Teen's Jewish Ritual Diverts Flight

[RWC130 594]

Teen's Jewish ritual diverts flight

By Jonathan Bandler

jbandler@lohud.com

January 22, 2010

A flight from New York to Louisville was diverted to Philadelphia on Thursday when the flight crew got nervous after a 17-year-old Orthodox Jew from White Plains donned a pair of tefillin while reciting morning prayers.

The incident drew a bomb squad to the plane when it landed, but it was determined to be a misunderstanding.

The tefillin, or phylacteries, are two small black boxes containing biblical passages and attached to leather straps. One box is placed on the hairline, the other on the upper arm. The straps on the arm box are then wrapped down the arm and around the hand.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20101220347

[PoqFFEMT 6]

I just read the story in my local paper as well. While I do understand the flight crew having to take any and all precautions, I believe that if the crew had received some sort of diversity training (IE: some sort of cultural differences training) this could have been avoided even if the aircrew

"did not receive a clear response"

from the passenger. Yes in these times I understand that we all have to be aware of the few that want to bring chaos, injury, and death to some... But this did go a little far.

In the military now, we are all required annual training on cultural and religious differences so we can try to identify someone practicing their religion VS. a fanatic trying to cause problems.

[ny10570 745]

I'm sorry, but you have to be aware of your surroundings at times. While he is absolutely allowed to practice his religion, a little heads up to a stewardess that he's about to do something she may be unfamiliar with would have gone a long way.

[weaselff 6]

I have lived my entire life in the nyc area and I have never seen a "Tefillin" in my life. If a guy like me who grew up in an area with more Jews than anywhere outside Israel doesn't know what they are, how is a 25 year old stewardess from Kansas with a junior college degree and an 8 hour course in diversity gonna know what they are?

I just read the story in my local paper as well. While I do understand the flight crew having to take any and all precautions, I believe that if the crew had received some sort of diversity training (IE: some sort of cultural differences training) this could have been avoided even if the aircrew from the passenger. Yes in these times I understand that we all have to be aware of the few that want to bring chaos, injury, and death to some... But this did go a little far.

In the military now, we are all required annual training on cultural and religious differences so we can try to identify someone practicing their religion VS. a fanatic trying to cause problems.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I have lived my entire life in the nyc area and I have never seen a "Tefillin" in my life. If a guy like me who grew up in an area with more Jews than anywhere outside Israel doesn't know what they are, how is a 25 year old stewardess from Kansas with a junior college degree and an 8 hour course in diversity gonna know what they are?

Because she should be trained to recognized threats....not overt signs faith.

If this was some Christian with a bible and rosary beads this would not have happened. It is quite obvious that this occurred due to complete and total ignorance on the part of the flight staff.

It should not matter if you have never seen "Tefillin" before, you should know, as a representative of you employer and in this case the airline you should be aware of what poses a threat and what does not. A 17 year old kid praying with his sister would only be a threat to atheism and the paranoid, witch hunting society we live in today.

With incidents like these we prove that the terrorists have won, their goal is to interrupt our daily lives and fight within ourselves to eventually weaken us.....and that it has....

Edited January 22, 2010 by bvfdjc316

[jack10562 414]

If this individual who caused the "confusion" had chosen to conduct his morning prayer ritual in the privacy of his home or hotel room, rather than in the confines of an in-flight jet aircraft, there would not have been an episode. The excuse that it is commonly seen on flights to and from Israel has no bearing.

[PEMO3 523]

I have to disagree with a lot of the comments supporting the youths actions and condemning the airline. I worked in NYC my entire career including Borough Park, Brooklyn, one of the most Orthodox areas in the city and never came across this practice. This aside remember the terrorist chant their prayers also prior to "self sacrifice" so the fact that the boy was "praying" is not a sole comforting factor for the flight crew. For this crew could have mistaken this to be his preparation for a terrorist act against the plane. It was said he was traveling with his "sister". How did they know that for a fact, could it have been an accomplice, remember there is a female terrorist on trial as we speak. While we are all entitled to our personal opinions remember when we second guess people for acting it will only cause inaction which will lead to larger problems. While people got delayed and a young man got an education into the fact that the entire world is not as familiar with his religion as he thought, in the end the all arrived at their final destination safely and yes now the world has been educated and also now knows what a phylactery or Hebrew tefillin is.

[EMSer 15]

Because she should be trained to recognized threats....not overt signs faith.

If this was some Christian with a bible and rosary beads this would not have happened. It is quite obvious that this occurred due to complete and total ignorance on the part of the flight staff.

It should not matter if you have never seen "Tefillin" before, you should know, as a representative of you employer and in this case the airline you should be aware of what poses a threat and what does not. A 17 year old kid praying with his sister would only be a threat to atheism and the paranoid, witch hunting society we live in today.

With incidents like these we prove that the terrorists have won, their goal is to interrupt our daily lives and fight within ourselves to eventually weaken us.....and that it has....

well said, although Christians don't use rosary beads, that's the Catholics

[T. John 21]

I was at an airport about 3 months ago and witnessed someone doing the same thing. Needless to say, it was a little disconcerting not knowing exactly what the person was doing. After a quick Google search, I figured out exactly what it was the person was doing. It did cause a bit of a stir among the passengers in the terminal but no one said or did anything. Having had over 10 years of Catholic education, I don't recall ever hearing about this prayer method. Having witnessed it firsthand, it is quite an intense thing to watch. I can understand their concern.

[ex-commish 490]

If this individual who caused the "confusion" had chosen to conduct his morning prayer ritual in the privacy of his home or hotel room, rather than in the confines of an in-flight jet aircraft, there would not have been an episode. The excuse that it is commonly seen on flights to and from Israel has no bearing.

I agree. The kid should of used his head knowing the history of terrorism and airlines.

[tunaFish 0]

well said, although Christians don't use rosary beads, that's the Catholics

Okay, I lived most of my childhood in the Bronx. I lived next to a private house which there were Orthodox Jews and a school for the children.

I myself have never seen or heard of a Tefillin. I can see how it would raise eyebrows in an airport terminal.

I can't imagine having personnel of airlines being trained in all religious cultures and to know what to look for. I don't think this is being insensitive. Perhaps, the members of the young man's community ( rabbi) should have spoken to the religious group in light of everything that is going on and let them know what could happen while wearing this in public, mostly in air travel. This way, people would be better informed and perhaps the young man could have told the person at the ticket counter, what he was wearing and why and word would have been passed along.

While no one should be prevented from saying their prayers in a public place, perhaps this all could have been avoided.

On another note, concerning Rosary beads, MANY religions use Prayer beads, such as Muslims, Anglicans, Hindus and people of Buddhism or Judaism faiths. Re:http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/prayer_beads/

Just a tid bit of info.

[abaduck 123]

If this individual who caused the "confusion" had chosen to conduct his morning prayer ritual in the privacy of his home or hotel room, rather than in the confines of an in-flight jet aircraft, there would not have been an episode. The excuse that it is commonly seen on flights to and from Israel has no bearing.

As I understand it, Orthodox Jews are supposed to pray at specific times, and would think nothing of praying on an aircraft if it that's where they happen to be at the required time. So nope, he couldn't pray at home or in a hotel room; I'm not about to tell anyone when, where or how to pray and frankly neither should you IMHO. No 'excuse' for praying required.

I've seen Jewish prayers done on aircraft myself, and I knew exactly what they were talking about as soon as Tefillin were mentioned. And I'm Scottish, raised with no exposure to Jewish culture whatever, only been in and around NYC for ten years. I'm pretty surprised that no-one on a flight crew operating out of New York understood what was going on. As to whether or not the diversion and investigation was an over-reaction or not... I wasn't there. I'm not going to Monday morning quarterback the flight crew!

Edited January 22, 2010 by abaduck

[ckroll 101]

On another note, concerning Rosary beads, MANY religions use Prayer beads, such as Muslims, Anglicans, Hindus and people of Buddhism or Judaism faiths. Re:http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/prayer_beads/

Just a tid bit of info.

