78 Responses

1. I’ll bet had it been a magic carpet spread on the floor, no one would have said ‘boo.’

2. Goodness… is this a joke or what? a little saichel and explaining on the part of the passenger would have averted a MAJOR CHILLUL HASHE-M….
   No further comment, REALLY!

3. if plane departed LaGuardia at 7:25 a.m, what’s to problem daven before ? You can put Tefillin around 6.20 am.

4. Homell, you have to be at the airport an hour before between checking in/security and boarding it really doesnt leave alot of time.

5. You would think that in this day and age, every airline would know about Tefillin. However if the terrorists get smart, they can disguise bombs to look like Teffilin.

6. Many years ago on a twa flight from Chicago to LGA I too was arrested for putting on tefilin on the plane. We had askes the stewerdess if we could daven in the alcove across from the galley behind the cockpit. The stewardess swore tht we were trying to break into the cockpit. Remember: Halacha.. Eisov Soineh es Yaakov

7. #3, it takes a good hour to check in and get through security AND you have to be ready to board during the 15-30 minutes before that scheduled departure time.

   So unless you’re at the gate well before the flight, when exactly are you supposed to put on Tefillin and daven with any sort of kavanah?

   I have to say I’m surprised the Tefilin were an issue, but given the latest incident of that savage who tried to blow up a plane last month, it’s understandable if the flight attendants were more cautious about things.

8. #4 – You can come to the airport earlier, go thru security, and then daven at the gate before boarding.

   Couldn’t the guy just tell them that the black boxes are little flight voice recorders?

9. Karnei, you can also be dan lkaf zchus.
   The update says its a teen and he wasnt made aware that TSA was called.

10. What next? Rabosai this is only the begining. The ignorance of a New York based flight crew….. If you believe she had never seen this I have a bridge to sell. Its tall and brown, sits on the East river and over 100 years old.

    When you have to be politically correct first, and safety second this type of stuff will happen.

    Fyi to all Americans – Muslim people are trying kill you! Not old grandmas, children etc. Get with program!

11. Does anyone really believe no one on the plane has ever seen a Yid daven before? Not in an airport? My husband travels a lot on business & sometimes, he hasn’t been able to travel the night before for an early meeting the next day, so he davens in the airport. I’ve traveled with him & I’ve seen many Frum Jews doing the same. I can’t believe no one on the plane knew about phyllacteries or a prayer shawl. Don’t they read? Go on web sites?

    Having said that, the smart thing to do is to explain in advance to a flight attendant so the crew can understand what’s going on. Then the uninitiated can have their fears allayed.

    Poor guy…he must have been really confused & scared.

12. I flew yesterday last week from London to JFK .The flight was 9 am which made it impossible for me to daven in shul and also NOT in the terminal.I was sitting in Business class and b4 we departed i told the cabin crew that i will be praying in my seat and they should NOT get alarmed if any one signals a suspicious person. She called out the captain and he assured me that it is OK for me to daven..

13. NOBODY MOVE!
    I’VE GOT TEFILLIN HERE, AND I WON’T HESITATE TO USE THEM!!!!

14. poor teen and his sister!
    wow!
    what a wild story

15. meanwhile…..terrorists roam the countryside undetected, as innocent american’s are harrassed

16. what a pack of lies!!
    every single flight attendant isd REQUIRED to be taught about all religions and what prayers can ever be said on a flight.
    this is sickening.
    i know this for a fact.
    every single flight attendant is taught about tefillin

    this family should sue the pants off of the flight crew

17. LET’S BAN US AIRWAYS NOW!
    🙂

18. lechayim yidden!
    freilich

19. What nerve.
    Fire the flight attendant N-O-W.

20. Easy answer:
    Daven on plane without tefilin, and when you get to your destination say krias shema with tefilin.
    People should remember that davening while traveling is not a lechatchila situation, and therefore the tefila will be comprimised. Many poskim hold not stand up while on a plane for shemona esrei,or to make a minyan even on an el al flight.

21. Where is Dov Hikind?

22. I wonder if it was Rashi or Rabbeinu Tam’s Tefillin

23. I just flew on a early morning flight and was told by my Rov to daven on the plane without my talis and Tefillin, and was told when I reach my destination I should put them on.

