Posted to Jewish News on
by Sandy Eller - VinNews.com

El Al Says Photo Of Bag-Wearing Man 10 Years Old

Two different accounts have emerged about an unverified photograph of a chareidi man sitting on an airplane covered in a full length plastic bag that took the internet by storm last week.

According to reports in The Gothamist, El Al media representative Sheryl Stein said that the picture, which surfaced last week, is not a recent one and may likely be a decade old.

“[A colleague] remembered this from at least ten years ago,” said Stein.

While many online comments have suggested that the man may have been a Kohein looking to avoid any possibility of contamination when flying over a cemetery, Stein said that the airline specifically rerouted its planes to avoid flying over cemeteries in order to accommodate Kohanim and that to the best of her knowledge the issue is no longer a problem.

Stein’s explanation runs counter to a story that appeared last week in the Israeli newspaper Yated Neeman as described by Israeli news source Kikar Hashabat.

According to the Yated, the story behind the widely circulated picture took place two weeks ago when two Israeli men from Bnei Brak, who were returning from a fundraising trip to London, missed their flight back to Israel on the Friday before Pesach. While they were able to get seats on the next available flight to Israel, the plane was rerouted to Cyprus after a farewell ceremony in honor of President Obama forced the closure of all Israeli airspace. The pair spent Shabbos in Cyprus where they subsisted on only bread and produce. Planning their return trip to Israel after Shabbos, just hours before the onset of Pesach, they discovered that all flights from Cyprus back to Tel Aviv flew over the Jewish cemetery in Holon, creating a problem for one of the men who was a Kohein. Turning to prominent Bnei Brak posek R’ Yitzchak Zilberstein, a son in law of Reb Eliashiv, for advice, the man was told to cover himself with a large plastic bag before the airplane passed over Ben Gurion Airport.

VIN News declined to publish the photograph when it began making the rounds on the internet last week due its lack of verification.

Another picture of a person draped in a plastic bag, this one a white Zaka bag with blue letters, also appeared on The Gothamist with no further information regarding when, or by whom, the photograph had been taken.

Despite its lack of verification, the photo created a flurry of activity on the internet, which Israeli news source Haaretz says first appeared on photo sharing site Imgur and was then linked to by an atheism board on Reddit where it garnered over 2,500 comments. Haaretz is reporting that the original photograph received one million views in just two days.

Over the past several days, despite its lack of authentication, the picture has made its way from the social media sites to the news sites including Britain’s The Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, The Daily News, The Jewish Press and Israeli news sites Kikar HaShabbat and YNet News.

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35 Comments

  • Milhouse

    Whether 10 years ago or now, this story has been a great lesson in אל יבוש מפני המלעיגים. Not only secular people have been mocking this man, but I’ve even had to argue with ostensibly frum people who called it a “chilul hashem” (these are the same type who 40 years ago said wearing a yarmulke in the street is a chilul hashem). To them, “chilul hashem” means anything that the מלעיגים won’t like.

    • Anonymous

      Thanks to these baalei nefesh, we’ll all be wearing plastic bags in the street in 40 years from now!

    • Milhouse

      40 years from now, halevai that we WILL all be doing this, or similar things, because we will all have to protect ourselves from tum’ah. Right now, unfortunately, only kohanim have to worry about it.

    • DB

      I doubt a Lubavitcher Rav would tell someone to do such a thing.When tacking Halacha into account,you need to include some common Sence.It does say “derech eretz kadma l’torah” .Besides,a person is not allowed to act like a cripple,how much more so a dead man.I am not saying he should of went against his rav,but there are many ways of doing things.

    • Milhouse

      On the contrary, DB, a Lubavitcher Rov knows that there are no chochmos and no peshoros, and “lechatchila ariber”. If the halocho poses a problem, one doesn’t look for kulos, one does the right thing and ignores the mal’igim.

      A person is not supposed to pretend to be a cripple in order to collect tzedokoh, or in order to make fun of them. What’s that got to do with this story? You seem to think he’s pretending to be dead?!

  • um no

    nothing to do comment #1, this picture is VERY ODD, don’t compare it to men wearing yarmulkas, it’s a whole different story, as in, among orthodox men we all wear a yarmulka, but none of us wear a plastic bag!

    • Milhouse

      So what? What difference does it make what other Orthodox men do? Being the only person with a yarmulke is just as embarrassing whether other Orthodox men do it or not.

