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