According to Port2Port, British Midland (BMI), the second-largest British carrier, announced last week it would start operating daily flights between London and Tel Aviv. According to the report, this will go into affect starting March 13, 2008.
British Midland will operate an Airbus A320 on the route, with a capacity of 20 seats in business and 108 seats in the economy class.
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13 Responses
i just hope it will lower the costs and have respect to serve Glat Kosher alow minyanim etc…
illini07
Don’t dismiss the idea of a minyan on a plane backhandedly. If done correctly, a minyan on a flight can be a beautiful thing. Here is a copy of an email I received recently.
This is an amazing story. Share it with your friends and family.
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My JetBlue Minyan
by Rabbi Zvi Konikov
I am on my way to Israel on El Al for a Bar
Mitzvah of one of our Chabad members. It’s 11:30
P.M. and, along with 450 other passengers, I am
trying to get as comfortable as possible for the
long flight to the Holy Land. My mind is reeling; I
still can’t believe what happened to me just a few
hours ago!
I was regularly attending services daily,
saying Kaddish in memory of my mother. JetBlue
Flight 46 from Orlando to JFK, connecting to El Al
to Israel presented a challenge.
The connecting flight schedules were very
tight, so I arranged with my brother, Rabbi Aaron
Levi Konikov, to take me from JFK to his Roslyn, NY
Chabad Center for afternoon services.
I had covered all possibilities – or so I
thought. In Yiddis h, there’s an _expression, “Ah
mentch tracht un G-t lacht.” “Man proposes and G-d
disposes.” This was a perfect example. We were
supposed to depart Orlando at 4:15 pm, but the
captain announced a 90 minute delay due to bad
weather.
I had not missed saying one Kaddish since my
mother passed away ten months ago What to do?
Worried, I thought of a solution. I’ll exit the
plane. I’ll miss the flight, I can always rebook,
but I can’t miss Kaddish.
“Excuse me,” I asked a stewardess. “I have
an important meeting in NY and if I can’t make it in
person, I must leave the plane now.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied politely. “We cannot
return to the gate. We are on the runway waiting to
take off. There are planes ahead and planes in back
of us. We cannot move. It’s impossible.” Oh, well.
I tried.
Thirty minutes passed and we were going
nowhere.
Every few seconds, I looked at my watch and
calculated our earliest possible arrival time.
Another 15 minutes passed. I realized, I must do
something, but what?
Suddenly, a crazy thought dawned on me. Maybe
there are enough Jews on this flight to make a
Minyan! I didn’t notice any religious Jews, but it
was my only hope.
“Before I make a scene, I’ll check my chances
of success,” I told myself. Trying to be
inconspicuous, I got up from my seat “to stretch”
and walked up and down the aisles looking for Jewish
faces. Alas, only the guy in the last seat had a
Jewish face. And I wasn’t even sure about him. Was
I dreaming or was I so desperate that I imagined
that he looked Jewish? I gathered my courage and
asked him straight out. “Are you Jewish?” I almost
hit the roof when he answered, “Yes!” Quickly, I
explained that I had to say Kaddish for my mother
and needed a Minyan. He understood. “Count me in
when you get ten,” he replied. Then he resumed his
reclining position in front of the TV, nodding his
head slightly to wish me good luck.
Bolstered by my success, I identified the next
“Jewish face.” Before I knew it, we were up to
four! Each commented, “I’m not religious,” or “I
don’t know how to pray.” Still, they were willing
to help.
The minutes continued to tick by, but I had
run into a brick wall. That was it for Jewish faces.
How many people who looked Puerto Rican could
possibly be Jewish? Should I call it a day? Give
up? Seat by seat I made my plea, but this time a
little bit different than before. “Excuse me, is
anyone in your party Jewish?” I asked. An d the
unbelievable was happening. Once in a while, the
answer was “Yes, he is,” or “Yes, I am.”
By this time, I had seven! Only three more to
go. Surprisingly, one of Jet Blue’s managers was
sitting in a regular seat. “Can I help you?” he
asked. I thought that he was just following the
customer service routine. But when I explained my
predicament he immediately sprung into action to
help me, I started to sing the Jet Blue advertising
jingle in my head.
