As 9/11 anniversary falls on Rosh Hashanah, Jews are asked to remember — and move forward

NEW YORK (RNS) — When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Gadi Capela recalled running to the trading floor of the financial firm where he worked near Rockefeller Center. Every television screen was turned to breaking news coverage.

Capela, then 28 and a successful business analyst, said that before the attacks shook up his conscience, he felt like he was “on top of the world.” He had a Central Park South apartment, a convertible and tailored suits — the trappings of an American dream he believed he had achieved. An observant Jew who had attended Yeshiva University, he said although he was a “faithful person,” he had made wealth and career success his “idols.”

But the collapse of the towers and the mass death Capela witnessed created “a big, big crack in my perception of where the priorities should be.” That realization eventually convinced him to redirect his life’s work toward the rabbinate.

The nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks were the first victims of a tragedy whose consequences continue to unfold. Thousands of first responders and survivors have since developed cancers, respiratory illnesses and…