NOVEMBER 23 • 2023 | 17

Federation and everyone 
who worked on this trip. 
It was an amazing, first-
class effort and we ended 
up with a meaningful, 
memorable experience. 
As we all know, God runs 
the world. Everything 
happens for a reason. 
The only way they win 
is through petty and 
cowardly acts, as we saw 
on Oct. 7.”
Brandon Epstein of 
Birmingham, 
who has been 
helping a friend 
collect and ship 
needed items 
to Israel, was 
disappointed 
but not 
discouraged.
“I feel like I’m a part of 
something even though 
we didn’t get there … 
The real story was about 
the patience, persistence 
and kindness of the 
Detroit Jewish community. 
The way we treated 
our airline crew and the 
failed bus drivers, the 
way we celebrated on 
the tarmac, and the way 
we spoke and treated 
each other despite all the 

hatred outside. We were 
a microcosm of the entire 
Jewish people in that we 
all pulled together.”
He wasn’t the only one. 
“I was so proud of us, 
and it was an honor to 
stand with Israel, even if it 
was only from the tarmac 
at Dulles airport,” Lauren 
Dembs Lesson of West 
Bloomfield wrote in a 
Facebook post. 
“The whole experience 
actually felt like a meta-
phor for the plight of 
Jews throughout history 
… People try to stop us, 
deter us, thwart us and, 
from these experiences, 
we only get clearer, more 
cohesive, stronger … 
What a day. I love this 
community. Am Yisrael 
Chai.”
And what about Evan 
Bronstein, who was ready 
to stand for Israel but 
never got to step foot on 
the Mall? 
“It was disappointing, 
but I think it was worth 
it,” he said. “We didn’t get 
there because of the bus 
drivers, not us. It’s more 
about the journey, not the 
destination.” 

Brandon 
Epstein 

JOHN HARDWICK/JFMD

LEFT: They tried to stop 
them, but passengers still 
showed their support for 
Israel on the plane. 
BELOW: Minchah in the 
sunshine on the tarmac 
at Dulles International 
Airport. Federation 
provided a festive 
dinner with food and 
entertainment for purple 
plane passengers returning 
to Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek to pick up their cars. 
 

DON COHEN
DON COHEN