Great topic. Yes, use of strung beads to count repetitions of a prayer or mantra are found in lots of belief systems. And I might add that atheists and atheism do not feel "threatened" by prayer, for reasons that ought to be obvious. That said, what this does bring out is that unless one practices a religion or belief system, then one probably doesn't know much about it. We could all use to educate ourselves on this.

A couple of things don't make sense to me. The tefellin made it through security, right? So even a cautious flight attendant might have considered that it might be harmless.

And landing in Philadelphia made more sense than landing in Louisville why? So the plane could be disabled over one of the largest cities on the east coast instead of over a horse farm?

If the stewardess did not know what it was, did not one of the passengers recognize it and could not that person have spoken up?

It seems that the opportunities to get this situation back on the tracks were many.

It also brings up the great debate over the place of religion in a secular society. Those things we call freedoms also have limits or responsibilities attached to them. Freedom of speech is the freedom to have a thought and to say it out loud. One still might expect to be escorted out of a movie theatre if one chose to exercise that right in the middle of a film.

Religion may have obvious limitations as well. If one felt the compelling need to slaughter a chicken in business class because it was a part of their religion.... well it's not going to happen. Nor will a tree hugger get to bring with them their lucky shrub. My experiences have been that if one lets an airline know in advance that they need some special consideration during flight, that efforts will be made to accomodate the passenger.

What happened here was an unlucky set of circumstances where someone different looking did something different, and did it in a plane. And given the world in which we live, everyone's neck hair stands up, or ought to. In a sealed metal tube 30,000 feet up, one can't just ask the person to take it outside.

I don't know what the right answer is here. If the need to carry small black boxes while reciting prayers is that important, a greyhound bus might be a better option for travel. Religious freedom may need to be weighed against the discomfort caused to the other passengers. And that said, 'I don't like it, you can't do it' is a sentiment that a free country cannot even consider.

[tunaFish 0]

Great topic. Yes, use of strung beads to count repetitions of a prayer or mantra are found in lots of belief systems. And I might add that atheists and atheism do not feel "threatened" by prayer, for reasons that ought to be obvious. That said, what this does bring out is that unless one practices a religion or belief system, then one probably doesn't know much about it. We could all use to educate ourselves on this.

A couple of things don't make sense to me. The tefellin made it through security, right? So even a cautious flight attendant might have considered that it might be harmless.

And landing in Philadelphia made more sense than landing in Louisville why? So the plane could be disabled over one of the largest cities on the east coast instead of over a horse farm?

If the stewardess did not know what it was, did not one of the passengers recognize it and could not that person have spoken up?

I also think that this is a great topic!

It is a nice civil discussion, with pro's and con's and no finger pointing. Stuff we need more of on here!

It seems that the opportunities to get this situation back on the tracks were many.

It also brings up the great debate over the place of religion in a secular society. Those things we call freedoms also have limits or responsibilities attached to them. Freedom of speech is the freedom to have a thought and to say it out loud. One still might expect to be escorted out of a movie theatre if one chose to exercise that right in the middle of a film.

Religion may have obvious limitations as well. If one felt the compelling need to slaughter a chicken in business class because it was a part of their religion.... well it's not going to happen. Nor will a tree hugger get to bring with them their lucky shrub. My experiences have been that if one lets an airline know in advance that they need some special consideration during flight, that efforts will be made to accomodate the passenger.

What happened here was an unlucky set of circumstances where someone different looking did something different, and did it in a plane. And given the world in which we live, everyone's neck hair stands up, or ought to. In a sealed metal tube 30,000 feet up, one can't just ask the person to take it outside.

I don't know what the right answer is here. If the need to carry small black boxes while reciting prayers is that important, a greyhound bus might be a better option for travel. Religious freedom may need to be weighed against the discomfort caused to the other passengers. And that said, 'I don't like it, you can't do it' is a sentiment that a free country cannot even consider.

[Mark Z 18]

well said, although Christians don't use rosary beads, that's the Catholics

When did Catholics stop being Christians!

