Like many others, I've been thinking a lot about 9/11 as the tenth anniversary approaches. It was a strange time in my life. The Jewish High Holidays were approaching -- Rosh Hashanah fell on September 18th that year. The software company I worked for was developing a new product and had most of the staff (including me) working from home. I thought I'd share my experiences from that time, much of which has some Jewish context. September 8 It was the beginning of Selichot, an introspective period leading up to Rosh Hashanah. A local synagogue had a speaker and refreshments before the traditional first night Selichot service. He was a local rabbi who was born and raised in Israel, who spoke about the violence in Israel a year after the outbreak of the second Intifada. During the refreshment period, I was talking to my rabbi, and I made a comment to the effect that the number of people who die in violence in Israel is probably not greater than in the United States. I was thinking...