small but meaningful interactions we had with them. It feels especially significant that this year Rosh Hashanah, a time when Judaism asks us to remember, reflect, and consider the kind of people we want to be, falls on September 11 - a day that reminds us of how profoundly our country and our world were shaped by conflict. The words from Deuteronomy, “Justice, justice shall you pursue,” remind us that even in the shadow of war, we are called to recognize the humanity of others and to pursue a world defined not by fear and division, but by justice, compassion, and peace."
Ch. Rabbi Heather Borshof, Maj, USA, West Point
