Mark Rothenberg, Victim on Flight 93

Mark Rothenberg was a victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was on flight 93, and, according to one report, was knifed as the terrorists approached the cockpit of the plane to take it over.

According to this biography, published in the Post Gazette, he was an outgoing businessman and a devoted son and father. He grew up in Brooklyn, where his father ran a glass manufacturing business, and he took over the business after college.  Later he sold the business and started a new one. He was an outgoing person who worked very hard and was attached to his family, “living on the phone” with his wife, daughters, and mother.

A scholarship in his memory is being given to children of 9/11 victims by his alma mater, the Franklin and Marshall College.

I can’t help but reflect that his story is so typically Jewish. He was a successful businessman with strong family ties, both to his parents and to his children. We will never know the real story about what happened on the flight, as the details are sketchy, but I can’t help thinking that with his recognizably Jewish name, and his outgoing personality, that it wasn’t a coincidence that he was one of the first victims on the plane.

His memory should be a blessing, both to his family and to us all.

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