What is ten years or a decade. In reality, using astronomical calculation, it is 3652.5 actual days. For humans it is approximately a seventh of life expectancy. We all are heading toward a tenth year anniversary we neither want to remember nor have the capacity to forget.

The question of Israeli dancing and 9/11, however disjointed this may seem to you, starts with a discussion at the Valley Forge Barnes and Noble. A group gets together most week days to shoot the breeze. You might even recognize some of the participants as from time to time they have been mentioned in this web site.

One posed the question some time ago. How did this country handle Dec 7th, 1951? You can see the relationship being drawn here. On Dec 7th, 1941, this country was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The tenth year anniversary would be Dec 7th, 1951.

Hawaii, at that time in Dec. '41, was a territory of the United States and not even the furthest in the Pacific basin. Assuming you realize that Midway is part of the chain that constitutes Hawaii, going further west one would run into Wake, Guam and the Philippines. Going south is American Samoa. These far flung island and island chains spread across the pacific.

The Philippines were of specific interest in the thinking of the US Military in the days prior to the attack at Pearl Harbor. It was the thinking that if the Japanese were to attack the US, it probably would be there. To counteract this, a two-fold strategy had been implemented. One was the assignment of Gen Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines to help forge a competent and significant in-country military as the Philippines moved toward independence scheduled for 1946. The other was to pull much of the Pacific fleet from filipino waters and base it exclusively at Pearl Harbor. At the sign of an attack on the Philippine islands, the plan was to sail the fleet toward Japan and have a great fleet to fleet battle in the middle of the Pacific.

That independence of the Philippines, on July 4th, 1946, would come to pass but the events leading to that date certainly had twists and turns. A first strike did occur but much further East than expected as the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th, 1941.

So, the question still remains. How did Amercans view Dec 7th, 1951. The country was again at war only this time on the Asian mainland in Korea. While a peacetime Army and Navy was in existence in 1941 (with the draft having been instituted in 1940 for the first time since the Civil War, in essence), 1951 would see the US with a much more massive military infrastructure.

But even the mindset of the average American would have been drastically changed. Few residents of this country in 1941 could claim knowledge of where Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima were. By 1951, these islands and their impact on the events of that last 10 years were all too clear.

So that brings us to events leading to 9/11. No doubt, by 2001, in several areas of our government, there was an assumption that there would be a significant terrorist attack directed against this country. The World Trade center had already seen an attack in 1993. In 1998, two US embassies had been attacked in Africa and there was the attempted sinking of the US Cole in Yemen of the year before.

But, again and similar to Pearl Harbor, the location, means and extent of the attack was unexpected. So, in a similar manner to Dec 7th, 1951, we head toward the tenth anniversary of the Sept 11th attacks drastically changed as a society. Few Americans in 2001 knew or cared where Afghanistan was and how it related to the Pakistan-Indian struggle. Nor, would most Americans be interested to investigate this country's relationship with Islam. Come Sunday, Sept 11, 2011, more than a few have definite opinions about this.

Having dealt with these relationships, one of the members of the Barnes and Noble discussion group decided to ask some Israeli dancers their opinion of how 9/11 affected and perhaps changed the nature of Israeli dance especially in the Philadelphia area. Below, we pose some questions and indicate a composite of the answers

First question was how was Israeli dance affected on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001?

This was a gorgeous day as you may remember and it is not unusual to encounter some of the best weather at this time of year. From what we can tell, two classes were to be held that evening in the Philadelphia area.

Beth Sholom hosted Sharon Polsky's Tuesday class at the time and Beth Sholom decided to close for that evening and so Sharon was shut down also.

The Cherry Hill session was at that time being held at the Beth El facilities on Church Rd (this site was subsequently sold by that synagogue and Beth El has since moved to another location), and was being lead by Don Schillinger. Several dancers were contradictory as to whether the session met that night. Don says he has no recollection.

Throughout the region, not to mention the nation, facilities were left to their own options as to handle this situation that night - whether to be open or to close. In one case, the Germantown Jewish Centre, opened its doors to all (and actively called members to inform them of this) so that it could act as a gathering place for those in need of company or solace in this time of national emergency.

