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November 2, 2001/Cheshvan 16, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 8
Beyond shattering to celebrating
BARRY COHEN
Editor
Last weekend I traveled by air for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks. I flew from Phoenix to Dayton, Ohio, to attend a wedding.
I usually love to fly. This time I admit I was nervous.
But my anxiety could not override my desire to share in a simcha, the celebration of family and friends witnessing a bride and groom start a new life.
During the wedding reception, there was singing and dancing, dining and toasting. And there were periodic World Series Game 1 updates.
For a few hours, we were able to escape the aftermath of shattered buildings and anthrax-infested letters.
Another repercussion of Sept. 11 has been fear: E-coli bacteria and smallpox, vulnerable shopping malls and water systems.
As we wrestle with our fears - an acronym for "false events appear real" - let's consider some realities.
Few dangerous bacteria other than anthrax can be sent by mail because most are not hearty enough to survive without water or nutrients.
Though malls may be vulnerable to suicide bombers, they are less susceptible to germ attacks because ventilation systems would trap harmful agents, and human losses would be few.
A chemical attack on Bank One Ballpark or Sun Devil Stadium is improbable because of restricted airspace and Air Force patrols and unlikely by ground because of the need to aerosolize gallons of agent, not easy to accomplish without attracting attention.
Our food system of harvested and processed vegetables, grains and meats is also not as vulnerable as many think.
According to "Bar Handling by 'Almost Anyone' " (Newsweek, Nov. 5), 5,000 people die every year in this country from food poisoning, and almost all of these cases go unreported. To inflict food poisoning of epidemic proportions, terrorists would have to accomplish a security breach of immense proportions.
Another reality is that every day, we place ourselves at risk. We join rush hour traffic. We exercise in the Arizona heat. We eat sushi.
Obviously, there is a difference between a terrorist attack - an act of war - and getting hit by a bus, which is just bad luck. But the risk that we will experience some kind of "shattering" event is a normal part of life. Every day, on a conscious or unconscious level, we accept that risk, refusing to be paralyzed by the fear that today may be the day.
I am not trying to be "Pollyanna-ish" or fatalistic about terrorism. Undeniably, our free and open society offers many targets, and our enemies are formidable.
However, we are tightening security and heightening awareness. I sleep better at night knowing the FBI and CIA are protecting us and our national interests.
Back in Dayton, at the end of the wedding ceremony, the groom stepped on a glass. This traditional ritual acknowledges the shattering moments in our past - the destruction of the Temples, pogroms and the Holocaust.
Sept. 11 shows that shattering moments also can be contemporary, forcing us to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.
What follows the shattering is the simcha, the singing, the dancing.
Let us take heart, with optimism and vigilance, confidence and hope, and keep celebrating.
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