Everybody has been talking about tefillin lately. I mean everybody. I never thought tefillin would hit the headlines. These black boxes which contain small scrolls of Torah verses, the boxes with straps Jewish men tie onto their heads and their hands during morning prayer, were thought to be devices that could be used for a bombing on a flight from New York to Kentucky. They caused such a stir, the plane was landed en route at Pittsburg.
Well, I have to admit, for someone who has never seen tefillin before, the sight of someone tying on unusual boxes on his head and his hands and seeming to mumble to himself might well be intimidating, particularly after the near-attack during the holiday season. I remember what it was like to fly in the weeks and months following the 9-11 attack. It just so happened that the intifada was going on Israel at that time (around 2001-2, a year when terrorist stepped up the number of attacks on Israeli targets in the Holy Land including pizza shops and buses).
In fact, I recall having suspicious tefillin. I was newly engaged and bought some new tefillin for my soon-to-be husband, as well as a wig for myself. The security officials (this was El-Al Airlines, the Israeli Airline, mind you) in New York detained me for questioning and investigated all of my luggage carefully. They thought it was suspicious that a woman should be carrying a pair of tefillin in her luggage and what I was doing with a wig (it is the custom of many Jewish women to cover their hair with a wig after marriage) when I wasn’t married yet. The flight was delayed and there was not a little resentment directed against me by other passengers. But I had very little bitterness (maybe it was the glowing mood I was in anyway as a soon-to-be bride) because I was glad the security officials were there to keep everyone safe.
I’ve actually have had non-Jewish friends imply that the actions of the security officials were intolerant and perhaps even anti-Semitic. I absolutely disagree that there was necessarily anything sinister behind the suspicion of the flight attendant apart from a lack of information (yes, flight attendants are usually educated about tefillin, but this woman wasn’t trained so thoroughly in that area). And just as the Israeli airline attendants were suspicious of my tefillin, and I was glad they were on the alert, I am happy that if there was a suspicion, the flight attendant erred on the side of caution.
Having said that, the strongarm tactics of leading the boy and his sister away in handcuffs was a bit much, and I am sure wholly unnecessary. Also, on articles, there are many angry comments that say “Why couldn’t he have prayed with the tefillin later.” But the fact is that tefillin is a time-bound commandment, and must be done at the morning services (there are some leniencies on this, but it must be done by a certain time, at least). I mean, does anyone honestly believe that a guy WANTS to put tefillin on in front of an entire plane filled with people staring? Believe me, Jewish men try their best to schedule their flights so this isn’t necessary, but it isn’t always possible..
So yes, flight attendants should be cautious and I would hate to think that cries of “Intolerance!” should deter security workers from showing correct vigilance. But these workers should be educated about the prayer methods and devices of various cultures and should avoid disrespectful and unnecessary ways of detaining “suspects.”
I guess one good fringe benefit is this story put tefillin in the news.