Pennsylvania -A flight from New York’s La Guardia Airport was diverted to Philadelphia after a bomb scare Thursday morning.
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The commuter plane that normally seats 50 passengers is operated by Chautauqua Airlines and flies under the US. Airways name. The plane departed LaGuardia at 7:25 a.m. and landed in Philadelphia at about 9 a.m. surrounded by Homeland Security and Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad.
The passenger was removed from the plane without incident. There are no reported injuries.
VIN News has learned the scare was caused by an Orthodox Jewish 17 year old man who was praying with his Tefillin and was mistaken as a suspicious device.
Grandmother of teenager interviewed by Louisville TV station WLKY see below
Last Thing We Need Is To Not Be Allowed To Wear TFILLIN In Flight. That Would Make Flying Really Complicated
Yidden, please show some common sense, after all we are still in Galus!
Thats pretty crazy!!
Cool!
I try very hard not to daven with tefilin on planes for the reason that people who are not jewish have no clue what tefilin are!!
We need to remember that unfortunately we are in golus. ( I do daven on non stop flights to Israel with tefilin)
i’d suggest that before someone puts on talis & tefillin he should explain to the plane crew what he’s about to do
if plane departed LaGuardia at 7:25 a.m, what’s to problem daven before ? You can put Tefillin around 6.20 am.
What I do if I must daven on a plane is go to the flight crew and explain that I have to daven and what and how I will be doing it and they are always fine with it, although in Orlando airport I was taken aside and investigated for being suspected as a security risk when i had no choice but to daven there one time!
even when i go to isreal, i try to book my ticket so i could still daven in yerushelayim
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!
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.
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..
Elal is the only airline that you can daven with tefillin.
The last time I duvened at the airport before a flight – someone called the Police and it took time to explain what I was doing and they ran a back round check on me while 2 Policemen we standing next to me while I was sitting down after I was instructed to remove my Talis and Tefilin – it caused quite a scene – people are very very nervous and this is now a serious issue. I was told by a Rav to duven while it is still dark if necessary as I was starting my day and to say Shma again when it became light and if possible put on Tefilin again and say Shma – the world has changed and the days of being able to duven easily in airports and on planes has become really complicated
Lets leave this guy alone. Most of us who have traveled by plane have davened either on the plane or in the terminal.
I am 100% sure had someone spread a magic carpet on the floor, no one would have said ‘boo!”
This galus excuse should be stopped. Yes, we are I galus but BH we are allowed to daven while using common sense. I am sure whoever raised the issue on the plane be it a passenger or a flight attendant, they feel awfully stupid right around now.
I always thought tefilin looked suspicious…lol…
Its mind boggling that the airlines dont teach the stewerdesses what teffilin is
and the TSA to their employees as well
educate educate educate!!!!
get chabad to go in and put some tefillin on these guys
Leave the poor 17 year old alone. the live report on wcbs 880 radio quoted the Police saying that “he made no threats and was extremely courteous”.
Light crew know plenty about Jewish customs, don’t give me this gulis garbage.
When what actually happened comes out we will all be much wiser. I am a frequent traveller, I have made four international trips in the past three weeks, and I avoid davening in public wherever possible. I don’t want to get caught in a situation where I cannot immediately explain myself, such as when I am in the middle of shmonei esrei. This may well have been the problem here. If the person who was davening was not too bright and the person who decided he was suspicious wasn’t too bright, you get a forced landing in Philly!
veyoruh kol amei haaretz ki shem hashem nikrah aleichah!!!
They said on the radio that the flight attendant saw “suspicious wiring on the man’s hand” , don’t the Tefillin straps look flat and leathery? One has to be really dumb and/or a serious anti-semite to mistake flat leather straps for wires.
Stop comparing teffilin to rugs or carpets. Teffilin are boxes and straps. At first glance they look like a contraption, maybe a bomb. People are very suspicious these days and no one wants to get blown up in midair. They dont care what ur sensitivity is. People wud rather be safe then take a chance of anything. So stop standing up and saying we will fight for our rights to wear teffiliin on planes! And just try to go about ur business in a queit way. All this kid did is casue a huge chillul hashem and no doubt have many people grumbling.
Recently I was flying internationally (economy) on a full plane and unavoidably had to daven shachris on the plane. I told the crew I would like to pray & asked if I could daven in the galley at the back – “No problem,” they said, “but I’m sure you will be more comfortable up the front.” So they took me up to business class. The crew there said, “No problem, but I’m sure you will be more comfortable up front,” where they proceeded to take me to the front of First Class (my first time that far up front!), just before the cockpit. I basically had my own closed off area to daven! I therefore took my time and after about half hour they came to check on me (I was just finishing off). I thanked them profusely and I commend Virgin Atlantic for their generous in flight hospitality and will continue to fly with them for their great service.
What a kiddush Hashem. Good for him!
From the Youtube video, it is clear that this Yid made an inspiring kiddush H-Shem. He was davening when he had to, so we need to stop managing his life for him. Also, he behaved politely and did not freak out, as many of us might. For those keeping a “mitzvah report card,” that’s an “A” for Bein Adam l’Makom and another “A” for Bein Adam l’Chaveiro. It is, by the way, a mitzvah to publicize a kiddush H-Shem, so good going, VIN!
There have been cases of terrorists in Israel disguising themselves as Frum Yidden and carrying out bombings. Large teffilin could be rigged with explosives. Maybe better safe than dead.
This is not to say that the crew knew what they were dealing with or to defend their actions but it must be considered.
