US Airways Express Flight 3079, bound for Kentucky, grounded in
Philadelphia after an attendant reported a suspicious passenger.
(Matt Rourke/Associated Press) 1
Imagine you are on a plane and a teenager wearing a white sweater proceeds to strap a small black box to his forehead affixed by what looks like wires. He then attaches a second black box to his arm and runs these same ‘wires’ down to his hand. In a world where shoes, underwear or bottled water can be explosive devices, how would you react? The reaction of the flight crew on board US Airways Flight 3079 was to ground the plane and have it swarmed by police officers.
The young man politely and cooperatively explained to the armed officers with weapons drawn that he was engaged in prayer. The plane and the black boxes were searched and no explosives were found. Hopefully by now, Jewish readers are beginning to suspect that the black boxes and straps were in fact Tefillin and the young man was engaged in morning prayers. Most Jews would understand that such a display would be a cause for concern in a world of terrorism. Indeed the boy’s Rabbi, Rabbi Greenberg, likewise understands and has advised him in future to“pray on the plane and put the Tefillin on later on”. 2 Disaster averted; add another item to the no fly list: shoes, underwear, bottles and Tefillin.
But was disaster averted? The basis for putting on Tefillin comes from four separate passages in the Torah such as Deut. 11:18 “Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.” 3 The bitter irony in this story is that Tefillin are a literal enactment of this verse intended to remind oneself to think and act in accordance with God’s laws. Those laws in turn are filled with mention of Pikuach Nefesh: the fundamental protection and respect for human life. Pikuach Nefesh is not only a primary principle but also one in a rare class: capable of overriding virtually all other Torah commandments. The young man thus was praying for and expressing the precise antidote to the fear he unintentionally caused.
A deeper irony comes in the reaction of the flight crew. While their reaction is understandable, it is regrettable. The underwear bomber is an extreme example of religious intolerance and hatred run amok. While tightening security is a first-line defence it mustn’t be the only one. Fostering amity and understanding is a necessary corollary measure. In this light the crew of the flight not being aware of the practice of putting on Tefillin — a practice as common as Muslims prostrating themselves five times a day, and a ritual observed some 6 days a week by observant Jews — demonstrates a fundamental failing in this regard. One would think a flight crew trained to deal with people from all backgrounds ought to have been trained in the basic religious rites of the various religions.
Some would contend that the underwear bomber, despite revealing holes in our security, was successfully thwarted in that there was no loss of life or limb. To use the word thwarted in this case is perhaps overly generous. He was after all successful in adding further items to the no fly list beyond just Tefillin. The list now reads: shoes, water underwear, Tefillin, our security, and – any day soon – our souls.
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1 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/nyregion/22airplane.html
2 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/nyregion/22airplane.html
