San Diego, CA (special) -- San Diego's and Tijuana's Jewish communities almost immediately felt the reverberations of last Tuesday's terrorist airplane hijackings and kamikaze attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon building in Washington D.C.

Some programs were cancelled in the global concern over security.  Among them  was a medical screening planned Thursday in Tijuana's Centro Social Israelita  for  poor Mexican children with cleft palates and other deformities  who were to come across the border today  to receive free corrective surgeries this weekend at Mercy Hospital in San Diego.  

Area congregations immediately scheduled special prayer services, recognizing that many members would want to invoke the power of prayer to bring aid to the many victims of the attacks, countless thousands of whom still were lying under the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  

Among those congregations which held services on the night of the attacks were the various Chabad centers in San Diego County , Congregation Adat Yeshurun, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Dor Hadash,Hillel of San Diego, Ohr Shalom Synagogue and  Temple Emanu-El in San Diego.  Other congregations throughout the county scheduled services for later in the week, and special prayers were being devised for the approaching High Holidays.

In view of the approaching High Holidays-with Rosh Hashanah commencing Monday evening, Sept. 17, and Kol Nidre services for Yom Kippur coming the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 26-all congregations were reviewing their security arrangements. While keeping mum about exact details, representatives of  almost every synagogue told reporters for HERITAGE who fanned out across the county that greater vigilance was planned in the light of the terrorist war on America.

Typical was a comment by Rabbi Hirsch Piekarski of Chabad at Del Mar, who told HERITAGE reporter Marsha Sutton, "We're definitely taking into consideration more security for the High Holy Days.  We are also planning (with other Chabad centers this Sunday at the Scripps Ranch campus of Chabad Day School) to hold a community prayer or program, to provide comfort.  Our prayers are with all the American people."

Still uncertain as HERITAGE went to press was the status of High Holiday services planned for civilian and military members of the congregation led by Rabbi Joel Newman, a Navy chaplain assigned to Camp Pendleton.   Before the terrorist attacks, Newman had announced a schedule of services that would rotate between Camp Pendleton and the chapel at the Navy's Murphy Canyon housing tract in San Diego.

Immediately after the attacks in New York and Washington, the military in San Diego went to a condition called "Threat Condition Charlie" which is the second-highest threat alert condition.  Newman told HERITAGE reporter Gerald Greber that this meant that "only those persons with a military ID would be allowed on the base."  

No one knew how long that condition would stay in effect, Newman said.  At least until the situation were better defined, he said, there were no plans to change the services, times of which may be found-along with those of other congregations-on pages 24 and 25 of this newspaper.

In what turned out to be a false alarm, the need to pay special attention to security was underscored on Tuesday when a man drove his car into the driveway of Chabad at La Costa, jumped out, got into a car driven by another man, and drove off, leaving his car parked askew near the synagogue.

Observing this, Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort  telephoned 9-1-1 for assistance.  An operator asked the rabbi if the car were still running, and Eilfort worriedly grabbed a chumash as he went outside to check.  The car was not running.  After relaying that further information to the 9-1-1- operator, Eilfort evacuated his synagogue.

Law enforcement officials later determined that the man's Toyota had a dead battery, and that he had gone off to get some help, not realizing that on such a day a suddenly abandoned car could cause some concern, Eilfort said.

Concern that Jewish organizations might become possible targets for terrorists prompted California Gov. Gray Davis to hold a telephone conference call on Tuesday with the staffs of the United Jewish Federations in San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento.  

Tina Friedman, director of the Community Relations Committee of the United Jewish Federation, reported that the governor told the Federation officials that law enforcement throughout the state was cognizant of the possible threat and would take whatever action might be necessary to protect our community.

San Diego City Councilman Jim Madaffer paid personal calls on three congregations in his district - Beth Jacob Congregation, Tifereth Israel Synagogue and Temple Emanu-El - to give their leaders assurances that there would be stepped-up police patrolling around their facilities.  He also told Sandy Golden of the HERITAGE staff that Muslim congregations in the city received similar assurances of protection.

Although news of the attacks in the two East Coast cities was on television before most San Diegans went to work, most Jewish communal organizations in San Diego County opened on Tuesday.  Many expressed agreement with the position taken by Morris Casuto, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

"I can't tell people what to do, but if it were my institution I would do the best I could to insure the safety and security of my charges, but I would open for a couple of reasons," he told HERITAGE.  "First, we cannot be paralyzed by those who strike at the very heart of America, and second, our children need a structured, loving environment to discuss this in the company of their own friends."

About a third of the students at the Nierman Preschool at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center were in attendance on Tuesday, according to Fred Schenk, the JCC's new president.  "We have hired additional security guards," he said.  

Likewise, it was business as usual at both the San Carlos and Carmel Valley campuses of the San Diego Jewish Academy.  "We are open and we will remain open," SDJA Director Larry Acheatal told HERITAGE reporter Sutton.  "We feel it's important that we be a place for children and families to come and talk and be together.  

