Praying Jew Causes Emergency Landing
"Passengers disturbed by another passenger's actions led to a US Airways flight from La Guardia Airport to Louisville being diverted to Philadelphia this morning." TERROR IN THE SKIES! The 17-year-old passenger was, it turns out, praying. "An officer said the passenger was 'wearing a device on his head' that had straps hanging from it." So yeah: "disruptive passenger," praying teen, whatever.
There wasn't a SINGLE person on a plane from LA GUARDIA that knew what an Orthodox Jew looked like!?
He was flying to Kentucky.
I saw that I figured, you know, at least ONE.
*shrugs Jewishly
Lexington, maybe, but perhaps not Louisville.
Weirdly*, the frummiest flight that I am on regularly is LGA to Akron. Akron!
*Maybe not weird at all!
I fly into Akron often (much cheaper than Cleveland) and can confirm this to be my experience as well.
(Also, I do embarrassingly admit to confusing some Orthodox Jews for Amish because they had cardboard suitcases which, upon further reflection, made no sense either way)
"Cardboard suitcase" almost certainly = "hat box."
They packed lightly!
But maybe he was praying for the plane to crash.
Or maybe he was praying for the plane NOT to crash. Did you ever think about that? Hmmm?
Maybe he was praying that they would have to make an emergency landing.
Silly you, he was praying to the wrong God so that makes him a terrorist.
Well he was praying to right god but he forgot to pray to baby Jesus. Also baby Jesus never makes us wear funny hats. Catholics have to wear funny hats but that's because they pray to creepy dead Jesus.
And Mary!
True, but I've actually met evangelicals who say the Jewish god is different from the Christian god.
Tuna: But then there would've been NO REASON to divert the plane.
This reminds me of the time I threw a bible at the co-pilot.
To be fair, if he had to make an 8 o'clock flight, he would not have been able to say the morning prayers at the proper time at the synagogue (sunrise being at around 7:15 am). Still, if he had arrived at the airport early enough, he'd have been able to say them in the terminal. Many Orthodox Jews do this.
Also, there is no halachic obligation to don tefillin in the morning, even though that is the custom for most people. He could've waited until he got to Louisville and done it there.
But, as others have suggested, this seems unprecedented. It is strange that people flying out of New York would have suspected an Orthodox Jew of planning to bomb the plane, or what have you.
Also, for what it's worth, archaeological evidence has shown that the basic design of the tefillin (or phylacteries) has remained unchanged since at least the time of the Second Temple.
I was on an international flight during which a group of Orthodox Jews insisted on standing, rocking and almost jumping while reciting prayers in a circular formation near the exit, despite being told by several crew members that this was not allowed. I fully support the right of all to believe in/practice whatever it is that does it for them–and Lord knows the smallest turbulence can reduce even the likes of me to prayer– but when we're all on board together? Sit the hell down in your seat and do it silently, along with the rest of us.
Are you sure you're not just remembering a Hasidic telethon on public access?
Yup!
@gregorg: Okay, perhaps they were Hasidim. Right church, wrong pew–but point stands.
If the flight was long enough to pass through one of the three times of daily prayer, then they would have had to pray at some point on the plane. If there were ten men, then they would have been remiss not to pray together as a minyan. There is, however, no reason to make a ton of noise and movement.
I don't know much about it, but my understanding is that these questions are complicated for religious Jews: that is, what do when Jewish law (halacha) conflicts with the law of the land. I think it depends on the seriousness of the halacha in question and the ramifications of breaking or obeying the law of the land. In this case, the crew may have been irritated, and people may been annoyed, but, in the balance of things, for them the minyan may have been more important, to the extent that they would have to accept the consequences of remaining in place and completing the prayers.
Rocking back and forth while studying or praying is called "shuckling." There are different historical sources that refer to it, different explanations of its purpose. (I read somewhere that the earliest reference to it was in a bit of ancient poetry in Arabic comparing a flickering flame to a praying Jew. Neat! But I can't recall the source.)
