OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 15

16 | SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 

Lines were overloaded. When 
we heard about the Pentagon 
attack, the bus pulled off the 
road. As far as we knew, the 
entire country was under attack. 
People were anxious and con-
cerned.
”
Some people wanted to 
end the mission, turn the bus 
around and go home, but 
Jackier insisted they continue 
on to be with “their family in 
the region.
”
Jackier said, “
After the initial 
shock, people from Detroit were 
amazing. We all stuck together. 
We all hugged each other. There 
were no problems after that ini-
tial reaction when we first heard 
it. Everyone was terrific under 
extremely difficult circumstanc-
es.
” 
Kirsbaum said he was glad 
when Jackier said the attacks 
wouldn’t deter the mission. “
All 
the airports were closed so we 
weren’t going back anyway,
” he 
added.
Kirsbaum, who was sitting 
with freelance photographer 
Debbie Hill on the bus, has 
another chilling memory. 
“She told me she had just got 
a message from a colleague in 
the West Bank, who said the 
Palestinians were celebrating 
with gusto, passing out candy to 
children.
“It brought everything home 
to me. This is what Israel had 
been dealing with on a daily 
basis,
” he added. “We were 
hated by the same 
people. We were all 
in the same boat.
”
Meanwhile, Jane 
Sherman, who 
was the national 
chairperson for the 
500-person mis-
sion, was driving 
with the chief of UJC on their 
way to Nazareth Illit. “When 
we heard the news, we turned 

around and headed back 
to Jerusalem,
” she said. “We had 
over 200 people from New York 
on the mission. Amazingly, 
none lost a first-degree relative 
that day.
”
Sherman turned her attention 
to coordinating arrangements 
to take care of the mission- 
goers. “The Israeli government 
was fabulous. They sent in their 
trauma teams to every hotel. 
We arranged to make sure 
people had enough medicine if 
we had to stay longer. We tried 
to keep the mission going and 
provide as much as loving care 
for the group as we could,
” she 
said.
Sherman got on the phone 
and began working with the 
government and El Al Airlines 
to try to get people back home. 

IN METRO DETROIT’S 
PARTNERSHIP REGION
When the Detroiters arrived 
at Migdal HaEmek, there was 
a huge welcoming assembly 
awaiting them. “It felt like the 
entire community had come out 
to support us when the plan had 
been for us to support them,
” 
Davidoff said. “The tables had 
been turned instantly. It was a 
heart-wrenching moment.
”
Stein said of the welcome, 
“We went to console the Israelis, 
and we were being consoled. 
Israeli were hugging us because 
people wanted to hurt America. 

There was a lot of love around 
and a lot of tears.
”
Marta Rosenthal and her 
daughter Rachel headed to a 
friend’s house in the region to 
see if they could contact their 
family back home. “We have 
a unique Partnership Region. 
We’ve become a family. I think 
what was so helpful that day is 
that we were with family. That’s 
how I felt, and I think others 

felt the same way. We felt clearly 
that we were not alone.
”
Rachel recalls watching CNN 
and seeing footage of the events 
at their friend’s house. “We 
couldn’t get through to my sis-
ter by phone, so we tried email,
” 
she said. “Eventually, we got a 
reply saying she was fine.
”
Marta remembers that they 
had planned a huge party 
that night, but then they 

PHOTO BY DEBBIE HILL

TOP: Larry Jackier speaks to the Detroit Group in the lobby of the 
hotel. ABOVE: Bernie Brawer of Franklin, Morris Silverman of 
Farmington Hills and Bert Stein of West Bloomfield marks with youth 
from Detroit’s Partnership region in the Central Galilee at Timrat.

LEFT: Steven 
Posner of 
Southfield, 
Barbara Cantor of 
West Bloomfield 
and David Raben 
of Livonia at a 
memorial service 
for the victims 
of the attack in 
America held at 
the Nofota School 
in Nazareth Illit 
in Israel’s Central 
Galilee.

PHOTO BY DEBBIE HILL

Jane 
Sherman

