Cover Story

MISSION from page 12

up north with our [Partnership

A Long, Happy Flight

2000] family."

All missions begin the same way —
excited participants meeting together
in an airport.
This group began to coalesce
instantly. They found they shared the
same story — friends and family
were worried about them going to
Israel.
Valeri Sirlin of Bloomfield Hills
said family members expressed con-
cern. She expected the trip to be
tense because of the suicide bomb-
ings in Israel, and she heard that
people are afraid to go into restau-
rants and the new shopping districts,
but she was undeterred.
"Tourism is down to nothing, and
I think it's important that they know
they have people standing behind
them," said Sirlin, who was on her
fourth trip to Israel.
Janice Katz of Waterford was one
of seven first-timers to Israel among
the Detroiters. A "gut feeling" com-
pelled her to go.
"It's an adventure of a lifetime,"
she said. "Only one person I know
seemed hesitant about my going, but
I told him, 'I'll put myself in God's
hands,' and you have to."
The excitement and anticipation
increased when the participants board-
ed the plane. They crowded the aisles
to chat, making it nearly impossible
for the flight crew to serve dinner.
They didn't seem to mind.
"It warms my heart to see these
people," said El Al flight manager
Nicolet Georges from Kfar Saba.
"Lately, it seems only the Israeli peo-
ple are flying to Israel, not foreigners.
When we need them, they come."
With an hour to go before landing,
Harry Jubas of Oak Park said his
family wasn't worried about his trip,
and he wasn't nervous either.
"Every big city has crime. I'm safer
in Israel than I am in some of the big
cities [in the United States]," he said.
No one could imagine how
prophetic those words would be.

Franklin's Jane Sherman, national
UJC mission chairperson, could not
believe the amount of support given
by the Israelis.
With 106 participants from New York
attending, she returned to Jerusalem for
some last-minute arranging.
"When we got word what had hap-
pened, we set up a room for the New
Yorkers with a television and we made
a decision at 7 p.m. that we would
meet for dinner and then go to a
briefing.
"I walked into the dining room, and
there were about 200 people there,"
she said. "There wasn't an Israeli that I
know who wasn't in that room." They
had all come to show their support,
Sherman said.
A Federation-sponsored psycho-
trauma hospital for the residents in
besieged Gilo sent two doctors who
were on call 24-hours a day, she said.
"All I can say is that we came over
here to show our solidarity to give
support to the Israeli people, and that
they came out in such force to return
it to us was unbelievable. We use the
slogan 'We are one,' but that night
was truly what 'We are one' stands
for."
Jackier got a similar response.
"I had three mayors from the
Partnership 2000 region come up and
say to me, 'If you can't get home and
you need to stay, we will take care of
you, all 81 of you. We will make
arrangements for you. You can come
up to the region and stay with us until
you can get home."'
The next morning and throughout
the rest of the mission, a listless, over-
wrought and stunned group seemed to
shuffle from one meeting to another.
It was hard to concentrate on what
speakers were saying, but one thing
was clear: Every meeting began with a
large show of support from Israelis.
A short memorial program was wait-
ing for the group on Wednesday
morning, Sept. 12, at the Netofa
School in Nazareth Illit, including a
candle-lighting ceremony, a tree plant-
ing and a short memorial service.
Paula Glazier of Birmingham was
extremely moved.
"We were coming to be one with
the Israelis, and offer our condolences
and solidarity to them, and it's a very
strange feeling having them offering
their condolences to us," she said. "It
was beautiful when the schoolchildren
planted the tree, to make sure that
something is newly created from
tragedy, that life goes on."

9/21
2001

14

Grueling Schedule

Upon landing, Gershon Weiner of
Farmington Hills noticed a difference
in Israel. Every other time, he's seen
planes from all over the world on the
tarmac. But now he noted the num-
ber of planes has greatly diminished.
The first day's schedule was light,
with a stop at Tel Aviv's
Dolphinarium, site of the disco
bombing, and a speech by Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres in the Inbal
Hotel in Jerusalem later that night.