[PEMO3 523]

A couple of things don't make sense to me. The tefellin made it through security, right? So even a cautious flight attendant might have considered that it might be harmless.

ckroll I do not understand the point you are making here. If you remember clearly both the shoe bomber and the "crotch" bomber made it through security also but that did not mean that they were not armed with potentially lethal devices. Considering past history a "cautious" flight attendant would do just what they did - assume another potential device made it through regardless of the story they were presented. Remember what they are drilling into everyone's head - if you see sometime, say something. I would rather be cautious and alive.

[tunaFish 0]

When did Catholics stop being Christians!

I missed that one!

[ckroll 101]

I missed that one!

Catholicism is a subset of Christianity. Not all Christians are Catholics. Logic 101.

See something, say something is a valid argument. If I had been a flight attendant, I might have done the same thing. That said, every laptop is a black box with wires and those are allowed because we are comfortable with that. Ignorance of or discomfort with prayer rituals is not sufficient reason to abort a flight. If flights were canceled every time something looked 'funny' we'd all be taking greyhound buses. This is what makes this such an interesting topic.

Prayer is deeply personal. Is it appropriate to do it in public? If the answer is no, it is not, then 'God' needs to come out of the pledge of allegiance. If public prayer is acceptable, then this 17 year old was within his rights. He might also have saved his fellow passengers some anxiety and grief by telling the attendant what he needed to do and asking to be accommodated.

[AFS1970 504]

I have seen this practice often, but only in the last 5 or so years while working at various Jewish religious sites. It is not confined to a specific group of Jews, as I have seen this at some but not all Orthodox services as well as some Conservative services. From a couple of times I have been around people using this form of prayer, I know they generally will not respond until the prayer is over, so that may be why there was no clear response from the teen.

A little common courtesy might be needed here, in that if you are going to fulfill a religious requirement while in a crowded place with those of other faiths and there is no opportunity to find a quite secluded space, maybe at least say something to the passengers nearby, so they do not get concerned. Will it help? I do not know. Should it be required? No, but it would be the decent thing to do, although there is nothing stopping a terrorist from using the same line when he is about to pray before blowing up the plane.

Oh, and as for not allowing the ritual slaughter of a chicken in business class, that is only because the airlines have long had a rule against anything resembling actual edible food being allowed on board.

[Anesti 329]

When does leather straps look like metal wires, but anyway maybe the kid was afraid of flying and thought and need some spiritual intervention to make it through, i dont blame him i havent flown in over 10 years and i dont plan on anytime soon. Although i wont go as far as saying he or she was right/wrong, if i was the kid i would have alerted the airlines and the flight crew before i gotten on the flight.

[SageVigiles 1,194]

Maybe I'm being insensitive, but if I was on a plane and saw this I would be a little offput myself. There are such things as Jewish terrorists, so I can understand why the flight attendants and pilot made that call. Nowadays these crewmembers cannot be too careful, and I don't begrudge them one bit for their actions. A simple heads up by the teenager maybe could have saved everyone a ton of trouble. Either way, its a lesson learned, nobody got hurt. At least we know the flight attendants are being observant.

[EMSer 15]

Okay, I lived most of my childhood in the Bronx. I lived next to a private house which there were Orthodox Jews and a school for the children.

I myself have never seen or heard of a Tefillin. I can see how it would raise eyebrows in an airport terminal.

I can't imagine having personnel of airlines being trained in all religious cultures and to know what to look for. I don't think this is being insensitive. Perhaps, the members of the young man's community ( rabbi) should have spoken to the religious group in light of everything that is going on and let them know what could happen while wearing this in public, mostly in air travel. This way, people would be better informed and perhaps the young man could have told the person at the ticket counter, what he was wearing and why and word would have been passed along.

While no one should be prevented from saying their prayers in a public place, perhaps this all could have been avoided.

On another note, concerning Rosary beads, MANY religions use Prayer beads, such as Muslims, Anglicans, Hindus and people of Buddhism or Judaism faiths. Re:http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/prayer_beads/

Just a tid bit of info.

yes, indeed. but the stated "Rosary" (not beads in general) is Catholic

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

yes, indeed. but the stated "Rosary" (not beads in general) is Catholic

you are arguing semantics at best. The what seems to have happened was the flight staff overreacted to a common place event, just because you have never seen it before does not mean you should not know about it. That is what we call ignorance however.

