Profound Shmirah Experiences in Recent Times

The Jewish Response to 9/11

For 222 days after 9/11, members of the Jewish community performed shmirah, the communal response to guard the bodies and comfort the souls of all those who died in the New York City twin tower attacks and responding to the attacks. On the 20^th anniversary of 9/11, we remember them. Here are some of the stories from the Last Responders:

11/28/ 2001	Long watch over WTC dead	Jessica Moore, Jessica Russak, Judith Kaplan
5/31/2002	Today’s climate should strengthen, not diminish, identity	Joseph Aaron
9/11/2002	Spiritual Surveillance: Watching the Dead of 9/11	Jessica Russak
12/31/2002	My watch over WTC dead changed me	Jessica Russak
2002	9/11 Vigil	Jessica Russak
11/7/2011	Watching Over the Dead With ‘Shmira’	Uriel Heilman
12/6/2016	Making Sense of Tragedy	YU News

Shmirah for Ruth Bader Ginsberg

September 18, 2021, is one year since U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died at age 87 on September 18, 2020, erev Rosh Hashana. She laid in repose at the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday, September 23^rd and 24^th . On Friday, September 25^th, she became the first woman and the first Jew to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. She was buried on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, the day after Yom Kippur, in Arlington National Cemetery.

Zoom Kaddish and virtual ‘guarding’: How Jews are adapting burial rituals to mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Over 10 days, 220 hours, members of the Jewish community performed virtual shmirah, reciting psalms in 30 minute shifts. The wordclouds below were made from comments of the shomrim during this period.