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[Music] welcome once again to amm Israel everybody remembers where they were on 9/11 as we approached the anniversary you know there's a story that's told that there was a survey done on a college campus where they asked students what was the most prevalent attitude on campus toward major issues of the day ignorance or apathy one student raised his hand and said I don't know and I don't care you know caring and knowing about things which are vitally important to each and every one of us is something that is at the Forefront of our minds each and every day when we think about people who sacrifice their lives on 9/11 a day which happened in infamy just 7 years ago we're approaching that anniversary now when it happened September 11th in 2011 [Music] we have something that has happen here at the World Trade Center of the world are horrible here people are standing in the street is tears people are panicking [Music] and [Music] oh my [Music] that's [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] on that day many many stories of Bravery of heroism have been recounted one of them which has been recounted but not in the way that you're about to hear it now is the story of a man named Abe of Ramy alwoods with me today on am Israel are Yakov and Ki Z manowitz yakob Jack is the brother of Abe Abe perished in tar 1 in 9911 how he perished and what it stood for in ways that we wouldn't even begin to imagine is what we're about to talk about today with ab's brother Jack or Yakov and his sister-in-law kave what are your thoughts now is reproaching seven years later on the day in which your brother not only had his life taken but in fact really gave up his life for someone else uh it's 7 years as you said it's 7 years and uh it's a mixture of different feelings on one hand the aches have not gone away we think of him every single day and we miss dearly we were very very very close we very close in the family my wife myself and he lived he lived with us for many years and the aches are still live the acts that he showed that uh despicable day of infamy uplifted the hearts and the minds and the attitudes I would say of millions of people throughout the seven years the phone calls the letters the organizations the the uh recognition of this Orthodox Jew befriending a non-jewish quadriplegic man who was helpless in a wheelchair who who somehow made a light for himself on his own right the story is is uh a famous story and we will try to uh Enlighten you on some of the things that not everyone knows about and if you want I will start now from that day let's go back to that day 911 911 you got a phone call you or hobby got got a phone call no I want to go I want to go back before that 9911 7:00 in the morning I was daving by Rabbi halam we were saying SAS my brother usually daved that's for those who don't know the SAS or the prayers to before before the New Year's right and my brother Abe usually trayed in a different synagogue but on this day he decided to come to our synagogue and we prayed together that was unusual that that itself was unusual after we finished the prayers uh he was sitting in a back as he always did he was like to be not noticed as possible he was very very uh quiet in his own way and I was sitting up ahead where my regular seat was every day after we finished the prayers uh I went to the back to say goodbye to him he was going to work from there he had his napsack and uh other things and as we said goodbye to one another we embraced we embraced we hugged each other she was me if I I always get we hugged each other and we wished each other a good day and he went his way to his work and and I went my way did normally each other when never happened never happened never happened especially not in the synagogue something just spontaneously happed spontaneous can can I go back a few days back a few days prior to that what happened on that Sabbath on that Sabbath on that shabas in the afternoon my brother went to a a uh lecture a share uh which was given by the rabbi's son who in his own right was is a big and the subject and the safer was uh the uh balat balat I mean excuse me he gave a year in a balat and believe it or not the chapter that shabas was on Kish Kem meaning sanctification sanctification of a person in relation to to God uhhuh and my brother was was sitting in ature and uh the rabbi was speaking about the subject and my brother in interrupted in the milit sh which was something he never did cuz he was always very quiet he would listen to the shear and he wouldn't usually interfere so this is unusual that he just interrup this just that he interrupted and he asked the question he understands Kish Hashem sanctification of someone to give up his life for godaba yaka the the great the great teachers of that time in the Roman during the Roman Empire he could understand how they would come forth and and do the proper thing but can a normal human being a plain ordinary person how does that person prepare themselves for such a a fact and he got an answer and and the rabbi started to continue on his jussa his speech my brother interrupted a second time say he wasn't happy with the answer and he asked the second time and a third time and Witnesses told me this subsequently when I was sitting shiver cuz I wasn't at that shair and he got his answer on 911 in his act of passion the way he compassionate way the way he acted let's talk about that Ki who who picked up the phone first what what happened who what time did the phone call come in and what was the describe theone the sequence of of