Yom Kippur and a year without terror

This is the week we reserve this space to write about Yom Kippur. We usually suggest you help those in need by making a contribution to Mazon, or help our friends in Israel by buying an Israel Bond. We also offer our apologies if we at the Bulletin have upset or offended you this past year. And we urge you to undergo self-introspection and pray that God will write and seal you in the Book of Life for another year.

While those Yom Kippur thoughts are still part of the very essence of the holiday, right now we are thinking more about the tragedy our great homeland has suffered. The events of last week give us a better understanding how our friends in Israel have been forced to live their lives during the past year.

We couldn't help but notice how our leaders, among them Vice President Dick Cheney, are endorsing the assassination of terrorists. Those same leaders were condemning Israel only weeks earlier for targeted killings.

Unfortunately such killings only seem to provoke more retaliation and a cycle of death and terrorism that continues to spiral.

Hopefully our covert operations will bring to justice those responsible for the heinous crimes in New York and Washington.

In the meantime, like Israelis, we now kiss our loved ones goodbye in the morning and await their return at the end of the day with apprehension. There have been strong hints that more terrorism will follow. And like Israelis, most Americans are very willing to put up with a lot more security at public places.

On the bright side, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has announced a cease-fire, which Israel also is observing. President Bush called it a "glimmer of hope" that might emerge from last week's tragedy.

Let us join in prayer this Yom Kippur that the cease-fire will hold and that talks between Israel and the Palestinians can soon begin.

And let us pray that our leaders here in America have the strength and the wisdom to combat terrorism without the loss of more innocent civilian lives.

We also pray our leaders can accomplish their goals without sacrificying our moral compass or the civil liberties we Americans hold so dear.

And lastly we pray for a healthier, safer and sweeter new year.