As we continue to watch with hope and cautious optimism the ongoing peace negotiations, today we spotlight a member of our community who has demonstrated inspiring resiliency both in her personal life and in the aftermath of the savage October 7, 2023, terror attack.
Florina Altshiler didn’t know she was Jewish until her family arrived in the United States as refugees from the Soviet Union. Her parents and her grandparents kept their family’s identity a secret to protect themselves and their daughter from persecution. It was only after they arrived safely on U.S. soil that Florina learned she was Jewish — that both sides of her family were Jewish, going back generations.
As Florina grew up and years passed, she knew that she was Jewish by birth, ancestry, and culture, but she didn’t have a community to help strengthen her identity. When she first moved to Buffalo, Florina had peripheral experiences with Jewish community, sometimes engaging with the former Nickel City Jews, today known as NEXTGen. Eventually, she became mother to a beautiful boy and wondered: What could she do differently for him? So in 2023, Florina applied to Momentum -the international organization that empowers mothers raising Jewish children to visit Israel- to learn more about herself and then be in a better place to teach him about what it means to be Jewish.
Here in Western New York, the Buffalo Jewish Federation orchestrates the local Momentum program that include two previous trips. Florina’s intended to depart in mid-October 2023 and was canceled shortly after the Hamas terror attacks. “I was disappointed that the trip was canceled, but I was really happy that the group in the many months that followed still got together and maintained that connection,” Florina said, hopeful that some of those friendships remain.
Now, Florina will be the first member of that 2023 canceled Momentum cohort to travel with the new 2025 Momentum group, leaving next month, the first group to go since October 7.
As for the terror attacks, Florina admits she felt largely desensitized until recently. A well read and educated woman, Florina was well aware of the many times Israel had been at war before. What was different to her this time was its duration and how the war, the ceasefire, and now the fragile peace negotiations have brought to the forefront of the world a complicated situation.
“It’s important not to forget that even though this may feel like a new normal, it’s not normal, and we shouldn’t forget what’s going on,” Florina said, at this time when many Jews are skeptical of long-lasting peace. “We need a resolution, and hopefully people smarter than us will reach that soon.”
Florina’s rich background of lived experience and volunteerism inspires hope. She has done relocation and refugee work before and believes in the resiliency of humans. She feels strongly that it is important to be resilient, have hope, and carry on.
Today, Florina is a successful trial attorney and partner with the New York City law firm, Russo & Gould. She manages its Western New York branch, which handles civil defense litigation matters and criminal defense litigation. She subscribes to PJ Library for her son and attends Jewish Buffalo events when time allows to intentionally have touch points for her and her son to enjoy Judaism. He will be 8 in January. Next up for Florina – a long-awaited visit to Israel.