Amazingly, he offered to make an announcement asking
for volunteers over the PA system!
“Thank you,” I answered. “But I’m going to
try to do this low profile.”
“Excuse me,” the man across from the aisle
spoke up. “I overheard your conversation. I am
Jewish.” Now we had eight! I was beginning to
believe it would happen. I continued my search. I
beg an to get excited at the prospect of a
miraculous Minyan. But a bunch of people saying
“sorry” and “no” brought me back to reality. One
passenger who really wanted to help but wasn’t
Jewish said to me, “My buddy is half Jewish.”
Hopefully, I asked his friend, “Are you Jewish?”
“No. Not really,” he answered.
Disappointed, I turned to walk away. “But my
grandmother was Jewish!” he added. I turned and
asked, “Your mother’s mother?” “Yeah, but that
doesn’t make me Jewish, does it?” “You bet it does!”
I told him. “Neat! Just like that, I find out I’m
Jewish! Maybe the delay was worth it, just for
that!”
At “T Minus One Yid And Counting,” I was
roaring down the aisle with confidence now, ready to
launch this nearly made Minyan. By this time, no
one on the plane had any doubts as to what was
happening. Every so often the manager wou ld call
out to me “How many are we up to?” When I told him
we were at nine, he radioed to the cockpit and asked
if any of the crew was
Jewish. “Negative,” came the reply.
At this point, everyone wanted to help, but
the situation seemed hopeless. I had already gone
through every seat twice and the dark reality seemed
to be settling in that there were only nine male
Jews over the age of 13 on this plane.
As I was making my way back to my seat,
crestfallen, someone who felt very sorry for me
stopped me and said: “I have a Jewish friend in
Georgia who I can call on a conference; will that
work?” I explained and thanked him anyway. (As if I
didn’t know a few Jews myself that I could phone!)
I called my brother, Rabbi Yosef Konikov of
Chabad of South Orlando, telling him the whole
story. “You won’t believe this: we’ve got nine
people for this minyan! But that’s really it,” I
said anxiously. “You’re a chaplain in the Sheriff’s
Department. Maybe you can get a police escort to
the plane, or maybe you can get someone Jewish from
security to come out here and get onto the plane
with us.” He said he would try, but didn’t sound
too hopeful. Time and the odds were both working
against us.
“If I don’t make this Minyan after getting
nine Yidden on this flight, what a let-down it will
be,” I said to myself. and to the One Above.
Mentally, I was preparing myself for exactly that
let-down because I had run out of options. I
returned to my seat, just waiting to see what would
happen next.
A few seconds passed before the passenger
right behind me cleared his throat and confessed,
“I’m really sorry but earlier, when I told you I was
not Jewish, I wasn’t telling the truth. I was just
very intimidated. I really am Jewish.” My ey es
became as wide as saucers. At first, I thought that
he was pulling my leg. Either that, or he was just
trying to be nice because he saw how desperate I
was. I was suspicious, and I knew I had to do a
little questioning. “Is your mother Jewish?” I asked
conversationally (as if I had all the time in the
world!).
“Absolutely,” he responded. “Her maiden name
is Horowitz. You can’t get more Jewish than that!”
Then he added, “There’s no question, I even know
Boruch Atoh Ad—noy – Borchu es Hashem.”
Everyone around me became giddy with
excitement. I signaled my loyal and devoted Jet
Blue manager who was sitting about ten rows behind
me.
“It’s a go!” I cried, “We’ve got ten!” You
would have thought he had just won the lotto, that’s
how happy he was for me.
The manager invited me to meet with the
stewardesse s at the back of the plane. He wanted
to make sure that the Minyan would go smoothly. I
went back and told them that there really wasn’t
much that I needed, and that I did not want to
inconvenience them whatsoever. I suggested that
they finish serving the beverages before we started
so we wouldn’t get in their way. Other than that, I
told them that the afternoon prayer would take
between seven and nine minutes altogether. I also
thanked them for all their help and understanding.
The manager offered to let me know once they
finished making their rounds through the plane. He
would also help me gather my nine volunteers.
As soon as I got the word from the manager, I
started going down the aisles “picking up” people.
(I was hoping I’d remember who they were! I did.)
