Sorry this one is a little late but I feel compelled to share it.
It is the story of my friends Esty and Dovi Scheiner.
Esty and Dovi were raised in the Lubavitch communities in Crown Heights and Boro Park, respectively, in Brooklyn. They were set to be married on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
The day of your wedding, in Judaism, holds a lot of different rituals than typical weddings. Yes, the bride has her hair and nails done but also the bride and groom (kallah and chassan) fast during the day of their wedding. They say all the psalms (tehillim) and it is said that you are closest to G-d on your wedding day.
Dovi woke up that day and went to shul to pray. He davvened (prayed) fervently and was completely unaware of what was happening some miles away. When he emerged from shul and saw the smoke, he knew there was something wrong. Some decisions had to be made. Esty and Dovi met with their rabbi to make some decisions. Their rabbi counseled, "Look at it as Osama Bin Laden did something evil, and you are doing something small but good."
So they were married. Emotions ran high. Dovi nearly fainted during the ceremony and had to have an IV put in. But something in them forever changed. It became their mission together, the mission of their marriage to foster a Jewish cultural life in Lower Manhattan. The run a group called World Tikkun Center (WTC) and The Soho Synagogue that makes Judaism accessible to everyone.
This couple and their mission has been incredibly inspiring to me and their story is a unique one. I am proud to call them my friends and I hope you visit them if you are ever in Soho!