September 19, 2001
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On September 19, 2001, The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on local Rosh Hashana services: "Early in his sermon, Rabbi Mark Shook asked the congregation to turn and hug family members and strangers nearby as a way of healing from the pain of the previous week. 'It is as though our entire nation is sitting shivah,' he said referring to the Jewish practice of gathering at the home of mourners for seven days after burial to pray. 'All of us are mourners.'... Only God can comfort Americans in their loss, because no one else can offer comfort for this incomprehensible tragedy, he said."