events was that Jack would take me to work every morning he drove me to work and I would get there 8:30 qu to 9 and he dropped me off and started on his way home and he had the radio on and he heard that a plane had gone into the one of the Twin Towers didn't know at the time what really were the circumstances and he came home rushed home turned on the TV station I think he only had one TV station at that point that's all the reception we got and he heard what happened and he tried to call a fro he tried to call him at work on his cell phone or on the office phone no office phone he tried to get through seven years ago we didn't know much about cell phones so we called the office phone there was there was uh no answer and I called him he called me and he said no we haven't heard I also tried to call I was at work when I heard what happened I tried to call a r didn't get through a little while later the phone rings and and Jack told me that he heard from a RL RL called and said that he's okay he's with Ed and he's getting ready to leave that was the message that I you know had heard in my own mind and I was happy to hear that we were so relieved I even called getting ready to leave from that's that's what we thought mean from the office he knew that that the building was under attack he didn't know it was under attack he knew knew something had happened but he didn't know C none of us knew at that early on we didn't know that uh it was a terrorist attack we how did he know he had to leave the building what did he he knew that well how he knew was that he I'll just to tell you that after he got the call after Jack got the call a few minutes later I got a call from ABE too I received a phone call and he told me that he was okay he was fine and that uh he was there with with Ed Ed was the who was a par is a quadriplegic he was together with Ed and that Ed had an aid named Irma Irma fulla who was with him all the time because he he just had no use of his hands or or legs his arms and legs but she wasn't there then well she had been up her the usual uh procedure was that she would go up and get breakfast on the 43rd floor cafeteria and that's where she was she was upstairs then getting breakfast and she was higher they were on the 27th floor so there and the side of the building that she was on because because this is the building that was hit the first building was the North Tower she there was water coming down there was a lot of smoke and she was coughing and she was an older woman so she made her way back down because she left Ed alone at that point she didn't want to leave there she came back down and you know so you know explain what was going on up there again they did not know the circumstances cuz we didn't either and uh at that point uh because she was coughing uh AB told her that uh she should leave and tell the people downstairs that they're on they're at staircase 27c let them know this is where we are and she did report that to some rescue workers later on because we spoke to her about it but this was this the circumstances when he called this is what he told me that I'm here with with Ed and I told you know I told Irma that she should go and I'll wait for help with with the Ed and he reassured me that the air was clear where he was they didn't sense that they w an immediate danger and I really don't think I don't know if it was 930 at the point 9:15 I I don't know exactly what time it was I can't recall but you know trying to urge him he said id wants to wait uh for help I said but please let him know you have to get out you have experience with a wheelchair your father was in a wheelchair he used to take him downstairs with with the steps with a wheelchair down a flight of steps with help of course so just reassure him that you're capable may not realize it this is a man in a heavy wheelchair a 280 lb man so it was going to take a lot of help and what was going on at that point was a constant Rush of people going down the stairs but this is the last thing that we heard from him was that he was okay he was breathing fine but that there was a fireman while I was on the phone with him I heard in the background a fireman came to speak to him and he a told me that he had the fireman wants us to move to another area now and that was the last we heard this is this is the last conversation we had the last contact and and the rest we know the rest you know so actually what happened was you're saying that he had befriended this fellow Ed and they developed this relationship friend yes they were very uh very close in fact they uh would go out to eat uh dinner many times of of course it was a glad kosher restaurant and which your brother had but my brother always made sure that the restaurant had Wide Doors because the wheelchair had to be wheelchair accessible so we had you know so it makes course he thought of edba all the time to make sure that he can get in without any problem and and he would they would eat dinner together and joke around a little bit and this was the social life of edba that was basically he relation he had a friendship with friendship with him he he was that type of person warm and caring didn't matter who the person is but are we to understand though that your brother could have gotten out had he not remained behind of course of course all the people there were 1700 1900 employees of of Blue Cross his company and uh how many parish I think nine nine perished and he was and he was on the lowest floor of all the people who were working for Blue Cross Blue Shield and he he could have gone down but he couldn't leave him he couldn't