Community Interfaith Gathering Focuses on Healing

Silence descended upon the auditorium in the Jewish Community Center in Allentown Sunday as Matin Moosa, a Muslim, rose to speak.  

Those who had gathered there had "Come Together in Hope," the theme of the interfaith community event on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Moosa, who now lives in Allentown, was working on the 78^th floor of the North Tower in the World Trade Center when the terrorists attacked. That fateful morning, he said, he went down to a cafeteria on the 44^th floor for breakfast with two friends from work, one a Christian and the other Hindu.

They heard a loud blast, and the building shook and swayed.

Moosa and his friends began going down the stairs. They saw firefighters when they reached the 14^th floor.

“I will never forget the faces of these brave souls,” he said.

Once outside, Moosa joined many who were looking up at the building because “you could not take your eyes off of it.” Eventually, he went farther away, he said, and when he looked back, “All we saw was a massive cloud where one of the towers had stood.”

Despite the destruction and panic in the streets, Moosa said, “I also witnessed the best of humanity come together.”

People congregated around food stands and parked cabs, he said. “They were all comforting each other.”

Moosa was persuaded to speak by the Rev. Christine Nelson of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches, one of seven faith organizations that sponsored the .

Nearly 600 people came together Sunday to continue the healing process and honor those who lost their lives. The faith organizations that participated were nearly the same ones who participated in a gathering soon after Sept. 11, 2001 – also in the Jewish Community Center.

It was a more somber time, Nelson told the audience Sunday.

“We were concerned about what might happen, not just in our nation but also the world … From that day, we began to plan more dialogues, to create more understanding.”

The interfaith gathering included readings by representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. Music was provided by The Muhlenberg Gospel Choir, the Jewish Community Choir, the adult choir of St. Ann Catholic Church in Emmaus, a duo from the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem, and a flute solo by Muhammed Essiz.

Prior to the gathering, Paul Frary and his wife, Donalee, of South Whitehall, members of the Asbury United Methodist Church in the township, explained why they attended.

“We live in a country with free religion, and it’s important to be able to honor each other's beliefs,” Donalee Frary said.

“It brings us all together, regardless of our approach to God,” Paul Frary said. “It’s a healing, peaceful thing for me.”