H eadlines
The 2021 Caroline Zelaznik Gruss and
Joseph S. Gruss Lecture in Talmudic Civil Law
Is the Value of Human Life
Paramount?: Law and Personal Autonomy in Rabbinic Law
9/11 Continued from Page 6
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021
Π5:30 PM
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
3501 Sansom Street
Dr. Ayelet Hoffmann
2021-2022 Gruss Professor of Talmudic Law
Individually packaged meals will be available
after the lecture for in-person guests. Dietary laws
will be observed. In-person registration is required
for entrance into the building.

This program has been approved for 1.0 Substantive CLE credits for Pennsylvania lawyers. CLE credit may be available
in other jurisdictions as well. Attendees seeking CLE credit should make a payment via the online registration link in
the amount of $40.00 ($20.00 public interest/non-profit attorneys). In order to receive the appropriate amount of credit,
passwords provided throughout the program must be noted in your evaluation form.

Penn Law Alumni receive CLE credits free through The W.P. Carey Foundation’s generous commitment to Lifelong Learning.

To RSVP, please e-mail Neoshie Giles at:
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12 AUGUST 26, 2021
PA054592 Virginia Buckingham published her memoir “On My Watch” last year, but it remains a timely story as the 20th
anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

story with Melrose B’nai Israel
Emanu-El in a conversation
with Rabbi Charles Sherman
on Aug. 28 over Zoom as part
of the synagogue’s Selichot
services. Sherman believes that
Buckingham’s story is an
important one for Jews to hear,
especially during Selichot, the
Saturday before Rosh Hashanah
that begins the period of
reflecting and repentance
leading to the High Holidays.

“Her messages were not just
about 9/11,” Sherman said. “She
is really dealing with a message
that a lot of us deal with: How
do you get up the next day,
when you find yourself in this
dark, dark, dark place?”
Sherman is no stranger to
tragedy and life’s unexpected
turns. After the death of one
of his sons several years ago,
Sherman published another
memoir, “The Broken and
the Whole: Discovering Joy
after Heartbreak,” in 2014.

He knows firsthand that the
message of finding strength in
loss is easier said than done.

Buckingham’s journey to
acceptance was similarly rocky.

After the wrongful death
lawsuit, Buckingham hit
a low point. She focused on
parenting her children as a way
JEWISH EXPONENT
of keeping afloat.

In 2015, her life took another
turn. She was accepted into
a program called Presidential
Leadership Scholars, a leader-
ship development program
created by the presidential
libraries of Bill Clinton and
George W. Bush. For her leader-
ship project at the program,
she completed her book.

Buckingham compares
resilience to sea glass in her
memoir: “Something that
originates from a bottle, but
that’s in a form that it doesn’t
resemble at all by the time
it gets tossed around in the
waves, in the salt, in the sand
for 20, 30, 50 years.”
She offers that an individual
is not the same as they were
before experiencing terrible loss.

“You’re different forever, but
that doesn’t mean you don’t
offer meaning, can’t provide
joy and build a meaningful
life,” Buckingham said.

Sherman’s hope is that after
hearing Buckingham speak,
the audience will leave with a
feeling of empowerment when
weathering hardships and the
unknown. “Life is not about endings;
it’s about beginnings,” he said.

This theme is reflective of
Rosh Hashanah, said Sherman,
who tries to find balance in the
tradition of the holidays, while
also honoring the new year.

“On one hand, there’s a
sameness to the liturgy and
there’s a sameness, really, to
the rituals. But I’m not the
same person I was last year,”
Sherman said.

Though Buckingham isn’t
Jewish, she finds meaning in
the Jewish people’s story of
resilience. Buckingham’s
husband is Jewish, and they made
the choice to raise Jewish
children. She remembers
going to synagogue with her
family shortly after 9/11 and
hearing Debbie Friedman’s Mi
Shebeirach: “Help us find the
courage to make our lives a
blessing.” The line resonated
with her.

“The Jewish people who
have gone through so much
pain over the centuries, yet still
live lives with such incredible
joy,” Buckingham said.

The event will take place
virtually at 8:15 p.m., followed
by Selichot services virtu-
ally or in-person at 9:45 p.m.

Visit mbiee.org for more
information. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM