Question
 

I was wondering out of curiosity could one bring on a cheeseburger or ham sandwich or a meat and milk meal onboard from one of the restaurants at JFK? El AL serves Kosher meals onboard and you can bring your own meal. I wonder what a rabbi or an orthodox passenger sitting next to the secular Jew or non-Jew say? Could you be sued for bringing on a ham sandwich? Would be an interesting thing to try just to see the looks? Not to be offensive but has this ever happened on an El Al Flight?

Do you think that there is anyone, Jewish or not, who would not regard such behaviour as being highly offensive?

I think you're missing a little smiley from your post.

"ElAl serves Kosher" means you will not get milk after a non-dairy meal from the FAs in the isles. It does not mean they will not serve you coffee with milk in the galley if you go there alone and ask. The meals are Kosher, the plates an utensils are separated and kept Kosher but it does not mean anyone on board MUST keep kosher through the flight. You just don't get many opportunities not to ... :)

I believe one can bring anything he/she wants on board and use it as much as they want to. I don't believe one can be sues for eating a cheeseburger on a flight. However, I cannot predict the behaviour of the surrounding passengers at a specific flight.

I really don't think the behaviour of the surrounding passengers is the issue. It is the gross insensitivity of the passenger with the ham sandwich. (NOTE: I think that meat and milk, despite being a stricter halachik prohibition, has less cultural connotations. The average westerner will know that Jews in general find ham offensive, but is unlikely to be aware of the meat+milk problem).

You can never tell what kind of meat MKD or BK put in their hamburgers. It can be ham just as well.

When in a sandwich, ham is just like any other pastrami (the smell can be a little different :) ). Unless the guy yells around that he is eating ham on LY, there shouldn't be any problem.

If someone walks into an LY plane with a brown MKD bag with cheeseburger, fries, a milkshake and a piece of beef jerkey in hand, I do find it "a little" offensive that might even trigger a security event on the plane (security on LY flights do not like troublemakers).

2 weeks ago The Rav Rashi Was sitting next to me.On my way to London.
I wanted to eat a chocloate that I had in my bag after the meat meal
(But I didn't) This was ELAL flight (He was drinking whisky)

1 week ago I was flying CO to EWR and another Rabi was next too me
(an American one )
I wanted to eat the shrimps but Ifel uncomfrtable and eat the pasta
I didn't want him to feel unhappy.

Lets see who is it going to be next week to NY?
Maybe a beuteaful shixe :)

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After a meat meal you can definetly get coffee with milk to your seat. Actually you can even get it during the meal as well, they will bring it to you in a paper cup with a lid.
Its true LY is a Kosher airline, but it doesnot force everyone to be kosher.

Nothing like good old Jewish guilt. :D :p

I don't think it's that offensive (coming from someone who keeps Kosher himself.) You should not feel guilty at all if you don't want to keep Kosher. Not everyone who travels to Israel is Jewish. It's not like just because it's an Israeli airline, you have to be an observant Jew. Even people who observe the laws of Kashrut strictly don't grimace at the sight of another eating a cheeseburger. In fact, I think if you got looks from eating a cheeseburger, you shouldn't feel guilty, but the person giving you the looks is wrong. Matters of faith are a personal choice, and that included religious dietary requirements. Anyone who forces them down on another is wrong and ignorant.

a further question is if a passenger feels they have the right to bring and eat ham, pork etc on a Ly flight and say why not its my right!

Would they bring a hamburger onto an Air India flight? which is basically almost doing the samething in regards to bringing and eating Tarif on LY.

CO wont even serve Meat (Cow) on its EWR-DEL flights out of respect for those religious Hindus. Why shouldnt LY do the same ?!

I have a strange feeling that anyone who would demand to bring and eat Tarif on LY wouldnt dare do it if they were on a flight to DEL out respect for the Hindus on board. Just another sad state of affairs.

No one thinks pork is sacred.

I would have agreed with this statement before spending considerable time travelling to India. What I have found is that beef is served in India much more than I would have expected. However you have the choice at all times to have something vegetarian.
I think that for the airlines flying to India it is an issue of simplifying things more than respect.

Since it is hard to tell whether meat is beef or mutton or pork or chicken with food coloring I don't think that it is really an issue. If I bring a ham and cheese sandwich on an LY flight or a hamburger on a flight to India and don't say "Hey! Look! It is ham/beef!" nobody will blink and eye or notice.

this observer believes in live an let live :)