Different people shuckle differently. There is no need to do so loudly or violently; certainly, there is no need to it at all, if it is causing a disturbance. I think there are a lot of Hasidic groups that cling to their customs as though they were law, as though you can only pray loudly and with a lot of movement. It is simply not the case: they could have fulfilled their halachic obligations in a manner that would have been quieter, less disturbing, and possibly without bringing upon themselves (and therefore all Jews) the censure of the crew and those around them.
An elegant and informative reply– not that my own deserved such. Thanks for the lesson. Just one quibble…
In this case, the crew may have been irritated, and people may been annoyed, but, in the balance of things, for them the minyan may have been more important, to the extent that they would have to accept the consequences of remaining in place and completing the prayers.
No doubt. Still! No passenger has the right the jeopardize the safety of another, whatever the consequences with respect to their religious beliefs. A group of people in motion near an exit is surely ill-advised. And–let's be honest here– these days, a group of people praying in a foreign language mid-flight as described might as well book their tickets under the last name "Incident". If this is so vital to one's religious beliefs, perhaps religious groups would do well to charter planes.
And also, while they're at it, why don't these "groups of religious people speaking in a different language" just ride in the back of the bus, so as to make us all feel more comfortable? Is that what you mean?
@iplaudius
A lot depends on whether they were shuckling or jiveling.
@ShiveryMcPickles: Not at all what I wrote. "Praying in a foreign language mid-flight as described," i.e. while rocking and jumping near an emergency exit.
Your knee jerk response is overly reductive and completely ridiculous. People can practice whatever religion they like– no one being better than another–as long as it's not at the expense of others' safety. No onehas that right.
@TerseNursePornstein, of course my mostly sarcastic, knee-jerk reaction was ridiculous and overly reductive. As, I feel, was your response to the act of davening, which I've never seen described quite so violently.
When you think about it, people do a lot more dangerous things in planes, like film movies. And have unprotected sex in lavatories.
@Shivery.McPickles: I described what I witnessed accurately and dispassionately. I imagine that the travelers I described belonged to one of " a lot of Hasidic groups that cling to their customs as though they were law, as though you can only pray loudly and with a lot of movement," per iplaudius. More exception than rule, as you know, but it happens/happened. I have no reason to report otherwise.
The davening was objectionable not because it was religious, performed forcefully and in a foreign language, but because it was done mid-flight, in an off-limits area and with blatant disregard for the flight crew's instructions, to say little of the welfare of those on board. Not okay! Never okay!
I'm not qualified to debate what is or isn't safe to do while in the air–like my fellow passengers!–and will forego a discussion on the relative safety of filming and unprotected sex. (Though if you want to discuss iplaudius' excellent point about censure, I'm game.)
But they arrested the Sikh cab driver who came to pick him up.
It would have been fine if he'd been carrying one of them fancy guns with the Jesus sayings engraved on the scope. Then we would have known for sure he was a real American.
…all other travelers on the 50-seat regional jet have deplaned and are being rebooked on other flights.
If I were on that plane I would be so fucking FURIOUS at whatever dumbass freaked out.
If you see something, say something.
Phylactery will get you nowhere.
Zing!
Could have been worse. He could have tried doing it when he got to Louisville.
Hilarious. I can't wait until a Mormon gets cavity-searched for wearing his special magic underwear. And then the mackerel-snappers, with their spooky crucifixes–METAL! With sharp edges!
Is anti-Catholicism still a thing? Apparently, I gotta get out more.
It never really went away; especially in the South.
Catholics, Jews, Blacks = Holy Trinity of Hate.
Hired: True–when will they stop hating everyone :) (that's my first one of those EVER).
The Gays are a given.
What's next? Someone insisting to see the Captain and greeting the crew with a Vulcan salute.
Public displays of religious faith should be illegal.
Disruptive mythology will not be tolerated!
There is a second-hand danger from tribal rituals.
I'd love to see what would happen if some dude set up a Vodou altar on a flight.