24. I got a thank you for praying on the plane from a scared passenger.
    Maybe he could not talk and ignored the stewardess when she tried to talk to him. Well, nobody tackled him. Maybe the other passengers do not feel unsafe.

25. If he was Rav Yona Ba’al Kenafayim, the tefillin would have turned into something else when the stewardess came to investigate!

26. The new HeadMount ArmMount Tefillin
    Bnei Brak Model XT233
    Comes in various shades of black
    Hidden in our special leather case so that you can easily conceal it in broad daylight on your forehead and on your arm.

27. the flight attendants are all trained.
    I hate to say it, but this flight attendant is a raging anti-semite.

    Im never the one to yell “anti-semitism”, but that’s the fact in this story.

28. I dont know if I should laugh or cry.
    What a pathetic place the USA is in now.

29. As time goes on, other news agencies have put in more details. The flight crew (who had never seen tefillin before) told the pilot about the tefillin, but didn’t approach the passenger. Either the boy explained the tefillin later and the pilot still decided to land in Philadelphia, or they never asked him and just landed so the FBI and whoever else could take care of it. The Philadelphia police said the passenger has been very cooperative. This is just a function of the craziness that goes on in the world.

30. What’s the peleh? Chazal have already told us “v’rau kol amei haaretz ki shem Hashem nikra alecha v’yaru mimeka, eilu tefillin sheb’rosh!” They saw the tefillin and they got scared. He’s obviously a gevaldige Baal Medreiga if he got that reaction! 🙂

31. WOW! Like “everything” that happens is from Shomayim, so is this story!
    Looks like there was supposed to be a major Tefillin awareness today.
    Something more major than Chabad can do. So this Bochur is really lucky to have been the “shaliach”!

    I don’t think he did “anything” wrong.

32. Frankly I’m a bit surprised to see so many posters here rant and rave against the airline and flight attendants. It is OUR responsibility as religious Jews to be sensitive to others concerns and fears. In this day and age, the onus is on us to think one step ahead of the game. Personally, I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner.
    From a halachic standpoint, zman hanachas tefillin is all day long. The right thing to do in the current environment in which we live in is to put on our tefillin either before or after the flight. As far as the flight being early in the morning, he still could have put on tefillin before morning (see Mishna Berura- siman 30, sif 3).
    As far as davening on planes, the right thing to do is to daven IN OUR SEATS. (Yes, including shemona esrai!)
    Yiden, please! We are still in galus! Let us have some respect here and take some responsibility!

33. #16-
    i’m sure you know all the “facts” about flight attendants, and what they do or do not know.
    so here is another “fact”:
    it is a VERY bad idea to sue an airline or anyone affiliated with one. all it gets you is MAJOR headaches when you try to fly, as your name will be flagged and you will be harassed by security etc.

34. OK folks, I know you’re not gonna want to read this, but the days of davening with t’fillin on domestic U.S. flights are OVER!! Blame arafat,9-11, our wonderful muslim cousins,it doesn’t matter – if you start putting on t’fillin on non-international flights, you risk the following:

    – Being viciously tackled to the ground, beaten, and restrained by your fellow passengers who are scared to death and ready to react to ANYTHING that may be strange or foreign to them.

    – Having the flight diverted from it’s destination, so that you’ll be severely delayed or be forced to cancel your trip altogether,along with all the other passengers who will just LOVE you (and all of us Jews) for forcing them to face the consequences of your stupidity.

    – Being drilled for hours by the FBI who will comb through your entire history, together with all of your family members and in-laws, and put you on a watch list so they can monitor your future actions and travels.

    I think G’dolim, Poskim, and Roshei Yeshiva should weigh in on this. With the potential sakanah and massive-scale chillul Hashem, given the state of air travel in this country right now, how is it mutar to do this when there are several halachik alternatives?

35. 1) maybe he needs to get his tefillin checked?
    2) maybe the plane being grounded because of his tefillin somehow averted a tragedy. It’s in Hashem’s hands…

36. to dozersb:
    who says that this Bocher wasn’t sitting quietly in his seat?
    why should he have thought it would be a problem?
    Funny, now anyone can give suggestions.
    From now on… People will tgink twice, and hopefully discuss it w/flight crew.
    …and…
    flight crew will know differently.
    I hope that ‘Tefillin’ will still be allowed onto the aircraft.

