Jon Reisman
I thoroughly enjoyed a spectacular early September, including crisp morning walks, blue skies, warm sunny afternoons, haunting loon cries at dusk, and moonlit starry skies with an occasional shooting star. I spent almost 50 Septembers on New England college campuses as a student (Colby, Brown, University of Southern Maine) and professor (Bryant, Wheaton, Radcliffe, University of Maine at Machias). In retirement, I relish and appreciate the beauty of autumn in New England, especially unencumbered by scholarly responsibilities. I try to forget that my final Septembers in academia were as an administrator.
September is filled with important dates and events. This year the following are on my mind:
Sept. 2: Wedding
Anniversaries
Ernestine Nancy Ochs married me in South Berwick, Maine, on Sept. 2, 1979. My maternal grandparents were in attendance. It was their 50th anniversary.
Sept. 11: Patriots Day and Rosh Hashanah
2026 Patriots Day marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and Islamic jihad on the United States and the West. The evil and misery of Islamic terror changed America and has put the country on a war footing ever since, with a consequent erosion of trust, transparency, and freedom.
This year, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and the first of two Jewish High Holy Days, falls on Sept. 11 at sundown. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of a 10-day period of introspection, concluding with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the second High Holy Day. I have occasionally wondered how and why it is that non-Jews celebrate the New Year and simultaneously make resolutions for a better life, while my Jewish brethren require ten days of introspection before making resolutions. It’s an interesting and notable cultural difference that should not be hastily and unreflectively dismissed. So put that in your New Year’s basket/pipe and smoke it.
Sept. 16: Ern’s birthday
She would have been 69.
Sept. 17: Constitution Day
Sept. 17, 1787, was the day a struggling new country’s founding fathers agreed to and proposed the U.S. Constitution for consideration and ratification. Frail 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin came out of sweltering Constitution Hall and answered a query about what they had wrought: “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Sage words indeed, and are more relevant than ever.
I made a special effort as a professor and administrator to make Constitution Day an important event, with speakers and forums. I fear that the vast majority of current American academic leadership doesn’t share the love of freedom and country that underlies why we celebrate Constitution Day.
Sept. 20: Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins at sunset on Sept. 20 this year. It is the tenth day of introspection following Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is traditionally marked by fasting, prayer, confession, repentance, and resolution. Three years after the Oct. 7 Hamas/Iranian pogrom amidst metastasizing antisemitism from both the Graham Platner/Hassan Piker Democratic Socialists of America left and the Tucker Carlson/Candace Owens Jew hating right, prayer, repentance, and resolution are essential. The final Yom Kippur Ashkenazi prayer/chant is particularly apt given Trump’s decision on the U.S. embassy to Israel: Next year in Jerusalem.
Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at jreisman@maine.edu.
