8/29 | El Al

Riding on El Al is an experience unlike any other in the world.  From the masses of religious Jews praying in the aisles to the crazy staff people, El Al offers travelers the authentic Israeli experience from check-in to landing.  Upon arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport, I was shuffled through three different lines, each lasting upwards of 45 minutes, only to have my bags taken without being handed a boarding pass.  In between, I was asked a series of fast-paced questions--Where are you going to study?  Why?  Do you know Hebrew?  How?  What was the last Jewish holiday you celebrated?  With who?--designed to detect any potential threats.  After 30 uncomfortable minutes in which I was told to stand and just wait, all the while thinking that I may not have a seat on my group flight, I was handed a boarding pass without any real explanation.  Let the craziness commence!

Already running late, I said some quick goodbyes to my dad and bolted through more security only to discover that we would be boarding late.  While waiting with a few people from Hebrew University, all of the religious Jews stood up and started davening--swaying back and forth in prayer--in the middle of the airport terminal.  Shortly after, we were called to start boarding the plane.  Israelis are not known for their patience, of course, so the line looked more like a mob.  While in this hodgepodge of people, I noticed something peculiar: I was one of only a few not wearing a yarmulke!  This self-conciousness would only intensify later when everyone around me was handed a glatt kosher meal, meaning that the meat in their meals was thoroughly inspected for possible defects, while my meal, a regular kosher meal, was prepared under less strict standards.

The winglet on our Boeing 747.

I was assigned a seat next to two yeshiva students, both named Eli, so my experience was made a lot more interesting!  Both were younger than me, but much more religious, at one point discussing the current holiday of Rosh Chodesh and whether or not it would be appropriate to blow a shofar on the plane in celebration.  Fortunately, this did not develop into anything more than a conversation, although the Eli to my left said he had been on a plane where this did in fact happen.  Let me say, though, that nothing would surprise me on an El Al flight to Israel.  A great experience, El Al was the perfect way to welcome me to my semester abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, a country not known for any shortage of meshugas!

Fun fact (and more craziness): El Al uses a variation of the plus sign so as not to offend religious Jews who believe that a regular plus sign (+) looks too much like the Christian cross.