Only if you’re living under a rock have you missed the news that a plane was diverted because a flight attendant mistook a White Plains Jewish teen putting on tefillin for a terrorist. Yes, they thought it was a (tefillin) bomb.
No, this is not part of my stand-up routine but it will be.
Read:
“Religious Device Causes Scare On US Air Flight” (CBS)
“Police Explain Diversion of Flight to Philadelphia” (NY Times)
“Jewish teen’s tefillin sets off bomb scare that diverts US Airways flight from LaGuardia Airport” (New York Daily News)
SIGH.
So, okay, yeah, it’s time to admit that some of the stuff us Orthodox Jewish folk do looks kinda crazy to non-Jews!
I remember my husband strapping on tefillin at the airport in front of Alyssa Milano who was on our flight from New York to Los Angeles and I thought, “Great, Alyssa Milano thinks we’re crazy. Now I can’t ask for her autograph.”
My husband, of course, said, “Who’s Alyssa Milano?”
This is what happens when you grow up without a proper television.
(Another time, I ran into Alyssa Milano’s costar in Beverly Hills. It was my first time in Beverly Hills and my husband said, “People expect they’ll run into celebrities around here. Like, you know, that guy’s probably a celebrity” and he pointed at some random passerby. And I said, “OMG! That’s Leo from Charmed!” You can imagine what my husband said.)
Anyway, this is a truly inspired piece: “What Non-Jews May Think of Some Jewish Rituals”
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 
Remind me to tell you about meeting Benicio del Toro in PR last year. Boohoo.
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Aliza,
This is a clear case of ignorance. The fact that most people are not aware of Jewish prayer practices is really bad, I think. We need to learn about each other's beliefs and practices. Perhaps this would make for a more peaceful world too.
My wife, who is not an expert on the subject of tefillin, thought the reaction was stupid. She said she would have at least recognized that the kid was praying. We once saw some Hasidic Jews at Reagan airport in DC praying.
Shabbat shalom,
David
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(snicker)
At least we don't do anything crazy, like waving chickens around our heads… oh, wait…
🙂
When Bad Cohen told me about this over the weekend, I was picturing some middle aged guy. somehow the picture is different with a teenager.
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