      The whole point of אל יבוש מפני המלעיגים is that if the Torah requires it we do it, no matter how odd it looks. And what you have to consider is whether you want to be one of those who admire someone for being עז כנמר, or are you going to be one of the מלעיגים, chas vesholom?

    • um yes

      That is exactly Milhouses’ point. 40 years ago it was NOT the norm for orthodox men to wear a Yarmulka out in public.

  • It's a Free World

    Just do what the other passengers are doing, turn away. He’s not causing a public nuisance. It’s his business.

  • Really cannot stand these people.

    Would it bother anyone if this man would suffocate??

  • Really?

    First thing that comes to mind here is suffocation. How can it be safe to wrap yourself up completely in a plastic bag. Surely this is the wrong impression to give our children.

    • Milhouse

      No, it’s not dangerous. There’s plenty of air inside the bag, for the short time that he would have to be in it.

      The danger of plastic bags is a myth. When’s the last time you actually heard of a child suffocated by a plastic bag?

  • Kosher meal

    Maybe he didn’t get his kosher meal, so he’s doing a “shake n bake.”

  • Dont be fooled

    This is all part against the tirade that has been waged against charedim during the last few years, here in the US and in Eretz Ysroel. Showing this picture in the new is nothing but closet antisemitism and akiras haTorah

  • Ignorant

    If he is a Kohen, How is the plastic bag more effective than the Airplane itself?

  • Mavin

    Considering all the attention it’s been getting in the general media, I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes Time Magazine’s Man of the Year.

    • Milhouse

      No, the man of the year is someone who influenced the history of the year. This man has had and will have no impact on any major event.

  • DB

    Someone please explain.If the plane is not a good enough separation, how would the bag be?

  • Explanation

    The plane is made of metal and conducts Tum’ah while the plastic bag according to some opinions has a Din of Kli Cheres which can be saved if it’s sealed (Tzamid Passil)

    • Halacha much?

      Are you aware that caskets are commonly in the luggage compartment of the plane?

      Also, according to your theory, the plastic bag would need to be entirely wrapped around him, which would suffocate him.

    • Milhouse

      Yes, everyone is aware of the problem of caskets in the hold. What point do you think you’re making?

  • MN770

    It’s an ultra orthodox delivery service that vacuum seals their deliveries so they arrive fresh.

    • Milhouse

      No, it is true. The kohen is a former officer in the Israeli Air Force, and did this on the psak of a rov. So whoever makes fun of it is making fun of the Torah.

  • disappointed

    Al Yavosh? get real when Kohanim go to the ohel they are only surrounded by people in a circle or the little portable house an airplane is 10x better that is an extreme & a big Saccanah! It is a big chilul hashem & sets a bad precedent & fyi the little houses at the ohel the frame is metal as well! Again it is nothing but a foolish idea of an extremist it comes under Al tifrosh min hatzibur & of their own doing for gambling & taking a very late flight to begin with etc.!

    • Milhouse

      You are an am ho’oretz. This is pure am horatzus, and it’s frightening that you think you know something. Tum’as ohel by definition goes up and down, not to the sides,. That’s what “ohel” means! A covering, which goes over, not on the sides. That’s why the Rebbe’s “ohel”, despite the name, has no roof over the kevorim. So why are you talking about a mechitzah between a kohen and a kever on the side? What has that got to do with the topic? It’s truly scary how ignorant some people are, and yet they think they can criticise and comment on a matter of halocho.

      And what saccanah are you talking about? What danger is there?

      Chilul hashem?! Al tifrosh min hatzibur?! More amhoratzus; you throw around words but you have no idea what they mean. It’s a kiddush haShem, and if there’s a “tzibur” that’s not careful in mitzvos it’s a *mitzvah* to separate from them.

    • Milhouse

      Why is cardboard better than plastic? It would surely be more difficult to get in and out of.

  • Ultimate bitul

    I totally get it! As one who works on his middos, when working on bitul, self nullification, I visualize that I am garbage and even place myself inside a garbage bag. I am recyclable garbage, because I can be reformed for a better purpose, so I use a clear recycling garbage bag. Sitting in a garbage bag in public, heightens the experience and makes the bitul more meaningful. Happy bittul to all others working on their middos!

    • Anonymous

      If you are joking – it isn’t funny. If you aren’t joking – get emergancy help.