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I wanted to notify people of my experience and some conclusions.
I just traveled from Tel Aviv to Newark,NJ and back. I traveled myself with an infant.
When I arrived at Newark Customs I noticed something very interesting. Almost All the people who were stopped by customs to put there baggage through X-ray were religous jews and especially from the women who were wearing head coverings (not wigs). I was traveling in my snood and was stopped, after a 13 hour flight with an infant and walking through customs with a luggage cart and a stroller(which took a lot of noticeable effort. (I am very fair skinned)It was extremely difficult to rearrange my luggage again and have to schlep it without help……In conclusion I would like to give the following Advice: If you wear a wig wear it when going through customs (also in Israel-may be a good idea)On my way back I wore a wig up until the boarding gate changed into my snood in the airport bathroom and then on landing there are restrooms right before passport control where I changed back into my wig much easier than on the plane.
the metal clips don’t beep?
The metal clips in my shaitel were not a problem, but my large metal barettes were! I have learned that when traveling I use pony tail holders or plastic barettes.
I HATE taking off my belt & shoes by security…
my friend’s metal shaitel clips beeped in a Florida airport! She had to go to a side room with a lady guard…not fun! I guess some scanners are more sensitive than others.
if anyone is going to israel around tu’bishvat beware, don’t bring home any tu’bishvat fruits with you on the plane!!! last year i flew back 2 days after tu’bishvat to jfk from israel. many frum people were being stopped by the sniffing dogs at jfk!!! the guard, going around with the dogs, had them open their suitcases by baggage claim!!! the fruit was confiscated & it seemed like they got some sort of fine!!! be carefull!!!
asdfghjkl,
Generally most countries don’t allow one to bring fresh fruit or vegetables from other countries, due to infestation concerns.
noitallmr:
I usually find that a belt won’t set off the detector, unless the buckle is bigger than usual (and you’re not a cowboy, so I don’t know why it would be :P). As for the shoes, I’m with you. The sad fact is that the only purpose it serves is to make us FEEL safe. It would take a very stupid terrorist to try something like that again. Unfortunately, removing unnecessary security measures is like decriminalizing something – once the restriction is there, nobody wants to take the initiative to reverse course for fear of being labeled soft on crime/security.
anon for this:
yes i am aware of that, but aparently a few on my flight was not!!!
hey i’m cool with security at the airport. it may be annoying, but the more they stop you, the safer i feel. and for sure el al. they really know what they’re looking for and how to find it.
asdfghjkl,
It’s unfortunate that people are not aware of this, as I believe the information about which items are prohibited (including fresh fruits, vegetables, plants) is clearly stated in the customs declaration every passenger must sign.
“and you’re not a cowboy”
Huh? What makes you so certain?
asdfghjkl:
taking fruit out of E”Y in a shmitta year is assur, I believe. So the security guards were keeping you from being ‘oveir’!
smh1: last year the tu’bishvat fruits fom israel came from the country turkey!!!
One of my realtives had to take of his pants because he beeped while going through the machine…(he went to a private room but it was a major time waster)- even though it was only the belt that beeped- and the buckle was smaller than a cowboy’s belt!!!
rather safe then sorry- take off your belt if it might beep!!
i had heard about pple having trouble with hair coverings so i went and bought a synthetic wig for $20 they have combs inside and do not beep. i had no trouble at all. however while we were on line i saw them giving a woman who ws wearing a snood a hard time. if it’s your minhag to wear a wig it’s a good idea to wear it in the airport, buy a cheapie to travel in or change into a snood on the plane.
cheap wig??? you gatta look be in top form even on an 11hour flight!!!!
My luck! A few years ago there was this sniffing dog (one of those long dachsund types wearing a sweater that read dept. of agri. & something else about illegal drugs) that was sniffing through eveyones luggage and came to a halt by none other than MY luggage! You could just plotz. I just wanted the ground to swallow me up as everyone was staring at me with these “We know you’re hiding drugs” looks. The officer was this big, burly… “you don’t want to tangle with me” type of guy. It took forever to convince him (after he went through everything that I owned) that it must have been the apples that had been in my bag before the trip. Apparently, there was still a slight scent of apples in the bag.
If embarrassment is a kapparah… then Hashem must really love me 🙂
In 1990, I was flying from Israel back to NY. I had taken some lemons from a family friend’s tree in Teqoa to help stave off my motion sickness (for some reason, eating lemons helps). As we were leaving American customs, the security guard saw the two we had left over (we stupidly left it in a clear plastic bag)and made us throw them out. Such a shame – they were awesome lemons!
I also once got caught with a piece of fruit (a pear). I begged them to just throw it out and let me get on with my life but NO….. they made me wait on the side for almost TWO HOURS until they let me go. I told you Hashem loves me 🙂
what if you tell the tsa person that your wig has metal clips that might go off?
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