As for the rest of the week, Don's Thursday class was scheduled to meet at the Art Museum. At that time, the Thursday class would hold its sessions on the East Terrace made famous by the movie, Rocky. A recent discussion between Tanya Buchman, a long time Israeli dancer, and Don reveals that an alternative site, in a building outside of the center city area of Philadelphia and not in the open as the Art Museum afforded, was selected for the session dancing venue that Thursday, September 13th.

In the weeks that followed Don's Thursday session returned to the Art Museum (it was already scheduled to move indoors by the beginning of October). One of the participants of the next week, Sept 20th, said that the events of the week before made her look at the skyline of Philadelphia much more closely. She reports that she was always impressed by the skyline (for those not familiar, the look is eastward over center city toward the Delaware river) but that night she thought "they're trying to take this away from me and I won't let them do that." And, her thoughts, to some degree, are echoed by others who participated in Don's class at the Art Museum throughout the rest of September, 2001.

For 2001, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, would start on Monday night, Sept 17th, so class schedules and whether they were met become somewhat more iffy especially for classes meeting in religious centers affected by this holiday. We can’t tell you whether or not the expected closures would have been extended in the face of this attack.

What was the experiences of individual dancers on that day?

What about the individual dancers and what was their individual reactions to these attacks that Tuesday morning. No doubt, like most of the country, they received the news at work or at home through radio or television. It appears that cell phones, even though in existance, were not as prevalent or as powerful as they are today and, if you were in New York that day, cell phone usage was almost impossible since several carriers used the Trade Center for reception.

In most cases, businesses and classes were closed early and in the case of schools, night classes were cancelled. How about the case of medical facilities? In the Philadelphia region those that were working in such facilities reported that they were there for their entire shift, certainly not unexpected, but "business" was less than normal – some claim empty – for the rest of the day. For these people, walking in Center City Philadelphia for lunch was very telling. Restaurants that stayed open were empty as there was an early rush hour home.

The further north, the more chaotic the situation as would be expected. One dancer now based in Philadelphia but living and working in Queens, New York just happened to have the need to take her car in for normal repair. It was at the maintenance center that she was made aware of events. The subways ceased operating for the most part in most, if not all, sections of New York that day as would be expected and without a car, she remembers having to walk over the 59th St bridge, made famous in the 1966 song by Simon and Garfunkel. She was not alone that day as most public transit out of New York was halted.

Another dancer's spouse was affected by these unusual events in a unique way. A lawyer, he was scheduled to be in the Wall Street area that day and had taken the PATH train into the tower. Apparently, he arrived at the PATH station under the towers just as the first plane struck. After mulling about that area as events unfolded, he was on the last PATH train to leave that underground station before it was closed and subsequently destroyed.

Interestingly enough, he would be involved in the Towers again several years later as a litigator in the suit brought by the lessee of the Towers, Silverstein Properties, against the Insurance company, Zurich American, as to whether 1 or 2 events brought down the towers, an important insurance question needed to determine the extent of coverage.

Other remembrances

One dancer remembers having been in Central Jersey that day and returning home in the early afternoon by way of Rt 1, Rt 95 onto the Turnpike. This dancer reports a series of emergency vehicles, lights flashing, heading the other way as police and fire departments in Pennsylvania (and other states), whether asked or just on their own initiative, sent men and equipment up to the New York area to aid in rescue and recovery efforts that day and for some time in the future.

Another dancer's remembrance is also somewhat unique. Very rarely in New York, he was headed up to the Shorashim Israeli dance festival in New York City that occurs each Labor day weekend. It was the tenth anniversary of that camp in 2001 (you can access their web page by clicking here.) It wasn't that he was an Israeli dancer at the time. He was going to Shorashim with a friend who kept mentioning Israeli dancing many times as a possible activity to participate in and he wanted to see what this was all about. With his friend, he decided to try a day at this dance camp as instruction in the dances would be offered. Access to Shorashim, at 104th and Broadway, would be by train from Hamilton, NJ run by New Jersey Transit and then north on the subway line designated as No 1, the Broadway – 7 Avenue local. We should note that if our prospective dancer had headed south, as opposed to north, on the 1, he would have passed under the towers.