37. I will say it again and again . If some yishmaeli would have rolled out his magic carpet no one would have said ‘boo!’

38. Bubby Rifka,
    Even if he was sitting quietly in his seat, he obviously was wearing his tefillin on the plane. My point was not that the particular bachur in question was not sitting in his seat; I was merely agreeing with the previous poster ‘krunch’ that halachacilly one need not stand for davening on a plane.
    And YES! My point is that he SHOULD have thought it was a problem. I think you missed what I was saying entirely, so let me say it again- in this day and age we need to be much more sensitive to how people view us. If I was a gentile from somewhere in the Bible-belt midwest who had never met a Jew before in my life, returning from my first trip to the Big Apple, and some guy with a skull cap starts putting on some boxes with straps on them, you’d have to be out of your mind to think that I wouldn’t be freaked out.
    And yes, in an ideal world it would be nice if we could still put tefillin on while on a plane. But once again, there are several halachic alternatives that do not involve a possible chillul Hashem.
    As for myself, since 9-11, I have not put on tefillin while on a plane, specifically because I have not wanted to raise concerns in my fellow passengers.

39. This brings to mind the experience of a relative who was a Shliach for Chesed L’Avrahm who at the time (many years ago) had an operation in Hungary. On one of his trips he had several pairs of tefilin. When the customs inspector spotted them, he called his supervisor. The supervisor who either was Jewish or had some exposure said “oh I know what that is Tzitzis”. The Shliach “Amazing!! I travel a lot and was at many borders, Nowhere did I meet anybody who knew that these are Tzitzis” The supervisor duly flattered let him pass

40. HEY YOU GUYS- HEVE DAN LCHAV ZECHUS.

    BE A BAAL AVERAH AND LOOK AT THE VIDEO REPORT>

    THE REPORTER CLEARLY STATES THE 17 YEAR OLD WAS RESPECTFULL AND CLEARLY EXPLAINED THAT HE WAS WEARING A RELIGIOUS ARTICLE CALLED TIFFLIN FOR HIS PRAYERS.

    THE SECOND THE FBI GOT ON THE PLANE IT WAS OBVIOUS SOMEONE MADE A MAJOR MISTAKE

41. OMG
    Get a life folks, too many of our own people don’t even know what tefillin are.
    This 17 year old boy was polite and calm thus creating Kiddush HaShem – no chillul here don’t look for it.

42. Perfect timing – I am now selling the FAA and TSA approved digital tefilin. The retzuous also double as an antenna for your cell phone. All colors of black are available. Text can be edited on your laptop. Shel rosh has earphones for iPod.

43. People should see the name of Hashem upon you and fear. Boruch Hashem, even tough it cause enconvience to many people at least it wasn’t for a real promblem

44. I agree 41!!Don’t you wish all Jews can be as polite!! If they were, I don’t think we would have so many people off the derech.

45. he should have davened after they landed in the local chabbad that would have been starting their minyan at noon.

46. First of all, a plane from big New York, it’s highly unlikely that the crew memebers never saw a tefillin. We are not talking about some hick town here! Had it been the reverse, that the tefillin were put on FROM Louisville KY, then perhaps the crews would never have seen a pair of tefillin! But the point I really want to bring out is, that there is antisemitism all over the world. Why do we have to do more to antagonize the goyim! Why do we have to open up their eyes, and “stoch” them out!! They hate us, they will always hate us, so why do it?? (whatever the reason he davened on the plane was-perhaps when he arrived he would not have had time to put on the tefillin at his destination, so it left him with no option BUT to daven on the plane) butin general, if we DON’T HAVE to show the goyim the things we do differently from the rest of the world, why should we create more animosity towards us,than we have already!!???????

47. # 37 Mark

    “I will say it again and again . If some yishmaeli would have rolled out his magic carpet no one would have said ‘boo!’”

    You’re off your rocker. A man kneeling on the floor and speaking Arabic on an American flight would cause the plane to be shot out of the sky.

48. Had this been an arab, they would have left him alone…

49. #48 ploni

    Search for “arabic thrown off plane” or “barred from plane because of t-shirt” for evidence of how wrong you are. I posted links to appropriate stories but the comment was removed.

