After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade centers, he
began working on a mural to commemorate the event. Just in time for the
first anniversary of the event, the mural was printed on a huge banner,
with the quote "The human spirit is not measured by the size of the
act, but by the size of the heart." It was hung from a nearby building
where it was clearly visible from Ground Zero for over a year. Yakov
financed the banner with $100,000 of his own money, but kept his
donation anonymous, for fear that people would see it as a joke because
of his reputation as a comedian.
