OUR COMMUNITY
9-11: 20 YEARS LATER continued from page 17
18 | SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021
the TV screen and nearly 11 hours
after the first plane hit, we finally
saw what the entire world had
already known and seen time and
time again, all while we were just
a few miles away from where it all
happened.
”
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Yoav said: “
After that, everything
changed. I kept a copy of the NY
Times that was placed outside the
door the following
morning. And I did
what every Israeli
does the day after a
terror attack, I went
outside, back on the
streets. And maybe
that is the memory
that burns brightest for me, New
York City itself, the day after. One
of the most vibrant cities in world,
of constant noise, of nonstop
hustle and bustle, suddenly silent,
empty, gloomy — a big cloud of
dust covering the streets and a
strong smell of smoke and devas-
tation.
“I remember walking by the
fire stations, seeing the memorial
candles that were already placed
outside. A city full of grief. It felt
as if I was walking in the streets
of Tel Aviv during Yom Kippur. I
was simply incapable at that time
to even begin to process the mag-
nitude of the historical tragic event
that I was a part of. It was all so
surreal.
“We in Israel, we are used to the
notion of, ‘This could have been
you.
’ Many of us will endure that
sense at least a few times during
our lives here. We get it during
our mandatory Army service,
during the many wars that even
someone my age has already been
through. And it was definitely a
repeating notion during 2001, in
the midst of the Second Intifada.
Back then, ‘It could have been you’
was just a bus ride away, a visit to
a restaurant or a shopping center
or a night out at the bar or at the
dance club.
“
And, so, for me, to suddenly
find myself an ocean away in one
of the liveliest and vibrant cities in
the world and still get hit by the
same notion of ‘this could have
been me,
’ it made my stomach
turn.
”
MEETING THE DETROIT
DELEGATION AT JFK
A few days following the attacks,
while stuck in New York without
any idea of what to do next, Yoav
received a message from Hillel’s
Miriam Starkman that Federation
had arranged a bus to Detroit. He
and his dad joined the Detroit del-
egation at JFK.
“The inspiring and emotion-
al experience of the bus ride
cemented my relationship with
our Detroit Jewish community,
”
said Raban, who is now director of
Grants and Relations in the Israel
& Overseas Department of
Federation. “It made it my bashert
and created one of my most mean-
ingful and important life-changing
and lifelong connections.
“I have been fortunate that
through my connection with the
Detroit Jewish community and
our Partnership Region relation-
ship, that I have had the opportu-
nity to get back to Detroit every
year since 2001 until the recent
COVID crisis, which ended my
consecutive streak at 18 years,
” he
continued.
“
About three years ago, I felt
that I finally got some closure
for my personal journey when I
went back again to visit the new
World Trade Center Tower and
was able to get back on top of the
new observation deck, which now
also serves as a beautiful memorial
tribute.
“I felt more at peace after that,
feeling the strength and spirit of
the human creation and the pas-
sion of life and how it will always
triumph over darkness and the
desire for destruction.
”
Working with the govern-
ment and El Al, whose repu-
tation for security was beyond
reproach, Sherman was able
to secure a plane for Friday
morning. There was an El Al
plane bringing Israelis who
had family that perished in the
towers to New York. Levin was
able to get them on that jet.
“It was quite an under-
taking,” Sherman said. “On
Thursday morning, I told peo-
ple to be ready at a moment’s
notice. I told them at 6 to get
on the bus by 8 p.m. They
spent Thursday night at the
airport, but nobody com-
plained.”
Sherman waited for the sec-
ond plane before leaving Israel.
“Everything happened so fast,”
she said. “I never saw a TV
when I was there — never had
the time. I didn’t see what hap-
pened until I got back.”
Stein was one of the peo-
ple waiting at the airport. “I
promised my wife I would
come home on that first flight,”
he said. “
At one point, Larry
Jackier, who was a fabulous
leader, asked if we were will-
ing to sleep in the airport.
We stayed in the airport for
about 30 hours. I met so many
people I didn’t know. It was as
different a night as I can ever
remember.”
Nineteen of the Detroit
delegation were on that plane,
the first international flight to
arrive in the U.S. after 9-11.
The rest stayed until after
Shabbat.
“When we landed, JFK was
empty,” Jackier said. “You could
still see the smoke.”
Marta Rosenthal said it was
“eerie — kind of spooky. It was
like they had done a spring
cleaning. Jetways were against
the buildings. We were at cus-
toms with the Israeli families. I
asked one of the agents, ‘
Are we
really the first?’ She said abso-
lutely. We hadn’t seen a soul.”
Davidoff said it was like
being in a ghost town. “They
had just started domestic
flights. Should we wait or
drive? We took a vote and
decided we should drive. I
called Federation and told
them we needed a bus, and a
bus appeared.”
They were joined by a young
Israeli from the Partnership
Region and his father, who
were also trying to make their
way to Detroit (see sidebar).
On the drive home, the
bus made a stop at a 7-11 in
Pennsylvania and they bought
bread, candles and vodka and
made Shabbos, Stein said. “It
was so emotional for us to
share a Shabbos after what we
had been through and what we
had seen. It is a lasting memo-
ry for me.”
Davidoff recalls traveling
across the country and seeing
American flags on every single
building.
“We were passing flags on
cornfields,” Kirsbaum recalled.
The delegation arrived home
at 5 a.m., Jackier recalls.
“Like everyone else, the first
thing I did was kiss my fam-
ily.”
continued from page 17
“IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL FOR US TO
SHARE A SHABBOS AFTER WHAT
WE HAD BEEN THROUGH AND
WHAT WE HAD SEEN. ”
— BERT STEIN
Yoav Raban