    The bottom line is that (right or wrong) we are now conditioned to be fearful of anyone speaking Arabic. The airlines have responded in kind, blocking passengers with Arabic on their shirts, or speaking Arabic to their neighbor.

    If you think for one moment that a Muslim praying on a plane (with “devices on his arms”!) wouldn’t arouse at LEAST the same level of panic and response, then you don’t read the news or live in the same imaginary world as Mark Levin.

50. dozersb,

    I think you are the only one with sechel on this board. Soon we are going to demand that the plane install a bais medrash for frum passengers. The idea of acting rational and not causing a hint of chillul hashem has been replaced by a sense of entitlement. No chillul hashem??!! What impression does this story make upon someone living outside of Boro Park, Lakewood or Monsey? (BTW – for those who live in Lakewood, BP or Monsey, there actually are other places in the world – look it up if you don’t believe me) ALso, the plane was diverted. So for all of the passengers this was a major inconvenience caused by a religious Jew. Ask yourselves this: if a goy did something similar, causing the same disruption, would you be so dsimissive…and on top of this, call his actions in handling himself, an example of those who are from the chassidei umos haolom? Let me anwer – no, you would not. Hatzna leches im Hashem – tznius does not only mean covering your knees. It is more imporatntly, a way of life, a manner of behavior. We don’t need to stand out in every situation and we certainly do not need to call attention to ourselves as inconsiderate members of society.

51. justajew, what you are saying is not true. The liars from the legal department of the Council American Islamic Relations would have brought a lawsuit. Maybe that is what you do for a living, you work as a liar for the legal department of the Council of American Islamic Relations.

52. @#2 “Goodness… is this a joke or what? a little saichel and explaining on the part of the passenger”

    Your comment must be a joke. We live in post 9/11 world. You think some shiksa stewardess from Iowa knows what tefillin are or isn’t going to be nervous when she some black boxes strapped on some kid’s head. She’s going to call TSA and ground the plane.

    I would too.

    I purposefully schedule all my flights so I don’t have to daven (especially shachris) on a plane.

    Just like transport professionals have responsibility to be aware of any passenger who may look dangerous, I, too, have a responsibility to act in a way that won’t make anyone nervous. And since they don’t understand our halachos and minhagim, I have a responsibility to mitigate their understandable nervousness.

53. #51 Bubby –

    Instead of calling me a liar, search for the stories yourself. A lawsuit WAS brought against one of them and settled. That doesn’t change the fact that it happened. MANY TIMES. Oh, I’m sorry, do they not report about this on Fox News?

54. The article clearly states that this flight was “operated by Chautauqua Airlines under the US Airways name” Sounds like a hole-in-the-wall or foreign airline. It is possible that that is the reason that they never saw tefillin, even though the flight originated in LGA. Although an upsetting situation and misunderstanding, I think everyone involved handled themselves well. It would have been better had he informed the flight attendant in advance, but he is a 17 yr. old, for goodness sake!

55. Dov Reifer says;

    ‘ALso, the plane was diverted. So for all of the passengers this was a major inconvenience caused by a religious Jew.’

    Oh please! In light of all the terror threats and acts bestowed on America and the rest of the world since the beginning of time, be it hijackings, attempted bomb threats or whatever else, you can walk with your head up high after reading a story like this.

    Here you have an innocent 17 year old kid , doing what he’s obligated to do, who just happened to stumble upon some ignorant, paranoid flight attendant. Yes, surely the other passengers were inconvenienced. But I can assure you they are now breathing a sigh of relief and are probably thrilled that they were in the current situation and not in harms way.

    Midwesterner,

    I loved your post:-)

56. What REALLY happened was that this was a 12 year old boy 2 weeks before his bar mitzva and the flight attendant didnt believe him that they were tefillin because his passport didnt have him yet at 13 years old, so they stopped off in Philly yeshiva and were mevarer the inyon.

