Israir Airlines has announced that they are permanently installing a Sefer Torah on board one of its aircraft, marking the first “Sky Torah” in aviation history. The Sefer Torah, will take it’s first flight to Eretz Yisroel on Thursday with a ceremony at New York’s JFK International Airport. Israir expects the Sky Torah, as the carrier calls it, to be a welcome service for Frum passengers on its flights between New York and Tel Aviv.
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21 Responses
Whatever happened to “Torah loi bashamayim hi”?
Israir is insulting our intelligence.
Israir is owned entirely by Jews and are mechalel shabbes, every shabbes of the year. They have had scheduled flights from Israel to Europe for many years now, and continue with this chillul shabbes openly to this very day.
This is THE classic “toivel v’sheretz b’yado”. They are trying to impress us that they care about yidishkite. Two weeks ago they even had a full page ad
in the 5 towns paper, announcing this sefer torah. In the ad they wrote how they are doing this because they care about our sensitivities !!
I hope that no one will be fooled by them. Let’s make it known to them that we do not accept chillul shabbes from Jewish airlines -even when they try to “cover up” with a sefer torah on board.
“toivel v’sheretz b’yado”
And by the way. There are many gedolai haposkim who hold that one should not make a minyan on a plane as it is a “sakana” to have a group of people standing up, etc. This is brought down by the son of Harav shlomo zalman aurbach ztz”l in the name of his father.
Great news B”H!
Sitting on an airplane for 6-10 hours and not being able to daven properly is a real waste of time. Finally, (and it wasn’t EL-AL – they hardly let you daven at all!) an airline that caters to its customers and is sensitive to orthodox Jews!
It is either Torah Lo Bashamayim hi, or Tyrah loi……You are nisht aher and nisht..
they fly on shabbos but care for our sensitivities? thats a good one. they should be boycotted not complimented!
They are provding a service to their passengers who use Sifrei Torah. They fly on Shabbos but how does do a disservice to any passengers?
Norman Says: “I hope that no one will be fooled by them. Let’s make it known to them that we do not accept chillul shabbes from Jewish airlines – even when they try to “cover up” with a sefer torah on board.”
I personally do not see a stirah here and don’t think they aim to fool anyone. They are not frum and don’t keep shabbos, they don’t pretend that they are frum. They fly on shabbos to service goyim and yiddin who also are not frum. Yet they also like provide for the needs of their frum clientele with a sefer Torah, glat kosher food etc.
They are not michuyiv to keep shabbos just so you and I will not feel offended. They are to keep it because that’s what Hashem wants, and Hashem wants them to keep shabbos in all aspects not just by not flying planes that offend you. Would you feel offended if the owners of Israir did not fly on shabbos but drove their personal cars on shabbos?
The reason why the Gedolim feel that El-Al should not fly on Shabbos is because of the great chillul Hashem for the official Airline of a supposedly Jewish state publicly being mechalel Shabbos.
if they do something for us, why complain about it all of you people?
Don’t you have anything better to do?
isser is right
israir never signed that they wont be flying on shabbos like el al signed. they are doing us a favor by putting a sefer torah on board and lets be grateful for that.
NORMAN- its a machlokes haposkim if one should daven with a minyan on a plane. let each person decide for himself what he does…
a bit rushed for time so i’ll reply to isser later:
in the meantime:
now that Israir (an Israeli airline owned by entirely by Jews, that is michalel shabbes b’pharhesya every week) has a sefer torah on board, there can be layning on their shabbes morning flights. Let’s auction off shlishi 🙂
Perhaps Elal will follow & buy sifrie torah too! i see it as brillaint marketing!
This was in just the right time-when they know people now have other options in front of them…Israair,continental,…they’re thinking financially-not accomodatingly.
Alot of stores are owned by frei yidden and are open on Shabbos – yet people shop in them without an issue. The issue with El Al was due to a previous deal that was made not to fly on Shabbos. It seems that when someone does something bad – people complain, when people do something good – people complain.
why don’t the rabbanim make a big deal about israir flying on shabbos, so they bought a sefer torah, big deal but their still mechalel shabbos????????
I enjoy your site. Please edit more carefully. The word “it’s” in the headline should read and spell “its”. It’s a tricky one, but it shouldn’t be too difficult for the “people of the book.”
I enjoy the site too. Look at these comments! Some people are weighing in on chillul Shabbos and minyonim in the air, while others are hocking about “Toyrah loi” vs. “Torah lo”, and “it’s” vs. “its”.
A real fun read. 🙂
Companies are not people,they don’t have feelings or sesitivities,they don’t care about you or me. They have one goal : to make money, preferably lots of it .
To accomplish these goals they have all sorts of gimmicks to create costumer loyalty like frequent flyer miles, credit cards and kosher meals.
:DON’T FALL FOR IT !
Why are you guys getting so upset. Basic economics says create convenience for the consumer and you have an edge on the business. You’re only wondering why Continental didn’t come up with it first.
so the ariline with 27 SCHEDULED flights every shabbos from Tel Aviv to Eilat, and 17 SCHEDULED flights every shabbos from Tel Aviv to Europe, sticks a sefer torah on the NY route and all the frum yidden think it wonderful, while boycotting the airline that for 50 years has refused to fly on shabbos at enormous financial loss.
Only yiddin could follow that logic; what a tragedy we all are in our sanctimonious piety; what fools we are to permit this to occur
It’s unfortunate how ignorant Orthodox Jews are in Choshen Mishpat. According to our rabbis, stealing could involve unnecessarily taking away sleep, taking an extra and needed seat on a bus, cutting in line, etc. According to Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, an international posek (who happens to live in Baltimore, MD, USA), Jews have NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to have a minyan on an airplane near the bathroom and in the middle of the aisle, especially when davenng shmoneh esrai, when other passengers won’t be able to pass through. He further added that the Jewish passengers should daven shmoneh esrai individually and while SITTING DOWN, instead of RESERVING the space to the minyan people.
Now I didn’t ask Rabbi Heinemann if his reasoning was that having a minyan there involves stealing, but it follows cogently from the premises I have presented in the previous paragraph.
I hope that Rabbi Henemann’s note gets taken seriously enough so that the Sefer Torah gets removed from the airplane, and that airplane minyanim be abandoned.
Starting to sound like Neturei Aviron