Jewish Passengers Stranded in Cyprus, Rome as Ben Gurion Airport Closes

by Moshe New – chabad.org

Ben Gurion Airport has been closed “until further notice” after Israel launched strikes against Iran overnight. Israel launched a massive preemptive military offensive against Iran early Friday morning, striking nuclear facilities and killing senior Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as an operation to prevent an imminent nuclear threat. Over 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft conducted coordinated strikes on more than 100 targets across Iran, dropping over 330 munitions in the operation dubbed “Rising Lion.”

Expecting a significant Iranian response, including drone and missile strikes, Israel closed its airport, and incoming international flights were diverted.

Among the dozens of flights affected by Ben Gurion airport closures, at least 32 flights from the U.S. and Europe were diverted to Cyprus, with 29 flights carrying 2,427 passengers landing at both Larnaca and Paphos airports by midday Friday. Many others were directed to Rome, Dubai and Greece.

When word of the diversions reached Chief Rabbi of Cyprus Rabbi Arie Zeev and his wife Shaindel Raskin, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries who have served Cyprus’s small Jewish community since 2003, they were ready for the challenge.

The Raskins, who typically host 20-30 guests for weekly Shabbat meals, immediately began mobilizing their network and coordinating with Larnaca hotels and the local community to accommodate the unexpected guests. The Raskins also started to prepare the Chabad Center building for the influx of guests.

Passengers began arriving at the Chabad center in the early hours of this morning. Police and security personnel directed traffic outside while inside, a sea of suitcases filled the lobby.

The passengers waylaying at Chabad for Shabbat range from secular Israelis to Charedi families, young backpackers to prominent rabbinic figures. Rabbi Ezriel Auerbach, a distinguished Torah scholar and Halachic arbiter based in Jerusalem’s Bayit Vegan neighborhood, is among the many Jews spending Shabbat with Chabad in Lanarca. Prior to the onset of Shabbat in Cyprus, Chabad there estimated that some 400-500 people would be gathering at the Chabad center for the main Shabbat meal.

Local Cyprus Jewish community members have volunteered to help with accommodation and Chabad also has plans to host multiple prayer services on Shabbat owing to the large number of guests.

“I’ve never seen coordination like this,” observed David S., a businessman from New York City. “The Chabad rabbi seems to be everywhere at once. On the phone with caterers, directing hotel arrangements, and somehow still finding time to calm worried passengers.”

David Kesselman was flying from New York City and was about to descend into Ben Gurion Airport when he saw on the In Flight Entertainment screen that the plane was turning around. After landing in Larnaca he knew there was only one way he was going to get his Shabbat in order.

“We immediately knew that we had to call Chabad,” he told Chabad.org as Shabbat was about to fall on the little island in the Mediterranean. As soon as they landed, they called Chabad of Cyprus who suggested a hotel closeby. Immediately after their bags were dropped off at the hotel they headed to Chabad where food and drink awaited them.

“There are worse places to be stuck,” one passenger observed, while another said “there’s nothing like Chabad.”

When Stuck in Rome

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Jews are facing a similar situation elsewhere in Europe. In Rome, where an El Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv was rerouted along with various flights from Milan, London, Barcelona and Tbilisi, approximately 700 people traveling to Israel are stranded.

Rabbi Menachem Lazar, director of Chabad Piazza Bologna in Rome, woke up at 6 a.m. Friday morning to find his WhatsApp flooded with messages. “I didn’t know what was happening at first,” Lazar recalled. “Then I realized the scope of what we were dealing with.”

In coordination with the local Jewish community, Chabad emissaries in Rome immediately sprang into action. The Chabad center in the Jewish quarter began offering full-service Shabbat meals and serving as a meeting and rest location for the hundreds of stranded passengers.

“We immediately began triaging to respond to the hundreds of messages from stranded people,” said Lazar, who is hosting more than 100 people at the Chabad center tonight, with many more picking up food for Shabbat at their hotels.

The response from the local Roman Jewish community has been overwhelming, said Lazar. Rabbis began contacting local hotels to help put up the hundreds of people close to the Jewish areas, while a Jewish school stepped up to provide cots to host passengers over Shabbat. Passengers have been coming to Chabad centers throughout the city since early Friday morning to pray, eat and spend time together. Community members have also opened their homes to complete strangers.

“On these occasions, we are seeing people coming together to help and asking what they can do for their fellow Jews,” says Lazar. “It’s incredibly heartwarming.”

Despite the challenging circumstances, Lazar expressed cautious optimism about the coordinated response. “Thank G‑d things seems to be very under control here,” he said. “We’re spending Shabbat here together, Jews from all over the world, praying for the safety of our brethren in Israel and G‑d’s continued blessings. ”