On the train trip (New Jersey transit) into New York on that September 2rd, the Sunday of the Labor Day weekend of 2001, his friend had commented that he was going to be in New York again on Sept 12th to attend a financial seminar at the Marriott Hotel, part of the World Trade complex. The towers were now appearing out of the right hand windows of the train.

That weekend was as beautiful as Sept 11th would be, and both passengers looked and commented on the towers and how they were an iconic symbol of New York, one that every train passenger saw as the train moved north from New Jersey. But having not seen them in years, the view from the train made an even more significant impression.

The attack on the Trade Center was very poignant to this would be dancer given that the images of the tower were still in his mind a week or so later. He says he can still see them rising above the meadowlands, the area the train travels through on its way to New York. Or to quote, "It was like a stereo image. As these buildings were burning, I could see the images of the building as seen from the train superimposed on them." He feels the effect was multiplied by the realization that a single day separated his friend from these events as the financial seminar was scheduled for the next day, the 12th and not the 11th. In addition, news that the subway line he had used for his visit was the same subway line most directly affected by the attack only compounded his sense of disbelief.

You can see a similar kind of sentiment in the following link where a writer tells of his first trip to the Meadowlands, under the World Trade center shadow, the weekend before the attack.

The after effects of the attack on interests and activities?

Two effects were immediate to dancer and non dancer alike. Public buildings began to impose security measures and private building were not far behind. Most locations today have significant security provisions whether hosting after hour activities or not.

Another factor was increased insurance costs and decreases in coverage. This did affect Israeli dance (not to mention other activities) and in certain cases venues were closed to these types of activities because of the insurance restrictions. In a few years Don would find that the city would impose higher insurance burdens on those using public locations and this has affected Israeli dance sessions at the Art Museum to a large degree.

Now, how about the impact on the individual dancer in the aftermath of the attacks? In talking with many people born in this country, the attacks did effect a feeling of vulnerability as was probably the intention. In New York, over the next few days of the attack, as reported by those in New York at the time, the restaurants and outdoor cafes were mobbed. It was said that there was a need for get togethers with friends, that no-one wanted to be outside alone. As a corollary, there was a need for many to cocoon at home in the sense that this provided protection.

One dancer, who at the time was involved with Ballroom dance, reported that the ratios necessary for Ballroom dancing (for the most part equal men and women) was shattered for a time. It was this situation that allowed him to try Israeli dancing as an alternative.

So, if this is to be believed, why didn't the attacks have a similar effect on Israeli dance. Possibly for two reasons. With its circle dancing, the ratio necessary for ballroom dancing is not needed in Israeli dancing and has never been attained as all the sessions have more women than men. This meant that dancing could continue whatever and whomever the attendance.

The other factor is that in the Philadelphia area perhaps 25-30% of the dancers are ex-pat Israelis. Unfortunately in that part of the world, as related by the various dancers interviewed, attacks of this nature do not stop the activities of the society. In fact, it may even increase these social activities as a way of indicating to would be terrorists that such activities will not bring that nation to a standstill. For whatever reasons, it seems as if the Israeli dance sessions in the Philadlephia area were made somewhat stronger in the aftermath of the attack. In fact, on October 7th, just a month after the attacks, Don started a beginner's class in Dresher that was well attended. Many of the dancers that we see as regulars at several sessons today got their first taste (or possibly a re-taste) of this type of dancing in Don's beginning class that was started at that time.

What else do you remember as to the events of that week?

While the passage of time has fuzzed the memories of many, the one event remarked about after the towers collapsed (and the Pentagon was hit and the crash in Shanksville) was President Bush's adlib remarks when he visited the site on Friday, Sept 14th. No doubt, if we returned to the hypothetical question posed at the beginning of this discussion as to how Americans would have felt on Dec 7th, 1951, a great many would have said that they remembered Roosevelt's speech (given on radio) the next day after those attacks. Below, we allow you to compare the two. To the left is Franklin Roosevelt's speech in front of a joint session of Congress on Dec 8th, 1941 and to the right is President George Bush's impromptu speech on top of the pile of rubble at Ground zero on Sept. 14th, 2001