ISRAEL — After failing to reach a deal with El Al that would see the company operating separate flights for the ultra-Orthodox sector, rabbis are now calling on their public not to fly with the Israeli company at all, and prefer foreign airlines instead.
Rabbis Urge Public to Shun El Al
ISRAEL — After failing to reach a deal with El Al that would see the company operating separate flights for the ultra-Orthodox sector, rabbis are now calling on their public not to fly with the Israeli company at all, and prefer foreign airlines instead.
Ahead of Passover, the high season for visits in Israel and abroad among haredim, the rabbinic committee on transportation has published a statement urging the public to fly only with airlines that offer movie-free flights, or flights with designated areas that are movie-free.
They also included a list of the recommended airlines, and specified which of them also applies a modest dress code for its crew.
Dirty movies on El Al flights?
Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf, who is taking part in the efforts to introduce “kosher flights,” told Ynet that negotiations with El Al were ongoing, and expressed hope that an agreement will be struck soon.
Although on El Al’s major flights every passenger can turn off his personal TV screen, and on some of the other flights the company operates a “movie-free” zone, the rabbis ordered their followers to refrain from flying wit the Israeli airline.
Goldnkopf explained that “contrary to El Al, these companies screen only movies showing water and scenery, and not dirty movies.”
El Al said in response that “there have been no negotiations regarding designated flights for haredim only. There was an attempt by one travel agent to fill an entire flight with haredi passengers, but it fell through.
”Had he succeeded, El Al might have been willing to look into the possibility of making certain adjustments, as it does when an organized group occupies a whole airplane.”
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these people are insane!!! such a chilul hashem. just get your stupid eyes off the screen if its such a problem. just cuz you chassidish or wtvr dont have self control doesnt mean the rest of us dont!!!
excher
didnt this happen once already?
pests
they are such control freaks-trying to control everyone else.How about just taking care of yourself and wear blindfolds so u won’t be tempted.Let them go on other flites and do everyone a favor.good riddance!
mendel
what a chilul hashem, these guys are insane.
marc
this is very ironic, let me say, much to el als credit, that it serves kosher food on all its flightsdeparting from any country. unlike other airlines.
poor jew
is it better to give your business to Lufthansa nazis then to jews?
moshe
just FYI all the Major Airlines all over world show similar movies and they are all Edited for a regular flying Audience which includes kids there are no bad scenes on any of these movies ranging from American Airlines to British Airway to EL AL.
this is stupid!
omg!! some people are just mad!! if i want to watch a movie on a flight its my problem…if you dont want it then turn your screen off!! period!!
Another way to look at it
B“H
It’s not as easy as you might think to avoid the movies, as just walking up an aisle exposes a person to the screens, many times over. And we all know the ”hypnotic“ quality to the screens; the eye just darts to them almost uncontrollably.
Plus, when people turn off their own screens, there are still screens visible through the spaces between the seats in front of you. And sometimes we are stuck staying in our seats, such as when the flight gets into turbulence in the air.
The last time I flew with our young cheder boy, we were lucky that he was cooperative with the propping of a paper barrier over the space between the seats; otherwise, he would have had a clear view of a movie that may have been rated ”PG“, but it’s not anywhere near to frum standards — affection between the sexes, provocative dress, harsh language, violence — sometimes downright scary stuff, etc.
The movies are NOT just about ”water and scenery“ and ”no bad scenes“!
And I do not know of ANY airlines that have ”movie-free flights“ or ”designated areas“ only for movie watchers.
All that the rabbis are trying to do is to find some options for people who do not wish to be stuck exposed to this movie dreck, and to publicize what these possible options might be.If EL AL thinks it doesn’t need the frum community’s business, then gezundter heit to them, but there’s nothing wrong with the rabbis trying to talk some sense into them.
If you want to watch movies, R”L, these rabbis are not out to stop YOU; they just want to help the people who do NOT want them!
I, for one, very much appreciate their efforts. If you don’t like the efforts, don’t worry — EL AL seems to be doing whatever it wants anyway.
uri
the discussion isn’t about El Al, the discussion is about a religious Jews making a statement that they doesn’t want anything to do with this movies or anything that may be associated with the non religious world. plain shallow straight forward stupidity
IMHO, what about covers ? elal will hand covers to the TV screens to those who will be interested in it/ not interested in watching movies. the religious passengers can find million ways to deal with this challenge!
in the long run el al can create a TV Channel for religious people, and the passenger will be restricted to the assigned material
they can go one step further and preset the passenger’s preferences in the Check-in process.
another startup idea ?
to Another way to look at it
I have an idea for you…use the good ol’ horse and buggy and you’ll be back in your comfort zone..or go move to the shtetle
Since when did you get a contract with g-d that you get to walk around without haveing to see “signs of effection”
Trust me on this (or don’t and go see for yourself) your kids will get (or are getting) much more harsh language and talk of effection between sexes and lessons in dissrespect from their pairs in our own schools, camps etc than they’ll ever get on 5 round trips.
So teach your kids how to deal with influences instead of trying to hide it because you might be able to hide it for a short while but it will be there someday and without proper tools it’s hard to fight.
enough from these rabbis
this is utter stupidity are the rabbis bored or something???? Are these rabbis or politicians? Are these the same rabbis that the wigs are a problem, the water is a problem, flushing on shabbos is a problem, the strawberrys are a problem. NOW THE AIRPLAINS ARE A PROBLEM… WHOOPS THE MOVIE ON THE AIRPLAIN. Did the rabbis ever hear of a jewish book or maybe a tehillim that could be read while on the plain????? Or whatever happened to mir kook nisht vu mir tor nisht (you don’t look where you’re not supposed to)
What will be next – city buses??? seperate sidewalks???? seperate trains????? the only thing to stop it is to have these people taken away the title rabbi and all the problems will be solved.
Reply to bitter answer to Another Way...
B“H
Whoa! You’re reading way more into what I said than there is there! I must have really unintentionally hit a nerve, because you’re really spurting bile here!
Do you feel threatened because I would choose a movie-free flight over one without a movie? What harm does it cause you?
And as for what I’m teaching my kids, well, you do not even know my family, nor do you know how we are raising our children! You act like it’s a black and white situation: either we’re back in the shtetl, or we’re completely immersed in all of the non-frum influences of the world — the more the better; and there’s no middle way for you.
I feel sorry for you, if you only see life as an either/or proposition.
I guess the teachings of the Rebbe (for example, that our kids should learn midos from kosher sources, rather than from a certain mouse invented by W. Disney) are not your cup of tea.
I guess you don’t believe the Freirdike Rebbe when he said, ”America iz nisht Anderishe“.
How sad.
But, like I said before:
If you want to watch movies, R”L, these rabbis are not out to stop YOU; they just want to help the people who do NOT want them!
I, for one, very much appreciate their efforts. If you don’t like the efforts, don’t worry — EL AL seems to be doing whatever it wants anyway.
And, since when did you get a contract from Hashem saying that we are required to seek out opportunities to walk around seeing treif things, just because our schools and camps are sometimes (r”l) places where kids have nothing better to do than discuss treif things, which they are discussing with their peers rather than with their mashpiim, Rebbies, Morahs, and/or parents?
Are you one of those parents who exposes their kids to treif, and then isn’t really there to help them understand it, so instead, your kids are discussing it with their friends at frum school and camp?
Something really bad must have happened to you, somewhere along the way. I’m davening for you, and for your kids.
Somewhere inside your bitter, hard-boiled exterior there still is a pure, sweet, yiddishe neshomah.