East Brunswick, NJ – Thirteen years after the horrific terror attack that shook New Yorkers to the core, baby boys born on a day synonymous with tragedy are preparing to celebrate their upcoming bar mitzvahs.
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With September 11th coinciding with the 23rd day of Elul in the year 2001, those bar mitzvah celebrations are officially still one week away, yet for parents of those 9/11 children, the memories of that fateful day still conjure up a maelstrom of emotions.
“The whole month leading up to 9/11 is extremely difficult for me personally,” Allison Schechter of East Brunswick, the mother of twins born on September 11th, 2001, told VIN News.
The events of 9/11 were exponentially more emotional for Mrs. Schechter than for others who gave birth on that day, because her husband, a business writer for Citigroup, was scheduled to be in 2 World Trade Center for a business meeting on the morning of September 11th.
“It is all very surreal,” acknowledged Mrs. Schecter. “The twins weren’t supposed to be born on that day. They had me scheduled for a c-section later in the week and I went in on Monday, the day before 9/11, just to make sure everything was okay. My doctor did some blood work and thought the results were a little funny. She told me it was no big deal but that there was no reason to wait and that I should call my husband and tell him we were going to have the babies tomorrow.”
Despite the importance of the next day’s conference, Barry Schechter made the obvious decision, choosing to skip the meeting.
Arriving at the hospital on Tuesday morning, September 11th at 6:30 AM, the Schechters waited an unusually long amount of time for their doctor to arrive.
“We waited and waited and nothing happened,” said Mrs. Schechter. “Finally the doctor came in and said ‘Can you believe what just happened?’ We turned on the television and saw what had happened and all we could think was ‘That’s ridiculous. Planes don’t hit the World Trade Center.’”
Realizing that her husband would have almost definitely been on site when the planes struck, Mrs. Schechter admits to being stunned at the goings on.
“They took me into surgery and while we were there, the other plane hit,” recalled Mrs. Schechter. “Later on they kept showing the buildings going down on the news and here I am holding my two beautiful babies and we were going back and forth between laughing with joy at our newborns and crying about the events taking place. It was a devastating and beautiful day, all at the same time.”
At one point during the day the Schechters were relocated to a different room in the hospital.
“We were in an emergency hospital,” said Mrs. Schechter. “They were expecting a rush of people to be coming in. The sad thing is that no one came.”
News of how the Schechter twins were delivered three days ahead of schedule, keeping Barry Schechter miles away from the World Trade Center on that day, spread throughout the hospital.
“People kept coming over and touching him,” said Mrs. Schechter. “I really feel very strongly that Hashem spoke to my doctor that day. My blood work was just a little off and she could have easily waited until Friday to deliver the twins.”
The emotional impact of September 11th continues to reverberate for the Schechters.
“We spend a lot of time trying to do good things for the community,” noted Mrs. Schechter. “We volunteer and for the past few years I have been the co-director of Camp TLC at our shul for middle schoolers and it is all about chesed. Giving back has really become part of our lives.”
Balancing the solemnity of the day with the birthdays of her twins, Eden and Max, is an annual event.
“We remember the day and we respect it and we honor it,” said Mrs. Schechter. “But at the same time, we have always tried to give our children their birthdays.”
“Our goals for our twins are simple and the same as those for our older daughter, G-d willing,” added Barry Schechter. “That they be happy, healthy, well-adjusted, productive members of society, dedicated Jews, proud Americans and decent human beings.”
A 2002 song by musical trio Lev Tahor projected ahead to 2014, imagining the bar mitzvah of a fictional boy born in 2001, who lost his mother in the World Trade Center, and his ensuing emotional struggles. “Watch Over Me”, was released just a few days shy of the first 9/11 anniversary and according to Eli Schwebel of Lev Tahor, the song was well received as many attempted to cope with a lingering sense of massive loss.
“We were trying to frame the human emotion of loss in a Jewish context,” said Schwebel.
Thirteen years later, as the Schechters are busily preparing for Max’s bar mitzvah, many are still trying to come to terms with the events of 9/11.
“I don’t know why we were spared, but I thank Hashem,” said Mrs. Schechter. “I feel we have been touched by Hashem to have had our family walk away intact when so many other families have not. We are completely blessed.”
May you have nothing but blessing in your lives and may that blessing spread to others. Mazel Tov on the bar mitzvah!
Mazel Tov to the Bar Mitzvah.
May you only see lots of Nachas from him and from his twin and your other child as well.
It isoso beautiful to see people that look at the good that Hashem did to them and try to in turn give thanks to Hashem by giving back to their community like the Shechters.
Mazel Tov!
“baby boys born on a day synonymous with tragedy are preparing to celebrate their upcoming bar mitzvahs.”
I don’t get it.
If it were two boys, there is only one boy in each of the two pictures.
If it was a boy girl combo, then the girl’s celebration should’ve been last year.
The messy reporting aside, it is a great human interest story that all who remember the horror of that day can relate to.
Thanks for sharing.
The twins are a boy and a girl. The story is about boys who were bar mitzvahed 13 years after 9/11. The second picture tells the story.
That said, mazel tov to everyone!