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Hillel Publishes Memorial Program for Terror Victims
August 20, 2002Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friend Pluralistic Text to be Used on Campuses on September 11
 (WASHINGTON, D.C., August 20) Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning has published a program for use by campus groups and others to memorialize the victims of September 11 and other terrorist attacks. The booklet, "For the Parchments May Burn but the Letters are Flying Free," includes new prayers drawn from ancient Jewish texts, short biographies of terrorist victims, poetry, patriotic songs, and traditional Jewish liturgy.
"When tragedies strike, they require liturgical responses drawn from tradition that meet the needs of a diverse, contemporary audience," explains Meyerhoff Center Director Rabbi Avi Weinstein. "To accomplish this, we have mined the Hebrew Bible and Talmudic tradition for words and images that resonate with the horrors of September 11 and with the ongoing terrorism that continues to assault our brothers and sisters in Israel. We were struck by how accurately 21st Century evils could be described in writings that date back millennia."
In a new prayer created from verses of ancient text, the authors included the following line from the book of Proverbs: "Blessings cover the mouth of the righteous but lawlessness covers the mouth of the wicked." The Hebrew word for "lawlessness" is Hammas, the name of the Palestinian terrorist group. One new prayer laments the persistence of violence and evil, while a second is a supplication for peace.
The central theme of the booklet is derived from the story of Rabbi Chanina Ben Tradyon who was martyred by the Romans around the year 135 CE for illegally teaching Torah. The Romans wrapped Rabbi Chanina in a Torah scroll before lighting him on fire. When his students asked what he saw as the flames engulfed his body, the rabbi answered "The parchments are burning but the letters are flying free."
The booklet includes thumbnail biographies of victims of September 11 reprinted with permission from The New York Times, and letters from two victims of the bombing at Hebrew University who were Hillel leaders.
Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning infuses Jewish learning throughout the Hillel movement through traditional study, publications, training and via the Internet. "For the Parchments May Burn, but the Letters are Flying Free..." was made possible by a grant from the David and Ruth Musher Philanthropic Fund.
The largest Jewish campus organization in the world, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, is committed to creatively empowering and engaging Jewish students through its network of over 500 regional centers, campus Foundations, program centers and affiliates. Its long-standing dedication to building Jewish identity, while nurturing intellectual and spiritual growth in a pluralistic community, positions Hillel as a leader in building a stronger Jewish people and stronger Jewish future.
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