57. Aishes Chayil,
    With all due respect, I don’t think this bachur’s fellow passengers thanked him while he was escorted off the plane following landing. Wonderful! Let’s hold our heads up high knowing that a yeshiva bachur caused a jetliner to have to be diverted, mistakenly or otherwise.
    “An innocent 17 year old kid, doing what he’s obligated to do, who just stumbled upon some ignorant, paranoid flight attendant.”
    Innocent, I’ll give you that. Doing what he’s obligated to do? Sorry, I don’t buy it for a second. Zman hanachas tefillin is all day long. As pointed out by myself and several others here, there are halachic alternatives. If anyone was ignorant here, it was this bachur for not knowing the halachos. (Not saying I blame him; he is only 17 after all.)
    And calling the flight attendant ignorant? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize they teach hilchos tefillin in flight attendant school. And by extension, would it be appropriate for me to use the same label for a religious Jew who might not know about the Christian eucharist or sacrament?

58. attn # 56:
    as if, they know what age they put on tefillin!!?!?!?that doesnt even make sense!!

59. To all who are joking around and ESPECIALLY to all who feel the airline should have known better, I have this to say:
    Even if the airline employees and passengers do know what Tefilin are, who’s to say this couldn’t have been a terrorist in disguise??? Seriously, I wouldn’t put anything past those terrorists. This is why I believe EVERYONE should and must be checked before boarding. And any suspicious activity – even davening with Tefilin- should and must be looked into. THIS IS THE CRAZY WORLD WE LIVE IN NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

60. Wow there are so many people here who have no idea what they are saying.

    1. The flight attendant only told the pilot about the potential hazard, not one passenger knew there was a problem until the F.B.I surrounded the plane. So there was no way to come to his defense if there knew of no problem. DING DONG!

    2. So what if the flight attendant was taught about Tefillin? It doesn’t matter. Anyone can hide a bomb in Tefillin, she was being careful and that’s good. DING DONG!

61. 54 NY Mom,

    For your info, Chautauqua Airlines happens to be one of the major commuter airlines in the country. They are based in Indianapolis and they operate under American, USAir, MidWest, Delta, and Continental Airlines.

    Could it be that the flight attendant never heard of tfilin? OF COURSE! Could it be that the pilot never heard of it?? OF COURSE!!! However, perhaps they could have made a “phone” call to confirm the story. Most airlines have people of various religious nature whom they could call upon. They could have called me!!

62. The guy in the video said that the flight attendant, after asking the teen what the tefillin was (and he responded politely), went to tell the captain that he was a disruptive passenger! That says “anti semite” to me…

63. Aishes Chayil,

    “Head up high after reading a story like this” – really??? You really take pride in this???!!

    You don’t think people reading this story will feel that the Jew caused a major scare? Or, l’chol hapachos, perhaps the people on the plane may be upset that because some religious Jew just had to pray their day was, if not ruined, at least put on hold? No inconvenience? No chillul hashem here? None?

    Wow.

64. I am furious at this person for putting on tefillin on the plane. After 9/11, everyone is rightfully afraid of terrorism. The average american has no idea what tefillin are. They look very suspicious because they have two boxes attached to the person. It is not the responsibility of the average american to know what tefillin are. This kid should have davened before his flight, or after he got to Louisville. This was not a flight to Israel where you won’t have an opportunity to put on tefillin at the airport. Also, when you’re flying to Israel, several people will be putting on Tefillin at the same time, so people don’t concerned. This was a small flight and there was no reason to assume that everyone knew that the tefillin were harmless. I think this is a terrible Chilul Hashem. I don’t think that he intended it to be, but after 9/11 we all have to be more careful that our actions don’t cause understandable fear or panic.

65. Oh boy justajew, are you defensive. The “non-profit” foundation that supports you is funded by the Saudis who also fund The Council of American Islamic Relations?

66. #64 (and others),

    Cut the kid a break! I agree it was unwise to don tefillin on a plane, but “this person” is only 17.

    What I really don’t get is why it took an hour and a half for the plane to fly from NYC to Philly. It takes ME that much time to drive there!

67. just to clarify what a ‘chillul haShem’ is since it seems like not too many posters know & are assuming the wrong thing….

    it is NOT a ‘chillul haShem’ to do something one is SUPPOSED to do. doing a mitzva is NOT a ‘chillul haShem.’ doing an avayra IS a ‘chillul haShem.’

    this was not an avayra!!!