leave him by himself he he couldn't leave him you know we found we found that afterwards uh from a brother of a fireman that there was actually a fireman with them at the time that they knew about these brothers you know they have a the firemen have a Brotherhood and the the this fireman uh Billy Burke Captain Billy Burke uh the brothers wanted to know what happened where their brother was at the time because it turns out that all the men in his engine engine 21 and his company they all made it out now we found out that uh Captain Burke was with them on the 27th floor and he looked out and he saw the first first to collapse saw the South Tower collapse and that at that point he ordered all his men to evacuate and and and they made it out and he said to his men you go and they said you want us to come up and he said no cuz we found out from the survivors was written up and he said no you go and get going I'll meet you at the rig and all the men got out his men he was able to communicate with them they all got out and he said I'm right behind you I'm here with a man in a wheelchair and his friend and uh he got killed with them the three of them got killed together and they were very similar types they were they were all single men two in the 40s uh ab and his 50s all favorite uncles everybody everybody loved these these guys you know their their nieces and nephews as a matter of fact our Abe was Uncle of RL that's how he was known to our children our grandchilden our children's friends all called him Uncle of rmo cuz they were always in our home and he was he was this this kind of guy he told them these these he made up stories for them our nieces and nephews my nieces and nephews who were not related to him called him Uncle of ramble to this day they speak about Uncle of ramble even though he wasn't related to them but uh this is this is uh this is the type of person he was and it turned out we heard the fireman was the same type Ed had a nephew and Ed became a surrogate father to this nephew when when his his uh when Ed brother had passed away brother-in-law and it was uh it was something to sort of like it gave us some kind of feeling a good feeling to know that these three men who were each a hero in his own right I mean the fireman goes without say just by the nature of the occupation it's a heroic one every time they go out they don't know if it's going to be their last time Ed what he did with his life he was 21 years old when he suffered a diving accident at his own birthday party and he was sentenced to a life in a wheelchair took him a good I think six years till he turned his life around cuz it was a terrible adjustment to make and then he went to school became a program and he and Abe always said that he was a very brilliant person wonderful chess player and he was a hero too and AE it just goes without saying and you know his actions that day didn't really Define who he was he lived his entire life that way of of being a caring person a giving person he would do anything for anyone and he was a person who anticipated people's needs even for Ed he he uh Ed was a cigar smoker and a built a cigar stand that he was able to just place the cigar down you know and comes a point you have to you know take it out of your mouth he built him a cigar stand he liked to read ited and a built a book stand for him cuz he had sent away for one that wasn't didn't work properly he built him a bookst he built numerous things in our in our home he he was a master Carpenter so this is this is this car giving person if he saw that you needed something done he didn't wait to be asked and this is how he lived his entire life do you feel that in part let's from a not just the humanitarian perspective which is obvious here but specifically from the perspective of his training in yes Shiva as Jewish values which were inherent in that was there something native to that that you saw manifest in in his behavior prior to that and during that do you think that that was reflective of something that he had in terms of his his own Jewish upbringing I think uh his nature was was a uh he probably he developed it himself he he was very caring about everybody the say that somebody's caring is that's it's a relus term they get he's a lot of people are caring but you know but when somebody cares willing to stay by somebody's side to give up their life that's a lot more than car so that's that's give an example of how he he dealt with your your father you know good idea my father and his uh later years latter years he he was he was uh he could walk around but he you know he was he was old already he was close to 90 then and and my brother was living with us then and my father was living on East 9th Street near Tor vas and he would walk every shabas rain snow 100° out and he would walk not when it was snowing when it was snowing not at 100° not yes 100 oh every shabas unless it was whether no matter what the weather was rain s hot he was there and and he walked to to eat uh the he walked to take him to sh in the morning he he walked from from here and he walked to to East 9th Street and and cortell Road and he would take my father to sh across the street and toas and he would take him back home and he would eat the sudas shabas the the Sabbath meal with him and then he would walk back home here to make sure that he had some Chun my wife's children to make sure that that that she could see that he enjoyed the children also you so this was something that was part and Fiber One time I I got just one more my father was sick in a hospital one time and it was raining like like we had a few