It didn’t take very long before a line of Jews was
walking behind me towards the back. About three
rows befor e the end of the plane, I noticed a face
that I had missed. “He certainly looks Jewish,” I
thought. “With all these
unknown people, maybe it’s best to have eleven men,
just in case.” So I stopped and asked him, “Are you
Jewish?”
He said, “Yes, but look, you’re holding up the
aisle! All these people want to get by!” I said,
“These people are my Minyan!!” Astonished, he
quickly got into the spirit: “Well then, I’m coming
too!”
The atmosphere at the back of the plane was
electric and ecstatic. The Jewish men were giving
each other “high fives.” You would have thought
they had just won the NBA title! We packed into
the tiny galley/kitchen in the back of the plane.
The stewardesses barely had room to stand with us,
so I politely suggested that they stand in front of
us “to make sure no one
disturbs the service.” They happily obliged.
Before the Minyan started, I briefed the
non-religious members about what we were going to
do. From their blank looks, it appeared as if only
three of the eleven people had ever participated in
a Minyan before. While my main objective was to say
Kaddish, I didn’t want the experience for these
secular Jews to be just a “lip-service.” So I took
the opportunity to say a quick short word on the
concept of prayer.
“Prayer is not restricted to a particular
place but can be done
anywhere, from the privacy of your own room to a Jet
Blue plane that is stuck on the runway,” I told
them. Then I got to the nitty-gritty.
“Since Jet Blue does not, as yet, have 10 prayer
books for in-flight services, I will lead the
service in Hebrew by heart. The only thing I ask is
that you say ‘Amen’ at the right time.”
“How will we know when it’s the right time if
you’re saying it in
Hebrew?” one passenger asked logically. It was a
good question. “I will give you the thumbs-up when
it’s time,” I responded.
I took my kipa from under my hat and handed it
to one of the men nearest me. The rest of the men
made themselves at home in the kitchen and
distributed kipas (napkins) compliments of Jet Blue.
The scene was awesome.
A stewardess asked if she could take a picture
of us in prayer and I told her I had no problem with
that at all. Without further delay, I launched our
Minyan. Outside, I felt like a million bucks when I
gave my first thumbs-up! Inside, I was all choked
up in gratitude to G-d.
The Amens were loud and emphatic. This bunch
was definitely not shy or embarrassed of their
heritage. Suddenly, I felt like I was back in camp
leading bunk competition! The whole plane was
buzzing. Napkin covered men shouting amen at each
thumbs-up of this ancient-looking Rabbi as a
stewardess snapped pictures. It was definitely not
the typical scene in a
Jet Blue advertisement!
Despite the obvious humor of the situation,
the men seemed quite touched, and stayed focused and
serious throughout the prayers. I finished the
davening quickly and thanked everyone profusely for
their time. Then we returned to our seats.
Almost immediately, the pilot announced that
the hold was over! In minutes we would be departing
for JFK. The feeling was incredible. It was almost
as if the Minyan was part of the schedule. Clearly,
the Minyan was part of the schedule that G-d keeps
for us.
After the plane was in the air, one of the
Jews from the Minyan came over to my aisle seat.
With tears in his eyes, he said, “I am totally
uninvolv ed in Judaism and I want to thank you
deeply for this awesome reminder of my heritage!”
Now it was my turn to be humbled. How one mitzvah
leads to the next! What an unbelievable way to start
my trip to the Holy Land!
Later, my wife and I discussed the incredible
story. We agreed that although this year of Kaddish
had a number of novel stories and extremely close
calls, this one was on a “plane” by itself!
My wife didn’t hesitate to tell her sisters in
New York what had just happened. They of course
repeated it to their husbands. One of them, Rabbi
Levi Baumgarten, serves as the “Mitzvah Tank Rabbi”
(Chabad Mitzvah Mobile) in Manhattan. He had
scheduled to meet one of his steady “customers” a
week
later in the Mitzvah Tank. This customer was a very
successful businessman working for Cushman &
Wakefield.
As he stepped into the Mitzvah Tank, he said
to Rabbi Baumgarten: “Do I have a story to tell you!
I just heard from my Jet Blue associates. They
were returning from a big corporate meeting in
Orlando last Tuesday and a rabbi was on the plane.”
