11 сентября и хасидская и ортодоксальная община 11טן סעפטעמבער און די חסידישע און פרומע קהילה

Jewish Victims

According to English Wikipedia, the number of Jews killed in the attacks is estimated at between 270 and 400, based on the victims' family names ^[1]. The figure is often cited in response to the false conspiracy theories claiming that Jews were warned not to go to work that day ^[1].

One of the best-known victims was Avraham ("Avremeh") Zelmanowitz, a computer programmer on the 27th floor of the North Tower ^[2]. His friend and coworker, Ed Beyea, was paralyzed and could not escape on his own; Zelmanowitz telephoned his sister-in-law and said he was staying with him until rescuers arrived ^[2]. Both were killed when the tower collapsed ^[2]. Three days later President Bush cited his story (without naming him) as an act of heroism ^[2]. Nearly a year after his death his remains were identified, and he was buried on Har HaZeisim in Jerusalem, beside his parents ^[2].

Chevra Hatzalah at the World Trade Center

Rabbi Mechel Handler, the administrator of Chevra Hatzalah in New York, described in Jewish Action how he was sitting in the Hatzalah office in Brooklyn when a member reported over the radio that pieces were falling from the tower ^[3]. The dispatcher sent out paramedics, doctors and Hatzalah's mobile command center ^[3]. According to his account, between 8:48 a.m. and the collapse of the South Tower at 9:59, Hatzalah transported close to 140 patients to hospitals, with four to six patients in each ambulance ^[3]. After the collapse it emerged that every Hatzalah member had survived — which he describes as an open miracle ^[3].

The Shmirah Beside the Kedoshim

According to Jewish law, one stays with the deceased ("shmirah") until burial, which usually takes no more than 24–48 hours ^[4]. After 9/11, a prompt burial was not possible: the victims' remains were kept in twelve refrigerated trucks in a large tent opposite the office of the city's Medical Examiner ^[4]. Jewish volunteers therefore kept shmirah with Tehillim, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from September 20, 2001, to April 30, 2002, in four-hour shifts ^[4]. Because it was assumed that the remains included Jews as well, shmirah was considered necessary ^[4].

The shmirah was coordinated by Armin Osgood of the Orthodox shul Ohab Zedek on Manhattan's Upper West Side ^[4]. On Shabbos, when the volunteers could not travel, students of Yeshiva University's Stern College, which was within walking distance, took over the shmirah ^[4]. A year later, on the first yahrtzeit according to the Jewish calendar — which fell on the first night of Selichos — the participants gathered again at the same spot to say Selichos and the entire Sefer Tehillim ^[4].