days ago it was coming down unbelievable he said he put on his coat he changed his pants he said I'm going to visit daddy in the hospital so how could I not go with he I did the same thing and we walked we got soaked soaked and and B we came back we were okay it sounds like from this story that his actions in a way kind of obligated you he was he was way above me in in in many ways and perhaps many of us in that in perhaps that's one of the things we need to take he was take take an example from and and he's someone uh rabbi halish where we doed he he said he said he was he was a supreme uh human being you know that it's interesting that what you said about you know taking something from this ourselves from what learning from what he did uh in October 2006 we had a um there was a Bill had been a bill was passed a few months earlier allowing us to uh change the name of our street or put an additional Street stre uh sign on it that now it was to be called Apes Al manowitz way our street corner and at the dedication of the street sign we had politicians we had rabbis and one of the rabbis who spoke a good friend of ours RAB zuk he said Rabbi he said that U it was really very fitting that the sign should read because sometimes you would put up uh the name of a person and and Street Lane Avenue Road we we wrote uh 911 hero Abes Abe of Ramel Al manowitz way Abe of RL Al Mano way and he said it's very fitting that the sign should reap way because AB ofo showed us the way that one should conduct his own life his life in both in regard to his treatment his relationship with God and his relationship with his fellow man and that that's exactly how we feel about it that that this is something it's it's there for us to learn from and people all over have have said how reading his of his his action reading his story has inspired them so to to believe in in the goodness of mankind at a time of of of such horror such a Despicable Act of of of hatred and Har to see how that there is such goodness you know in mankind that this is something that he's there his way is there for us to to learn from ABE wasn't married understand left no children but I understand that there is a child in the Z Mano Woods family that does carry his name actually there are two can you tell us about that yeah well what the the timing was really amazing because uh we were first notified in August in August 02 nearly a year after the tragedy that uh the medical examiner's office had identified remains and we were able to make a a burial and Abel always wanted to be buried in Israel and so we were able to quickly put together work arrangements to to have a funeral we had a service here and then we had a funeral in Israel and interestingly he wanted to purchase a plot himself a few years before wasn't able to but he did want at the end of his life to be buried in Israel and we were able to to get a plot for him where his parents were buried and interestingly on Hara Mount of Olives and the plots were the plot that we got where for his burial was adjacent to his parents' burial places it was amazing we didn't know about it until not intentional and not planned before we didn't we but the one who took care was a was a real and that there was there was a plot available there and he arranged he arranged it without telling us it was surprising we had um our our daughter-in-law one of our one of our daughters-in-law was expecting a baby then and the baby was born uh two days before the funeral and a week later at the at the bris circumcision he was named for V and a few months later our daughter gave birth and she also named her son for RMA but it's funny that it was to difficult for them to arel is a a nickname for aam and that was what Abe was known by all the time of RL Uncle of raml they couldn't bring themselves to use that nickname for the kids and so they had a different nickname for of AI and they're both called AI but their name for him their Hebrew names are there was only there was only one of there was only one of R and hopefully that one of R will be a name that uh we'll all remember and uh it will make a difference to each and every one of us and his name will be perpetuated along with all those who perished but in particular the the act of of courage and self-sacrifice is something we'll all be able to take something with us and integrate it into our own lives it's a song that um family member of yours had written and I'd like to go out with this and the last line says what what makes America great what makes America shine so bright are the lights of Justice truth and peace burning through the night he said for them those who perished there's no loving we can't love those who hate there's no peace with those who love war people standing for justice together that's what makes this great Eagle sore and indeed r manowitz and those who perished with him Kem merely for being people who were willing to live for what is just and right their memories will indeed soore there's a cold wind blowing tonight across the land thousands of innocent lives struck down by evil hands and it makes America weep and it makes America cry most of all it makes every good man wonder why there are many who give their lives for the greater good there are some so filled with hate they'd burn it all down if they could but what breaks America's heart are the ones who can tell them apart Justice is where the American dream must always start standing alone against the night standing up for what we know is right oh it makes America weary when good people are forced to [Music] fight [Music] but there are times when we must