Jewish prayer prompts terror scare

      7 Comments on Jewish prayer prompts terror scare

Can’t make it up:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a misunderstanding about a Jewish prayer ritual led to the diversion of a US Airways flight to Philadelphia.

City police Lt. Frank Vanore says a 17-year-old boy on the plane was using tefillin, a set of small black boxes attached to leather straps and containing biblical passages. One box is strapped to the arm; the other box is placed on the head.

Prior to its interruption by the passenger’s worship, the flight out of LaGuardia had been bound for Louisville KY. / When I read the tale of the Tefillin Kerfuffle to my wife, her comment was, “Why did they think they’d be safer in Philadelphia?” 🙂

[Bumped; original timestamp 1/21/10, 10:05 AM. -ed.]

7 thoughts on “Jewish prayer prompts terror scare

  1. Joe Loy Post author

    Rav Alasdair – good question. I understand that the Elders of Chelm have long disagreed on the issue. Some say it’s kosher; others parve company with them and claim it’s treif. Last I heard they were still haggising over the point. [OK, your turn. What’s the Broad Scots for Oy Veh? ;]

    Marty West: yes & so what I wanna know is, How’d those tefillin get past Security? Why, next they’ll be blithely boarding people wearing Kippot; and come to think of it, What has it Got in its Tzitzis? [Apologies to Reb Gollum :] This security breach calls for multiple overlapping investigations. After all, TSA agents at a NYC airport (of all venues!) should know that while not all Chasidim are Terrorists, all Suicide Bombers are UltraOrthodox. You can find it right there in the Torah. 😐

  2. Joe Loy Post author

    PS: from the updated iteration of the above-linked AP article [emphasis added]:

    When used in prayer, one box is strapped to the arm while the other box is placed on the head.

    “It’s something that the average person is not going to see very often, if ever,” FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said.

    In a globally Holistic sense, that’s arguably True. // But, not even the average Queensperson or Brooklynite boarding a flight to Philly at LaGuardia? Come on, Klaver. The kid was Davening, is all. Look Into it. :>

    When used in prayer, one box is strapped to the arm while the other box is placed on the head.

    “It’s something that the average person is not going to see very often, if ever,” FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said.

  3. Alasdair

    SUV Loy – to respond in kind – while you display a positive tallit as a Levity-cuss expert, according to my Hebonics source , the use of the multiply-transliterated tzheat-tsheat is knot linguistically your best fringe humour …

    (SUVSage Using Vernacular)

    (As one might say in Scotland – L’OY feh !)

    (douce grin)

  4. Joe Loy Post author

    Alasdair, you earn a bigfat WAW HAW HAW 🙂 both for your peerless Pungency AND for your hilarious (albeit Oldy-&-Moldy 🙂 Hebonics Source. / Of course you Know, that 1st Joke on your linked page, the one about the Goldberg brothers, was (shall we say 😉 Adapted by the Israelis from the original, rather more Credible, one about the O’Malley twins in the South Boston pub, incrementally discovering the remarkable coincidence of their respective Upbringings & Schoolings back in old Dublin town. ;} [Granted, there Are some Jews who occasionally over-Imbibe; but let’s not challenge the anecdotally-acknowledged Champs, here, OK? :]

    Or, as the Shanachie might say in the Yiddish quarter of Limerick —

    The captain of a Syrian Air Force transport flying over the Mediterranean sends out a MAYDAY message:

    “This is Syrian Air Force Flight 174. We have lost one engine and
    want to land at any airport in the Middle East OTHER than in Israel!”

    No answer.

    A while later he announces, “This is Syrian Air Force Flight 174 again.
    We have now lost two engines and need to land at any airport in the
    Middle East OTHER than Israel!”

    Silence.

    A short while later the captain announces, “This is Syrian Air Force
    flight 174. We are desperate……We have now lost THREE engines an urgently ask permission to land at any airport in the Middle East OTHER than Israel!”

    Still no answer .

    Finally the captain calls out, “Help! This is Syrian Air Force Flight 174. We have only one engine left and it is rapidly failing. Unless we can land we are going to crash. We need permission to land at ANY airport in the Middle East INCLUDING Israel!”

    Shortly thereafter, a voice (speaking in flawless Arabic) is heard in the Syrian cockpit:

    “Shalom Syrian Air Force Flight 174. This is Tel Aviv approach control.
    We would like to help.”

    “Allah is praised,” says the Syrian pilot. “Please give me instructions.”

    “Do you speak any Hebrew?”

    “No.”

    ”OK, then please repeat after me:

    Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mei raba
    b’al’ma di v’ra khir’utei
    v’yam’likh mal’khutei b’chayeikhon uv’yomeikhon….”

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