OPINION:
Yom Kippur, which began at sundown Sunday, is Judaism’s holiest day. It is a time for prayer, repentance, reflection and renewal.
This year, there is much on which to reflect. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 fell on the first day of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, when God passes judgment on people and nations.
A 9/11 ceremony in New York honored those who died and celebrated the heroism of those who gave their lives so others might live.
The left and radical Islam say we had it coming. They charge that the World Trade Center attack was our punishment for being involved in the Middle East. Our involvement consisted of defending our allies and preventing the crazies from getting weapons of mass destruction.
With rare exceptions, the Middle East is a hot mess, the haunt of religious fanatics and terrorists.
This pattern preceded the creation of the modern state of Israel, America’s involvement in the region and European colonialism. It goes back to a seventh-century warlord who fancied himself a prophet and declared holy war on all who refused to follow him. His followers still kill in his name.
Yet, in a way, we do share responsibility for the 9/11 atrocities. The Bible says that if we behave a certain way, we will receive blessings; if we behave another way, curses.
Deuteronomy promised that if the Israelites kept their covenant with God, they would be blessed with rain in its season, abundant crops and victory over their enemies. If they violated the covenant, they would suffer disease, drought, famine and death at the hand of their enemies and eventual exile from the land God had given them.
Our conduct as a nation shames me — abortion up to the moment of birth; turning mothers who murder their children into celebrities; the mutilation of adolescents in the name of our latest idol, transgenderism; pornography pushed to schoolchildren; the streets of our cities turned into open sewers; recreational drugs; and accusing a nation of Holocaust survivors of genocide.
What kind of shining city on a hill is this?
Our Founding Fathers believed that, like ancient Israel, America was a covenantal nation. In the Mayflower Compact and Declaration of Independence, we proclaimed God’s sovereignty. We acknowledged that, as long as we kept his laws, we would receive his blessings.
It worked for the better part of two centuries. We started as 13 Colonies clinging to the Eastern Seaboard, then spread across the continent in less than 100 years. We became rich and powerful like no other nation in history.
We settled the land, ended slavery here and confronted and defeated some of history’s worst tyrannies.
Then we forgot what made us great: a commitment to faith, family and freedom. Our greatness was eroded by waves of militant secularism, radical individualism, welfarism and rights without responsibilities.
The consequences are all around us. Besides 9/11, not a year has gone by without a terrorist attack against Americans: the 1983 Beirut Marine Corps Barracks bombing, the 2009 Fort Hood shootings, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 2016 Pulse nightclub shootings, the 2021 Abbey Gate attack and the 2025 New Orleans pickup truck attack. That just hits the highlights.
Terrorism is only the most visible of our punishments. We have seen the simultaneous rise of Islamism and socialism.
Since 9/11, the number of mosques in America has more than doubled, many of them preaching jihad. Despite being labeled a terrorist organization by some, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is growing in influence.
The Democratic Party considers Muslims one of its most important constituencies. The number of Muslims in Congress (none in 2001) is set to double in this election. New York City, America’s financial hub, has a Marxist Muslim mayor.
The Democratic Socialists of America now controls the Democratic Party. Its platform can be summed up in two words: Abolish America.
The hour grows late.
On Rosh Hashana, a judgment is written in the Book of Life, for good or ill. At the end of the last service on Yom Kippur, the book is sealed and the judgment becomes final.
According to Jewish tradition, during the 10 days of penitence between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, three things can avert the harsh decree: prayer, repentance and acts of righteousness.
It is time for America as a nation to repent. May our country be sealed in the Book of Life for a good year and a bright future.
• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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