He was not removed from the flight, and was allowed to continue to his destination. The problem is the stupidity of the TSA. Once in Burlington VT, they tried to pry open several mezuzas that I was carrying in my talis bag. If these idiots don’t know what tefilin are by now, it is no wonder how the Nigerian nightmare happened.
its a mitzvah to daven in public
goyim seeing yidden with tefillin makes them aware of who is the Boss
and makes them realize we r for real
It s mind boggling that airlines don’t teach their employees about tefillin, after all Jews make up almost 2% of the US population! And Bshvelie Nivra Haolam! We should demand only tefillin flights and then we should demand specific neusach flights!!
Rabosai! Stop the non-sense! We can no longer ignore the fact that we live in these times and we must realize that we can no longer do this!
When I travel and I must daven in the airport, I will seek out a quiet gate and I will notify airport staff that I will be praying there. Never daven on a plane.
Get real.
Tefillin have been worn by hundreds of thousands of Jews on planes in the past.
Have some azzus dikdusha.
Most airlines do teach their crews about tefillin. Also most crews have seen people davening on planes. I guess this flight attendant & captain thought that maybe there was some explosive substance in the boxes & they decided to be prudent.
It is feasible to put explosives in the boxes and they might not be noticed by security.
I would be surprised if one day they might decide to ban tefillin from flights as a precaution.
Lawsuit! There is NO misunderstanding!
The crew MUST know what tefillin are and be completely accommodating.
Sue them!
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! 🙂
about time they relize that the only people trying to blow up planes are muslims!!!!!!!!!
it’s a possuk in Torah:
וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ה’ נקרא עליך ויראו ממך
“and the nations of the land will see that the name of Hashem is upon you and they will fear you”
That’s right, everything’s in the Torah Hakedoshah, even the fact that when we where tefillin, they will divert flights out of fear!!!
🙂
true when you have a hole flight looking at you when you daven is not so “geshmak”, but if you are in a plane and the zman tfilla is getting near it is a true KIDUSH HASHEM if you go and put on you teffilin and daven, hashem takes a look at you and sees that allthough you are not in the most ‘geshmak’ place to putt on teffilin and you did it any way that is a big zechus< no reaseon to avoid putting on teffilin in flight
If the Airline staff was really informed on security issues, they would know what teffilin are. Kind of scary to see how ignorant airline staff is about something as common as tefillin wrapping
People, people, there are those with bombs in their shoes and underwear. This is a different world. Also, the Gemara specifically states that Gentiles are frightened by Tefillin and that is why they were worn into battle. Don’t be stupid, figure out how to daven withou making a scene. Say shmoneh esrai sitting (allowed) and put your tefillin on at a later time. Pretend it is Tisha B’av.
TSA screeners are very aware of Teffilin and Talis Ataras
It is part of their training and at times they will look up to see if the traveler is an Orthodox Jew
Flight Crew members in the USA are very well aware of Talis and Tefilin and it is at thier discretion to ask a passenger to not wear teffilin or a talis on board and passengers must comply.
If charged with obstruction of a flight a passenger can be faced with fines and costs.
This was obviously a ridiculous flight crew that cost their company alot of money and inconveniece hopefuly they will be re-educated or dismissed.
the tiffilin are a weapon (spiritually) As it says and the nations will see it (the teffillin) and they will fear you. They weren’t so off base after all.
Interesting to note that this happened in the Parsha that speaks about Teffilin!
Tefilim dont , and shouldnt , get a free pass or the terrorists will adopt the garb and use the boxes for explosives as has already happened in Israel. In Israel, going to the Kotel with Tefillim, no matter how Jewish you look, they check them out. In Costa Rica, I had a customs inspector look closely at my Tefillim. I didint object and showed him how it worked. tefillim have been used to smuggle diamonds in the past. Bottom line, explain to flight crew first. Even better , daven in terminal or home even if its still dark and repeat Krias Shma if possible with Tefillim. If we object strongly to their examination, they will be abused by the towel heads.
Why on earth doesn’t a Godol v D’or actually say something. One does not make a chillul Ha Shem on a plane.
I flew Singapore and made the mild mistake of notifying the cabin crew before praying. They assured me there was no problem but asked me if I felt I really needed their permission to pray.
Todays Zohar portion in the Hok L’Yisrael mentions that the sight of a Jew wearing tefilin is fearsome to the Gentiles.
It seems the problem was a lack of cultural sensitivity. It would make sense that people in the travel industry be in-serviced concearning diferent passangers’ cultural and religious sensibilities.
Imagine how the cost of reponse could have been saved if the Airline had their cabin crew been trained? The notion that we need to treat everything out of the ordinary as a threat goes beyond erring on the side of caution. Additionally the admonishment that Orthodox Jews or any member of a religious minority not express their devoution in public especially a public conveyance lest one be deemed a threat, places an extreme limit on free speech and exercise of religion as well as affecting one’s right to travel that offends American notions of freedom as laid out in the Federal Constitution.
As the news report indicated the young man acted innocently, was not disruptive and polite. A little education as well as common sense are our most powerful weapons against Terror.
I hope the terrorists don’t find out about this! they might C”V make there own version of Tefilin, with bombs inside of it instead of scrolls….
A man on a continental flight from France to Israel once asked if he could borrow my husband’s tefillin so he could daven on the flight and no one said anything and the man did not appear to be Orthodox. Another man on the flight need a minyan for kaddish and this non-religious Jew realized that although it was Mincha time, he had not put on tefillin and was now deciding to do it. The flight crew was fine with all the moving around, borrowing, davening, etc. On that same flight, a woman who appeared to be Arabic argued with the flight crew to be allowed to sit next to me. At first, I was not happy about it but then found out that she was a Sefardic Jewess who was trying to become frum and wanted to talk about it.
This kid is probably affiliated with Chabad of Kentucky. I don’t think he is at all at fault because he is not the first Jewish person to daven in flight. The crew could have asked him to take it off and give it to them for the duration of the flight.