God forbid this was a Muslim doing his five times daily prayers otherwise we would be having a very different conversation.......

Edited January 23, 2010 by bvfdjc316

[PEMO3 523]

you are arguing semantics at best. The fact of the matter the flight staff overreacted to a common place event, just because you have never seen it before does not mean you should not know about it. That is what we call ignorance.

God forbid this was a Muslin doing his five times daily prayers otherwise we would be having a very different conversation.......

I think overreacting is a matter of opinion. What occurred here was something that surprised a flight crew and they acted in what they felt was the best interest of the rest of the passengers. Prefacing my statement with every religion has its own "weird" customs you must admit placing a box on ones head and wrapping a connected strap down your arm and hold another connected box might raise eyebrows to someone not familiar with what it is. Someone stated it was a leather strap not a wire but lets face facts not long ago the gentleman was wearing what appeared to be briefs not an IED. Looks can be deceiving. I can also see where some might say why land in Philly but on the other end the pilot may have been looking for an airport equipped for the worst case scenario or he may have been directed there by the FAA after declaring an in flight emergency.

[tunaFish 0]

you are arguing semantics at best. The what seems to have happened was the flight staff overreacted to a common place event, just because you have never seen it before does not mean you should not know about it. That is what we call ignorance however.

God forbid this was a Muslin doing his five times daily prayers otherwise we would be having a very different conversation.......

Because you have not seen it before, does not mean you should not know about it, you say? C'mon, we are not walking books of knowledge.

Common place event? Calling people's customs "weird?" Ignorance? Semantics? Read the comments on here and see how many have actually seen someone wearing one of these. Not very common.

I think we drove this in the ground already, next... Rain tomorrow?

Edited January 23, 2010 by tunaFish

[ckroll 101]

Because you have not seen it before, does not mean you should not know about it, you say? C'mon, we are not walking books of knowledge.

Common place event? Calling people's customs "weird?" Ignorance? Semantics? Read the comments on here and see how many have actually seen someone wearing one of these. Not very common.

I think we drove this in the ground already, next... Rain tomorrow?

There is arguably not a more important topic on the planet to be discussed. What we are suffering, globally, locally can be traced to ignorance of other cultures and belief systems. A century ago, travel and communication were arduous enough that it sufficed for most people to know what was happening on the next block. Today a person 10,000 miles away can change our lives tomorrow.

The US does not understand that other cultures see our export of our way of life as a dire threat to theirs. We don't understand how they will respond. A 17 year old boy did not understand how his actions would be perceived; a flight attendant did not understand what he was doing. In this case a plane got delayed, inconsequential nuisance [as long as it wasn't your plane]. Wars have been started over less.

We all have an obligation--as citizens of a free country-- to educate ourselves so that we can be mindful, compassionate and tolerant of other cultures and so that we can properly know when there is a threat and when there isn't. How many people understand the differences between Christianity, Judaism and Islam..... or what they have in common? Clearly not enough.

I think education is the answer, but how do we live our lives and make good choices in the interim?

[JBE 328]

Here's a silly thought, maybe the flight attendant could have simple ASKED the kid what he was doing. But hey, what do I know??

[tunaFish 0]

Here's a silly thought, maybe the flight attendant could have simple ASKED the kid what he was doing. But hey, what do I know??

You are absolutely right!

[PEMO3 523]

I think the issue is that the young man did what he felt was ok and non-threatening and the flight crew reacted in a manner that they felt they needed to for the safety of the passengers in their charge. I don't think the issue here is religious indifference or callousness or the failure to ask a question. What we need to remember is hind sight is always 20/20. One could consider that the flight attendant may have felt that asking the young man a question about the perceived "threatening device" might be considered confrontational and a situation that they wanted to avoid at 30,000 +/- feet. I think the thread brought up some good points that better education might have helped but equally added that to expect every flight attendant to be a Jeopardy champion is a little unrealistic. Issues will always arise and people will always be inconvenienced but if it is for the safety of the public at large that must take priority. It is through these inconveniences that education develops and protocols to avoid reoccurrences evolve. "Out of every interaction in life we should learn something new for when we cease to learn we cease to evolve."