68. ve raoo kol amei haaretz ki shem hashem nikra alecha ve yareoo mimeka!!!!! The gemara says pasuk is pertainig to tefilin shel rosh

69. #64 Please calm down. Your first sentence is way out of line!!! He’s just an innocent 17 year old kid. What do you want from him????? There was no Chilul Hashem whatsoever. He was polite and cooperative. If anything, he made a Kiddush Hashem. Yes I agree that not everyone knows what Tefilin are and even those who do could be alarmeed because, as I said in a previous post (#59), even a terrorist can use something that looks like Tefilin and Chas V’shalom it could be a bomb.

70. I agree with daboss#2- It is better to ask permission to Daven on the plane with first the check in people at the airport then if there is no time to do this then later with the staff on the plane in the beginning of the flight. This way Airline Staff and the Davener can feel relaxed.

71. I might be wrong but since YWN posted a picture of the boy, all the posts might be considered Lashon Hara.

72. 64, spoken like someone who hasnt been on a plane in 25 years!

73. The key here is to use this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to teach people about Jewish customs, especially those about and of prayer. Had i been on that plane, there would have been an education session then and there for the “reporter of fear” and everyone else. Fear is an unfortunate human concept, and education is the only truthful way to deal with it.

74. Dozersb,

    R- the flight attendant,

    The point is not that she wasn’t Jewish, but as someone working for an airline company, it would be expected for her to be familiar with Tefillin(especially in the US)

    Dov Reifer says;

    ‘You don’t think people reading this story will feel that the Jew caused a major scare? Or, l’chol hapachos, perhaps the people on the plane may be upset that because some religious Jew just had to pray their day was, if not ruined, at least put on hold? No inconvenience? No chillul hashem here? None?’

    Don’t equate ‘inconvenience’ with Chillul Hashem!
    Were you never inconvenienced whilst having to wait for passengers to board, thus causing the flight to delay? Were yiou never inconvenienced when a flight had to land due to someone not feeling well? (and don’t tell me your THAT sympathetic to someone you don’t know,even if he is sick to the point where YOU might have to be delayed)

    Unfortunatley, in this world, whenever a Jew is involved in a questionable act, its amplified ten fold. It’s just sad that we have to feel like a burden when a young boy was doing nothing else but a mitzvah!

75. I was the boy in question’s 10th grade rebbe. He is a really wonderful young man – bright, thoughtful, polite and sincere. I can guarantee you that he would never do anything that might have the most remote possibility of causing a Chillul Hashem. Anyone who criticizes him, as some have done here, without knowing him, is guilty of Chosheid b’Kesheirim in the truest sense!

76. I want to be clear about what I’m saying. I do not think that this person intended to cause a Chilul Hashem and inconvenience a plane full of people. He just wanted to fulfill the mitzvah of putting on tefillin while davening. My point is that he made a mistake because he should have realized that his putting on tefillin might cause concern and even panic. Before 9/11, I would have felt differently, but after 9/11 everything has changed. There are people who want to blow up planes and kill as many people as possible. This causes the average american traveling on a plane to be afraid when they see unusual behavior by another passenger. I think that tefillin cause particular concern because they look like someone is wrapping himself in a bomb, with one compartment on the arm and one on the head. Of course, we know it’s not a bomb, but the average american doesn’t know that. Again, I’m sure this person meant no harm and was trying to do what he thought was right. My point is that we all need to be more careful and thoughtful about not causing unnecessary concern for our fellow passengers.

77. All you people who are contributing to the panic about tefillin are just as irrational as the stupid flight attendant and pilot. There is NO REASON to anticipate that tefillin might cause suspicion or panic, any more than any other object. None whatsoever. There’s nothing frightening about them. Only fools are afraid of something just because it’s unfamiliar. Intelligent people are curious about the unknown, not afraid of it. Xians will already know about “phylacteries” from the New Testament, but may never have seen them, and might politely ask whether that’s what they were. Fools will immediately think “bomb”, when they know very well that a bomb is no more likely to be in a small leather box than in a pair of underpants.

78. #77 I don’t know why the flight attendant and pilots are stupid because they don’t know what tefillin are. I guess you’re saying that everyone on that plane were fools because they were concerned that someone was attaching a box to his arm and his head. Think how you would feel if someone on a plane sitting next to you wrapped himself in some sort of strange outfit that had boxes and straps. I’m sure that you would be concerned. That doesn’t make you stupid or ignorant. The passengers on that plane were concerned because they saw something strange on the plane. I think their reaction was normal and to be expected.