"Also we have increased security. We went to a lock-down and closed one gate completely, with limited access at the other gate (at Carmel Valley)," he said.  "We are operating under a 'rainy day schedule,' which means that the children stay in their classrooms throughout the day and are not allowed outside on the field or the playgrounds.  That gives us closer supervision."

On the other hand, the boys division of Torah High School, which meets in the classroom building at Congregation Beth El, temporarily was interrupted when it was announced the building would be closed for security reasons.  Rabbi Baruch Lederman, a teacher at the school, told HERITAGE reporter Linda Cohen that students from the school walked up the hill, Gemaras in hand, because "learning of Torah never ceases."

Besides offering their prayers, some members of the San Diego Jewish community promptly donated blood at collection centers throughout the county.  HERITAGE contributors Jay & Louise Winheld were among people who waited for hours at the Red Cross Center in Escondido to donate the life essence.  They found other Jews among those people who had similar inclinations on Tuesday.

Jerry Shapiro told the Winhelds he wanted "to help the helpless people in New York and to help sustain someone's life."   Leon Bodzin told them he came because he "needed to do something."

A third gentleman, Dr. Larry Herring, told the Winhelds his prayer was that the blood would in fact be needed - that there were survivors among the thousands of people believed killed in the collapse of the two giant towers of the World Trade Center and a section of the Pentagon

Debra Greenberg, an off-duty American Airlines flight attendant who is married to a Jewish man, said she went to the blood donation center as a way of paying tribute to the crews of four airplanes which were hijacked and crashed by the terrorists.  She had been scheduled to fly later on the day of the hijackings, but all flights were cancelled before she could report to her shift.  

Red Cross worker Linda Kornsky observed that the overwhelming turnout to donate blood transcended gender, race and religious background, and united the community.
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With San Diego- Tijuana being an area with many people who came from somewhere else, it was not surprising that many residents worried that friends or relatives  might have been trapped in the rubble of the terrorists' targets.

Rabbi Mendel Polichenco of the Chabad congregation at Tijuana's Centro Social Israelita told HERITAGE writer, Dr. Joel Moskowitz, that  his uncle worked until recently in the World Trade Center building, but "just recently he quit because they asked him to work Shabbos."

Moskowitz said he inferred from the rabbi's comment that "his uncle's determination to observe the Sabbath likely saved his life."

Talking with a small group after emotional Tuesday night memorial services, Rabbi Martin S. Lawson of Temple Emanu-El said he had spoken with two congregants who had cousins who worked at the Trade Center.  According to HERITAGE reporter Sandy Golden, the rabbi said one worker had gone that morning for a hair cut, and subsequently missed his train "and therefore missed being a part of this tragedy."

The other, "a Chasidic Jew with eight children, who also worked on one of the highest floors has not been heard from yet," Golden quoted the rabbi as saying.

Tina Friedman, Federation's community relations director, said the uncle of her husband,  "has an office two blocks from the world trade center" and after the twin towers collapsed, the uncle, an attorney, walked home.  "He was covered in debris."

Similarly, Rabbi Eilfort said an aunt of his wife, Nehama, went to her office on South Broadway in New York City and "saw the collapse of the building from where she was.  Thank God, she was able to get a cab and get to midtown!"  Eilfort said.

Rabbi Hillel Silverman of Congregation Beth El said his son told him in horror of a friend who went to his job at the World Trade Center to "clean up his desk" and was there while both towers were attacked by kamikaze hijackers using airliners as suicide weapons.  "How can I get out of here?" the friend asked over the phone - before the line went dead.

Rabbi Chaim Hollander of Young Israel of San Diego told reporter Golden that he was particularly moved by an interview he watched on television of a man who had planned to take one of the four flights that were hijacked in the prelude to the crash attacks on the major buildings. By chance, the man arrived at the airport in time to catch an earlier flight and therefore missed dying with the other passengers who were forced into the terrorists' suicide plot.  What moved Hollander was that the man told reporters: "Now I know what the Israelis must feel every day."

There were also stories of people whose lives were disrupted by the shut down of civil aviation ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the attacks. 

Rabbi Ben Kamin of Congregation Beth Israel told HERITAGE of a family which suffered a recent death from causes unrelated to the terrorist attack.  Normally, out of town relatives can attend funerals, but whether the relatives would be able to attend this funeral was in question because of the aviation shutdown.

Other travelers, on trips for business or pleasure, similarly had their plans thrown into doubt.  HERITAGE columnist Gert Thaler reported that  her son, Larry, was attending a food brokers convention in Las Vegas when terrorists struck the buildings in New York and Washington.  "He was finally able to get a car rental" but only after agreeing to stay in Las Vegas an extra day, Thaler said.  "In the meantime all meetings had been cancelled," she added.

American cities were not the only ones to feel the affects of the unprecedented attack.  Thaler said her granddaughter, Shelley Neiman, reported that her classes at the Sorbonne had been cancelled and that "all major institutions in Paris are now closed down and the Eiffel Tower is security-controlled."

