Sometimes you learn things the darnedest ways. Until a USAirways LaGuardia to Louisville commuter flight was diverted to Philadelphia for an emergency, possible terrorism landing I had never heard of this word — tefillin. Evidently the flight attendant on US 3079 had never seen one either.
Tefillin (also called a phylacteries) are prayer boxes strapped to the head and another strapped to the arm for morning prayers by some devout Jews. In this case on flight US 3079 a 17-year-old strapped the boxes onto his head and wrapped the straps around his arms and scared the bejesus out of the flight attendant.
To some people in New York, that is a relatively common sight: an observant Jew beginning the ritual of morning prayer. But to at least one person on US Airways Express Flight 3079 on Thursday — the flight attendant — it looked ominous, as if the young man were wrapping himself in cables or wires.
With the skittish state of the flyin public and aircrews, many senior rabbis were not terribly surprised at the reaction.
Some observant Jews said they were not surprised that the ritual had attracted attention — or that people on the plane would have been unfamiliar with it. “When they see a passenger strapping yourself,” said Isaac Abraham, a Satmar who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and campaigned for the Democratic nomination for a City Council seat last year, “you might as well strap yourself with hand grenades. They have no idea.”
After a search and an explanation the flight continued and the teenager and his 13-year-old sister were kept for more questioning but eventually flew to Louisville that afternoon.
Now, I know what tellifin are, but can’t remember its other longer name that starts with a “p.”
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
