Ultra-orthodox Jews refuse to sit with women on plane, delaying flight

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HUNDREDS of ultra-orthodox Jewish men delayed a flight from New York to Tel Aviv last week by refusing to sit next to female passengers.

The plane was filled with both non-orthodox and secular Jews who were traveling to Israel to mark Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year.

Ultra-orthodox Jews are forbidden to have physical contact between men and women unless they are family or married.

As passengers boarded the flight, the ultra-orthodox men asked women to change seats so they didn’t have to sit next to them, Ynet reported.

Some men even offered the women money to change seats.

A witness, known only as Galit, said the men stood in the aisles, delaying the fight’s departure for up to 20 minutes.

“I ended up sitting next to a haredi man who jumped out of his seat the moment we had finished taking off and proceeded to stand in the aisle,” she said.

Some of the haredi men spent much of the eleven-hour flight standing and praying in the aisle, which caused general commotion and made it difficult to reach the restroom, Galit said.

“I went to the bathroom and it was mission impossible,” she said.

The plane eventually landed in Israel before dawn on September 24, in time for all the passengers to celebrate the New Year.

Source: Ynet, Huffington Post

15 thoughts on “Ultra-orthodox Jews refuse to sit with women on plane, delaying flight”

  1. Just another version of belief !
    One of the vast number developed by men,s clubs.
    Funny how you are disturbed by other versions from me of what could be .
    Yet all these version put forward from Men,s clubs are fine to you .

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  2. Now Bryan! I want you to look at the Old Testament and tell me where they got their command from God to do this. Can you do it?

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    • According to a Jewish site, the prohibition of touching (in Hebrew negiah) goes back to the Book of Leviticus (18:6 and 18:19) and was developed further in the Talmud. A person who observes this prohibition is often called a shomer negiаh. It applied not only to close contact such as hugging and kissing, but also to shaking hands or patting on the back. The practice is generally followed by traditionally observant Jews, both men and women, including Hassidic Jews, and those who are referred to as Haredim. It is also observed within the Modern Orthodox community depending on how traditional the person is.

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      • Leviticus 18:6
        “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.”

        Leviticus 18:19
        “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period”

        So it is in context (there is that word again) of sex that these verses were written, not whether you sit next to a woman in an aeroplane.

        But this illustrates the depth of perversion when one supersedes the Word of God in favour of… what was the word you used? Traditional? This also illustrates what happens when one ignores the plain text of the Bible in favour of… what did you say? Talmud?

        No wonder Jesus had so much problems during His ministry on this earth with Rabbinical Judaism. They had ignored the plain text of the Bible (which was ordained by God) in favour of man made traditions (which had not been ordained by God).

        What did these jews think would happen on the plane? Turn into an orgy? If only!

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      • I agree with you

        But since you asked, The Talmud specifies a number of restrictions to prevent men from transgressing:
        It states a man and his woman are not allowed to touch, if they are neither related nor married. This is because of the fear that touching might lead to sexual transgressions. As an extension of this, Orthodox men aren’t supposed to sit next to women to which they are neither related nor married.

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      • Does scripture always command what is “right” and provide us with what is “good?” What exactly does that even mean? Especially in light of well known commands in the Bible that neither Jews nor Christians would normally consider right and good, such as stoning rebellious sons or adulteresses, beating slaves to death, and treating virgin women as property?

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      • Reading this account of the Ultra-Orthodox on the plane, reminds me of that fascinating movie of Barbra Streisand some 30 odd years back, called Yentl. For any who didnt see it, there was this young Jewish woman who wanted to study Torah like the guys, so she dressed up like a young man and joined a school. When she eventually revealed her true identity to a male friend in the group, he was so horrified that he promptly hit her across the face, as I recall.

        I was working alongside a young guy at the time, who was Jewish. He had grown up within the liberal branch of Judaism, but the more he studied, the more he was getting determined to go Orthodox. Dont know if he eventually did. I got quite a good education on all things Jewish through knowing him.

        Now a further matter concerning this young chap is that his mother was married to the famous pianist David Helfgott. That first marriage fell apart after a couple more years, because David just wandered off and did his own thing constantly. I met David a few times, and indeed he and Clare (his first wife) along with Ray, her son, visited our home (in Perth), and he played the piano in our lounge.

        Fascinating guy, but terribly confused and lost. l’ll never forget the sight of those long long fingers just dancing on the keyboard. Very sweet guy indeed, and all I know seems to indicate that the movie Shine was very accurate for the most part, and somehow it very studiously avoided mentioning his first marriage. I might just add that Rush did a most incredible job of portraying David just as he was both in looks and behaviour.

        Oh yes, just coming back to the Streisand movie Yentl, I came up with the most awful pun on the matter. I got a big groan from my Jewish mate at the time. I informed him that Japan was going to make their own version of the story. He was surprised and curious about it, until I told him that their film would be titled – ‘Ori-Yentl’. Luckily he didnt slap me across the face.

        Cheers, Rian.

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    • 😆 Good one Rian!

      I absolutely love the move ‘Yentle’ and watch it whenever it gets a re-run on TV, which isn’t often. Don’t know why it touches me so deeply, but it does. Anyway, Barbra Streisand is a perfect choice for the movie and her singing is wonderful. BTW, I am the proud grandmother of a gorgeous baby girl who came into the world on Monday—YAAY!

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