Levi smiled. “Let me finish the story…”
“But how?” he asked, dumbfounded by the
rabbi’s certainty.
Rabbi Levi Baumgarten replied, “All Jews are
connected; the Jewish world, and especially the
Chabad world, is very small, and we are all
brothers. Actually, the rabbi who needed the Minyan
on Jet Blue last week is my brother-in-law!”
Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Konikov serves as Spiritual
leader and Director of Chabad of the Space &
Treasure Coasts in Florida
truly fascinating story…but a minyan without 10 shomrei shabbes is not a minyan and kaddish cannot be said without a minyan !!
dear number4 lemedvovnik,
this lubavitcher shliach opened up the heart of 9 jews to recognize that they are jews and to act as jews. possibly they are all begeder of ballei tshuva, which may be included into a minyan.it would be nice if he had 9 other fruma and anshie masei, however, under the circumstances it was a feat.i personally may not have used this minyan ,however, i congratulate this shliach and tell him ‘yosher coach’.
from london to israel you havent the length of flight that may need a minyan. personnally, i do not enjoy davening on board, where air motion takes away the kavana and deveikus hatifila.i much rather daven on ‘terra firma’.i have no doubt that they will serve kosher if the patronage demands it.it is good news.
Beautiful story but not unique. In April 1972 I was with a company that had held a year-log contest for its customers the prize being a week long trip to Paris and Monte Carlo We were 5 frum couples on that plane that left JFK at 7:30 on a Sunday nite, among agroup of 300 people. No sooner did we take off when one of the frum men announced that he had YAHRZEIT that nite and needed a minyan. So I, too, Quietly “rounded up five additional jewish males and made a maariv minyan inthe back of the plane. But that wasnt the end of the story. Three and a half hours later the Yahrzeit was back. SHACHRIS. Most of the plane was fast asleep. I stalled him until the lights came on and then looked for my minyan. I was in for a surprise. I had FORTY Jews on my line, some even had their own Kippas in their pockets, but we only had 5 pair of TEFILIN. The boss of the company (jewish), emptied out the Upstairs Lounge, where the Brass was sitting, and we davened up there and doun the whole stairway, all the while passing the 5 pair of Tefilin around to whoever wanted them. We will never forget the amazing responses of the entire 300 people. It created an atmosphere that lasted the entire trip,and for years afterward. People on the trip for years after would bring it up in conversation. Even the non-jews felt the Achdus that the Jews displayed. U.W.
Great story, if you are causing inconvenience to anyone, your seat is fine for davening.
uncle whiskers, your story is even more of great worthiness.this happened in april 1972, not 2007.i think the kiddush hashem displayed obviously was felt by all and especiaaly the boss by providing you the upstairs lounge and respect that reflected susequently.good story and should be printed.
Thanks for inspiring me with your gevaldige maaseh!
uncle whiskers
truly an amazing story. thanks for sharing it with us.
Uncle Whiskers – incredible story!!
Uncle Whiskers – incredible story, and an even more incredible name!!
to ras 18 comment no.5
with no disrespect to you or the shaliach from chabad…our lives are dictated by the shulchan aruch… do you know the implications of a chazoras hashatz without a minyan…19 brochos and umpteen hazkoras hashem levatolo…
kiruv to yiddishkeit with parades & gimmiks is creating a new yiddishkeit to suit the 21st century..Hashem yishmor !!
if we concentrate on adjusting our lifestyles to zman matan toroseinu and being mekarev krovim and then rechokim to genuine orthodox yiddishkeit…we will acchieve results which will enhance our status and act as a magnet to our brothers who have strayed…despite the emotional side to this story there is no room to accomodate any reform orientated halochos … if the shulchan aruch does not count mechalelei shabbes towards a minyan…he also knew of the possibilty they will be chozer bitshuva..but his ruling cant be taken as an optional suggestion…this is opening the door to every individual deciding when the shulchan aruch applies and when not … we are not empowered to change one single iota of toras moshe… so despite the apparent kiddush hashem i venture to suggest sticking to the text…and if that means davening beyechidus…so be it.
as ergards the missed kaddish .. learn a mesechta of mishnayos to compensate the ”oines” of missing kaddish.
YEHI CHVOD HASHEM LEOLAM !!