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Jewish groups were especially dismayed by the attacks, in part because of reports that the violence was in retaliation for U.S. policy in the Middle East. Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said his Monday lunch with Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel was "eerily prophetic" because Wiesel warned that terrorism was the greatest threat to the United States and the Jewish people.

"This is as close to a day of infamy as we can imagine," said Foxman, who added it is still "too early to talk" about whether the Middle East conflict influenced these acts.

Rabbi Jerome Epstein, head of the Conservative Jewish movement, watched the World Trade Center towers crumble to the earth from his office window. Staffers fled into the streets and said traditional prayers of mourning.

"(These terrorists) acted in order to get a reaction," Epstein said. "Either we give them the reaction they wanted, or we give them a reaction that's appropriate."

In Louisville, Ky., at the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Moderator Jack Rogers prayed, "Help us not to speak or act rashly, not knowing by whom or why these awful deeds have been committed." Classes were canceled at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary so students and faculty could meet at a chapel for prayer.

A host of churches and denominations said they would maintain prayer vigils for the victims and for all Americans. The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said all people—but especially people of faith—must reserve judgment until the facts are in.

"God has given us many gifts in terms of healing and helpfulness, and this is a time to exercise those gifts," Anderson said.

Copyright © 2001 Religion News Service

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September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45