Teen Couldn't Convince Flight Crew His "Tefillin" Was Harmless

2010_1_jpg The airline that diverted a flight when a Jewish passenger started praying said it was forced to treat the incident as a bomb scare because the teen didn't clearly explain why he had strapped his tefillin — two small black boxes worn by Orthodox Jews during weekday morning prayers — to his head and arm. According to Chautauqua Airlines, which was operating the US Airways Flight from LaGuardia to Kentucky, "[w]hen our crew tried to discuss the issue with the passenger, they did not receive a clear response."

"[I]n the interest of everyone's safety, the crew decided to land in Philadelphia, where a more complete investigation and follow-up with authorities would be possible," the statement continued, according to the Post. The grandmother of 17-year-old White Plains resident Caleb Leibowitz said her grandson "hadn't had the opportunity to pray, so that is why he did it on the plane." She told the Times that upon landing, police boarded the plane and pointed guns at her grandson for "a little bit" and put the teen and his 16-year-old sister Dalia in handcuffs for a few minutes. "We live in a time when people are very skittish," she said. After the incident, authorities placed the siblings and the other passengers on other flights to Kentucky.

FBI Special Agent J.J. Klaber told the Daily News that Leibowitz's tefillin "is something most Americans probably have not seen before." He added that the teen and his sister "were very cooperative" and "were dressed like normal teenagers, except he had a yarmulke on." Apparently, many Orthodox Jews avoid using tefillin on flights so as not to alarm other passengers, and because it is difficult to pray when confined to a seat. According to Chabad.info, perhaps the largest ramification of yesterday's air scare is the fact that "millions of Americans Googled the word 'Tefillin' making it the most searched for word on Google today."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Ben Muessig in News on January 22, 2010 1:36 PM

Comments [rss]

NYBuckeye

Wow most of you sound like ignorant morons.

ihaveopinions

That they do, that they do. Welcome to the internet, you must be new here!

blink

Is that the non-stick tefillin?

Thinky Think

LMAO I concur!

ProcedureTurn

I do have to admit, Im glad to not be jewish. I wouldnt want to have to wear a contraption like this on my arm and head.

BTW, there is no god. The kid is wasting his time. Should be out doing fun stuff, not praying all strapped up in leather. Life is too short ot think god exists.

ProcedureTurn

so...

This tefillin stuff is kosher?

Oy vey!!!

Potty Boy

Wait a minute....no one else on the flight from *NYC* could corroborate the kid's explanation? Dang, I'm not Jewish, never lived in a Jewish neighborhood before, and even I've seen that paraphernalia. Just never knew the terms for them. I think I've seen them praying on TV whenever the news takes video from the Wailing Wall.

NannyState

Yiddle skiddle.

Mordicai

& by "skittish" I take it you mean "afraid of anyone who isn't super white & blonde."

MFer

File this under "The Secret Sex Lives of Jews". I mean, don't tell me nobody's getting off by all the black straps. And the square in a round hole. Painful but good.

CollidedCleft

why MFer? are you?

NattyB

I once sat next to a guy on a flight who was doing this.

He kept shaking and rocking back and forth. It was annoying as shit. But yah, nobody thought to turn the plane around or anything like that. Granted, this was an El Al flight from Israel to NYC, but, still.

Awesomer

I've never heard of an orthodox Jew named Caleb; it means "dog."

Awesomer

And let me preempt anyone who wants to point out it's a biblical name: yes, I know that.

AspieSociologist

Actually, dog is "kelev" not "caleb". Sorta the same letters, true, but different vowel marks, and a vet not a bet. There are plenty of Orthodox Jews named Pinchas, afterall, which in Hebrew is a few markings away from "penis".

Awesomer

Okay, here's the scoop. The Hebrew word "kelev" is a segolate; this is a class of nouns whose vowels in the first syllable were changed to segols (i.e. "e"). But the underlying vowel is an "a." Other Semitic languages kept the "a" in their words for dog, such as Arabic. The fact that the name Caleb (Kalev in Hebrew) kept this "a" shows that it's an archaism, since names are conservative. Anyways, without this whole rigamarole, the shoresh (root consonants) k-l-b make it unmistakable that Caleb means dog.

bigredesq

To Awesomer: Assuming you're right and Caleb refers to dog, Caleb/Kelev is actually a contraction of two Hebrew words: "Kulo" (all) and "Lev" (heart) - reflecting the fundamental nature of man's "best friend." In light of this, Caleb (All Heart) may not carry the stigma you seem to think it does.

etypical

except if you speak to someone who actually speaks Hebrew and you say Caleb meaning dog they will tell you the word is Kelev - if you feel like being corrected go for it but those are two distinct words. Shalom alechem chaver.

seaanemoneman

"Why" are we putting "tefillin" in "quotes"?

Mr. Shankly

Can you talk to Xenu on it?

btw, the kid in the caption clearly got a nose job for his birthday.

JacqueMehoff

I didn't know there was a second box. did he also wear the fringe belt? oh, and the kid looks like a tough guy if you know what I mean.

1stephanie

Clearly everyone's forgotten the video for "Die Another Day," where Madonna wears sexy tefillin.

mellow_fellow

Religions are wack.

grandeur

I'm wondering how he got this stuff past security, you know...if it was on his body...?

Reflect

People will do anything to get into heaven...... What's the next heaven fashion trend?

Heaven is a state of mind people, its in front of you available to you now.

jt10000

I hope this becomes a "teachable moment" of some kind.

Guest

What the hell is a Jewish teen going to Kentucky for? One way or another, he was going to be harassed.

Kojak

Yentl Convention

tsol

People in Kentucky wouldn't know he was a jew by sight, nor would they likely care. Most of the rest of the country (outside of LA) only knows about jews from Seinfeld, which is why this incident happened.