cohenyf

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/st...eronplane.html

Jewish man removed from airplane for praying
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 5, 2006 | 11:12 PM ET

Some fellow passengers are questioning why an Orthodox Jewish man was removed from an Air Canada Jazz flight in Montreal last week for praying.

The man was a passenger on a Sept. 1 flight from Montreal to New York City when the incident happened.

The airplane was heading toward the runway at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport when eyewitnesses said the Orthodox man began to pray.

"He was clearly a Hasidic Jew," said Yves Faguy, a passenger seated nearby. "He had some sort of cover over his head. He was reading from a book.

"He wasn't exactly praying out loud but he was lurching back and forth," Faguy added.

The action didn't seem to bother anyone, Faguy said, but a flight attendant approached the man and told him his praying was making other passengers nervous.

"The attendant actually recognized out loud that he wasn't a Muslim and that she was sorry for the situation but they had to ask him to leave," Faguy said.

The man, who spoke neither English nor French, was escorted off the airplane.

Air Canada Jazz termed the situation "delicate," but says it received more than one complaint about the man's behaviour.

The crew had to act in the interest of the majority of passengers, said Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stewart.

"The passenger did not speak English or French, so we really had no choice but to return to the gate to secure a translator," she said.

The airline is not saying if the man was told he was not allowed to pray, but a spokesperson said the man was back on board the next flight to New York.

Jewish leaders in Montreal criticized the move as insensitive, saying the flight attendants should have explained to the other passengers that the man was simply praying and doing no harm.

Hasidic Rabbi Ronny Fine said he often prays on airplanes, but typically only gets curious stares.

"If it's something that you're praying in your own seat and not taking over the whole plane, I don't think it should be a problem," said Fine.

The Jewish group B'nai Brith Canada has offered to help give Air Canada crews sensitivity training.

Xcheckme

Is god more likely to listen if you do lurch back and forth while praying?

ctownflyer

This is really not he place for an esoteric jewish discussion, but here goes anyway...
Of course theres no difference to G-d if you lurch back and forth while praying.
Naturally an orthodox jew "shuckles" back and forth while praying. Its explained that one's soul is like a candle which always flickers because it yearns to go up to the source of fire above, so too the soul wishes to go up to it's creator, and this is expressed openly in the physical body while praying...

At any rate it's disgusting that one can be taken off a plane for praying, I've prayed many times on a plane without incident...

ctownflyer

By the way here's a great pre-9/11 story of an orthodox jew praying on a plane with a great ending!
http://www.lchaimweekly.org/lchaim/5...0.htm#caption3

Analise

This was brought up already in Omni and being discussed at length there: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=598645

The moderator may want to merge this thread with the one in Omni? I'm not sure if that can be done.

GUWonder

It was discussed in Newstand and/or Travel Safety & Security too.

Cholula

I transferred the thread from TS/S to OMNI a few days ago as it wasn't totally appropriate for Travel Safety/Security.

I thought of transferring it here rather than OMNI but, after looking at this Forum's description, I thought OMNI was the better venue.

fairviewroad

Odd thing to say. What difference would the religion of the passenger have made? If he was making other passengers nervous the religion itself would have been irrelevant.

scirel

Hey...nothing wrong with a prayer before taking to the skies. I want God on my side every time I fly!

fly4funsea

What a great story! It is too bad though about the Jewish man on the Jazz flight that was asked to stop because the "majority" felt uncomfortable. If people would only educate themselfs just a little bit. Most of us pray, some rock back and forth, some kneel, while others may close their eyes and just do it in their heads but should they be asked to stop?

skchin

I too pray everytime I fly. Praying during take off and praying during touch down. Protestants usually don't rock back and forth.

surfgeb

There are considerations that even the most observant Jew (or Muslim for that matter) should consider when praying in secured areas.

For example, a Jew can pray shachrit (morning prayers) in one's seat without standing up for the sections of the service that one normally stands up for. One can even pray without tallit and tefillin and arrange to put those items on later in the day upon arrival.

There have been numerous times where I have taken a day trip and have put on tallit and tefillin in the parking lot so I don't have to bring them along; and then have prayed theh full service at my seat.