It seems like yesterday. It seems like centuries ago. Terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the heroism of the passengers of United Airlines flight 93, whose heroic actions diverted another attack but resulted in the loss of so many innocent lives near Shanksville, PA.

AJLI’s offices are in lower Manhattan, not far from where those towers stood, and so this day gives us at AJLI pause to think about what we were doing when the towers fell, to think about the world in 2001, and to think about the world today in 2017.

Over the past 16 years, much has been said about 9/11, by people infinitely more eloquent and knowledgeable than I will ever be. So let me say, simply, that on 9/11 we will take a moment to remember that day and the many other days since then that have been marked by acts of violence, hatred and intolerance. And we also will reflect on the millions and millions of acts of kindness, understanding and bravery that also have marked the last 16 years.