‘I feel helpless’: Women were headed to Israel for trip of lifetime. Now, they wait, wonder and worry

By Debadrita Sur

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    BUFFALO, New York (The Buffalo News) — Erica Brecher knows the story of how her great-grandmother was planning to go to Israel in 1973, but that plan was disrupted by the Yom Kippur War.

Fifty years later, history repeated itself, not only for Brecher, but for dozens of Jewish women who were planning their own pilgrimage.

Ten Western New York women who were selected to take an eight-day trip to Israel instead have watched scenes of horror unfold following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

The attack happened two weeks before their planned departure.

“I feel like we are privileged and lucky to be safe,” said attorney Florina Altshiler of Orchard Park, one of the 10 who were scheduled to make the trip.

The excursion was sponsored by the Buffalo Jewish Federation, in collaboration with the group “Momentum” – formerly “Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project” – which describes itself as “a global movement focused on the greatest influencer – the Jewish mother.” The trip is meant to help Jewish women get in touch with their roots and culture.

For Brecher, a former reporter for WIVB-TV who is now a marketing coordinator for Excelsior Orthopaedics, the trip was supposed to be a “second chance” to not only visit Israel, but also form a meaningful community with fellow Jewish mothers in Buffalo.

“I hope that peace is restored to everybody who is being affected by this,” Brecher said. “I hope that in the future I will still have my chance to go, along with the local women who were also so looking forward to this trip.”

Altshler and her family emigrated to New York City in the 1980s as refugees from the former Soviet Union. As a child, she did not know anything about her heritage.

“When we came to America as refugees, that was the first time that I learned that we were Jewish,” she said.

Since the attacks, Altshiler has been in constant communication with her family. Relatives in Israel have told her that restaurants remain closed, and they can hear explosions and rockets.

For her, the attack is bringing back memories of the days after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

“It just feels like we go from one trauma to another in different areas, geographically,” she said. “It’s a story when it breaks, and then there’s fatigue. And a couple of weeks later, we forget that there’s people still being massacred.”

The Momentum Buffalo group was supposed to leave Oct. 23 to meet in Tel Aviv, said Zahava Fried, one of the staff members at the Buffalo Jewish Federation, who was also a participant on the trip. They would then meet dozens of other mothers from different parts of the world and journey through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Tzfat in buses of 30. The Western New Yorkers would then continue to meet for a year after the trip to discuss Jewish learning and how they are imparting values to their children.

News about the attacks trickled in over the weekend, but it was not until late Tuesday that the group received a notification about the status of the trip, Fried said.

The trip is subject to rescheduling, and the women are hopeful for a fall 2024 reunion. The group continues to meet to extend emotional support to each other. Most people have friends and family in Israel, and they said their hearts bleed for those caught in the crossfire.

Fried was in Israel in 2014 during fighting. She easily recalled the terror of hearing sirens and having to run to bomb shelters for protection.

“The type of trauma and stress … that is difficult to put into words,” she said.

Fried’s brother-in-law, who just finished mandatory army service in Israel, was vacationing in the United States with her and her family when the attack occurred. He flew back to Israel on Wednesday morning to serve reserve duty.

Marni Marciano sighed in relief as she told The Buffalo News that her husband was in Israel until Oct. 6, but he reached home before the attacks. His colleagues, however, are stuck in the fray.

She has had to explain to her 4-four-year-old twins why her trip has been canceled and why police are guarding synagogues and the Sunday School they attend.

“I feel helpless,” she said.

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