Everybody is right in the recent, unexpected, unprecedented, crying-so-hard-I-could-laugh and laughing-so-hard-I-could-cry imbroglio on the recent flight from New York to Louisville.
A teenage boy set out to do a mitzvah, to pray his morning prayers in timely fashion, as the Shema prescribes, while on an airplane, as tens (and probably hundreds) of thousands of people before him had done. He was right to do so. Read the related news coverage
In this post-9/11 and post-12/15 world, unknowing flight attendants saw the boy and got scared. The truth is, a person putting on tefilin and praying with tefilin can look scary to one who has no knowledge of tefilin. Straps, boxes not your average clothing. And so, the teenager was stopped, he was questioned, and the plane was diverted. The flight attendants and the pilot said, better safe than sorry, and they were right to do so.
Then the teenager was questioned by police. They were right to do so. Finally, the boy was released. This, too, was the right thing to do.
Afterward, various Jewish groups supplied information to TSA personnel to explain what tefilin are, to make certain they raise no fears in the future. The lobbyists, too, were right.
Three comments: First, next time a person wants to pray on an airplane with tefilin, it would be a good idea to inform the crew before hand. Second, we are pleased that more people know about tefilin, but wish it could have happened differently. Third, we pray that terrorists stay away from tefilin.