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Like the rest of the country, the San Diego and Tijuana Jewish communities had strong reactions to the assault on the United States and a variety of opinions about what must be done in response.  Numerous members of the community expressed concern that if, as suspected, the terrorism appears to be the work of Islamic fundamentalists or Arab extremist groups, that Americans do not take out their anger on innocent Muslims.  At the same time, they suggested that Americans can now better empathize with Israelis who have had to withstand similar terrorist attacks.

At the Tuesday night memorial service at Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Lawson said he recalled "the terrible things that were done to our Muslim neighbors" during the Gulf War.  "My friends," he added, "this is not the time to increase hate. We of the Jewish community know what it means to be a scapegoat."

At a separate service at Congregation Beth Israel, Rabbi Kamin told worshipers: "The first impulse is for humanity, regardless of who they are or how they hear God, to help thosw who are injured and bereaved."  The service ended with the traditional Mourner's Kaddish.

Kamin expressed concern to HERITAGE that "many Arab-Americans will be unfairly singled out," and added that he also was worried that "some Americans who don't understand the magnitude of this violence may say that if Jews had settled their problems with the Arabs, this wouldn't have happened.  I am worried about that.  I hope this gives every decent Jew, Muslim and Christian an opportunity to reflect what religion is about."

Likewise, Rabbi Melvin Libman of Congregation Shir Ami told HERITAGE reporter Gerald Greber that he has many  Muslim friends "and cares about them and he doesn't want there to be any backlash against them."

Rabbi David Frank of Temple Solel of Encinitas serves as chair of the Community Relations Committee of the United Jewish Federation.  He joined UJF President Mary Ann Scher and Executive Director Steve Abramson in a statement urging "all Americans to stand together in the pursuit of justice for all people."

Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal of Tifereth Israel Synagogue said the events of Sept. 11th demonstrated to the world that "terrorists don't target Israelis alone but all kinds of innocent people all over the world, including Americans.  It is horrendous that Americans have to experience the same kind of terror and horror that Israelis have had to experience all along."

Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman of Congregation Beth Am similarly told HERITAGE reporter Sutton, "What America is dealing with today is what Israel has had to deal with for the last 53 years.  Now people will understand."

Rabbi Hillel Silverman of Congregation Beth El said: "Terror directed against any people is terror that can be directed against our country.  Our government must get to the root and the source of this terror and eliminate the terror. ... "

A consensus appeared to be developing that strong action needed to be taken against the terrorists and those who contribute to the politics of hate. At the same time, there were calls for strengthening America's defenses against terrorism so this does not occur again

Congressman Bob Filner, in a press release, said the nation "must be vigilant and put all the power and authority of the federal government behind the effort to find those responsible for today's cowardly acts. We are a strong nation.  We will survive this."

"The cowardly assault against our nation demands a response," said Casuto of the Anti-Defamation League.  "The Palestinian Authority as well as other Arab nations cannot on Monday, September 10th,  praise suicide bombers as heroes of Islam and on Tuesday condemn the fruit of those statements.  America is at war.  Like so many of the other wars we have fought it has begun with tragedy.  Those who attacked us in so cowardly a manner underestimate the steel of the American people. Those who have sowed the wind will reap the whirlwind of America's wrath."

Rabbi Zuckerman described the terrorist attacks as "America's wake-up call. This is jihad in America.... These are not rational people.  They're fanatics.  Killing means nothing to them."

Rabbi  Leonard Zoll of  Temple Beth Sholom in Chula Vista told  HERITAGE reporter Joel Moskowitz that "America is very sloppy about security."  Citing how quickly the world has forgotten past terrorist horrors, Zoll said he was concerned that "this will go away and in a few days we won't remember.  We don't take these people seriously and this is the result."

Carlos Salas-Diaz, the maestro of Congregacion Hebrea de Baja California who as a veteran of American military service in the Korean War holds dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico, told  Moskowitz that the U.S. cannot risk giving the world the appearance of weakness.  Once it is known who the perpetrators of the terrorism were, the United States must "immediately retaliate."

The horrible events of Tuesday, Sept. 11th also brought calls for the Jewish community to engage in deep reflection.  Keri Savage, a campus fellow assigned to Hillel at San Diego State University, sent e-mails to students after the university campus was ordered closed as part of the nationwide reaction to the security threat.

"I'm sure that none of us will ever forget this day as the City of San Diego and the rest of the country has shut down," Savage wrote.  "And it seems as if our innocence has been taken away. This is the time to surround yourself with friends and family, tell them how much you love them and to even call those distant friends you haven't talked to in some time just to say hello."

Rabbi Mel Weinman of Congregation Etz Rimon suggested that like the "tekiah" blast on the Shofar,  the coordinate terrorist attack on Washington and New York City must serve as  a wake up call. 

"Stir yourself from the ambience of our balmy weather in San Diego, from the security we Jews enjoy as citizens of the world's leading power, and from the relative prosperity of our economy," he said. "Get serious about the world we live in beyond Southern California.

"Tekiah says attend to the powers of hate and falsehood, and to the human need in some people to promote death and strife.  They will not go away."