The rest of the trip would be nonstop.
The Detroit delegation would hear
four briefings from governmental
and educational leaders. They would
visit programs and sires sponsored by
the Federation, including two
absorption centers, one Russian and
one Ethiopian.
The two Detroit buses would take
a tour of Gilo, visit the archeological
site at Tzippori, tour an elementary
school and a college, visit a couple of
kibbutzim and spend the night in the
Central Galilee Partnership 2000
region after a solidarity march
all
in four days. And all under the
watchful eye of two rifle-bearing
guards.
Boaz Lech of Bet Yeshuah would
not comment on the mood of the
country or how he felt about any-
thing. He just wanted to do his job
and protect his bus.
Each night from 5-7 p.m., the
Inbal Hotel courtyard became a
shopping bazaar, with most stores
from Ben-Yehuda Street invited to
sell their wares to participants grate-
ful for the safe shopping experience.
"The dream I had since Hebrew
School was to get a dreidl that says 'A
great miracle happened here,' where
at home it says 'A great miracle hap-
pened there,'" said Alan Levenson of
Farmington Hills, a first-timer to
Israel. Another dream was to come to
Israel. "Two wishes have come true
already."
Levana Wadhawkar, district man-
ager of New York-based H. Stern,
appreciated the crowd.
"Business has not been the best,
but I think it's bottomed out. From
here, it can only get better," said
Wadhawkar, whose booth was set up
on the first night, and whose store
was in the hotel lobby. "I thank all
the Jews for being here at this time
for showing solidarity with our coun-
try. We need you now more than
ever, and I am glad they are here."
Jackier relayed a story he heard
after the first night. "We had some-
one who was shopping on Jerusalem's
Ben-Yehudah Street, and the shop-
keeper was so thrilled that when they
walked out of the shop he blew the
shofar. He couldn't say enough in
terms of 'Thank you, I'm so glad
you're here.'"

Strange Trip Home

While most of the Detroit delegation
stayed until Shabbat ended and
arrived home on Sunday, Sept. 16,
19 participants left the Inbal Hotel

at 6 p.m. Thursday for Ben-Gurion
Airport
and uncertainty.
At the rime, New York's John F.
Kennedy Airport was opening and
closing almost every hour, and Jane
Sherman was trying to get a plane-
load of participants home, including
members of the New York delegation
who had lost children in the attack.
Entering a madhouse of stranded
people, a planeload finally boarded
around 6:30 a.m. for the 10 I/2-hour
flight.
As the first international flight
allowed to land in the United States
since the tragic events of Sept. 11,
the El Al plane, from the safest air-
line in the world, quickly taxied to
the gate.
Gershon Weiner, the man who
noticed the low number of planes at
Ben-Gurion four days earlier, now
noticed the completely empty tarmac
and the gates at Kennedy.
Before opening the doors, the El Al
captain thanked the passengers. His
final comment 'was "Shabbat Shalom,
rshanah tovah and God bless
America." Most passengers could not
hold back the tears.
The Federation arranged for a tour
bus to take the group of 21 travelers
to Detroit, including a father and
son from the Partnership 2000
region who were part of the
Birthright Israel program and in New
York during the blast.
The bus left at 1:30 p.m., wove
through light traffic in New Jersey
and hit a construction roadblock in
Pennsylvania.
An impromptu Kabbalat Shabbat
service took place in the parking lot
of the Pit-Stop Restaurant, a
"kosher-friendly" dining establish-
ment near Amish country.
Using scented candles placed on
upturned plastic cups, the prayers
were made. Vodka replaced wine as
the Kiddush was made.
To this group, who had spent four
days constantly adapting to extreme-
ly emotional situations, the Shabbat
service seemed to match the rest of
the trip.
At 3 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15,
after 44 hours of standing in line,
sitting in a chair or lying on a floor,
19 travel-weary veterans took their
luggage and boarded vans to get to
their cars parked at Detroit
Metropolitan Airport.
Those who had cars at the airport
offered to drive others home. The
country had changed while they were
gone, and who better to take you
home than your travel partner.

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