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Feb 14, 2022
Flying the Minyan-Friendly Skies
According to Globes, El Al is going to start a trial of making official minyanim on long haul flights, in an attempt to put an end to the ad hoc minyanim that disturb passengers and crew alike.
The official minyanim will be held in the back of the plane, in the galley and times of services will be announced in advance by the cabin crew and on the screens by each seat. They say the minyanim will be contained in the galley and will not spill over into the aisles, so as not to disturb passengers seated in that area. Participants in the minyan will have to continue wearing their masks (I assume this is just for now with the mask mandate on flights but if that ever gets removed, the minyan-goers will no longer need to either).
ElAl has instructed its crews to prepare for this and to arrange their kitchen tasks and needs to be in sync with the minyanim allowances. The morning services will likely be scheduled for sunrise. In cases of weather difficulties, turbulence and the like, participants may be required to go back to their seats.
It is about time they are arranging some way to make it organized, instead of fighting about it every flight and having ill will between passengers and crew and each other.
I think they need to actually start two minyanim, so every praying-passenger will have the minyan he goes to and the minyan he wont attend.
Will women want a minyan as well? equal rights!
What happens if someone misses sunrise and wants to start another minyan?
I think they should also build a prayer area by the galley. They can install a bima and aron kodesh, have a permanent gabbai to run the minyan, maybe even hire a chazzan and a baal kriya! They will next install a bookcase with siddurim. And then next year they will open a yeshiva and kollel! ElAl should put out a fundraising call to name the ElAl inflight shuls after a dearly departed. :-)
Just joking. I really think it can be a good idea and that this is something that should have, could have, happened a long time ago.
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"What happens if someone misses sunrise and wants to start another minyan?"
ReplyDeleteThis is routinely flouted in international flights. People daven shacharis when it is 4 pm outside.
Then again, I was once at the Kotel, and trying to get a minyan together. Another guy there was also doing so, so I asked him if we could try to do it together. "You are getting a mincha minyan togehter, right?" "No," he says, "shacharis."
This idea should have been implemented decades ago, it is a win-win as it allows the staff to limit when people are davening, so they can plan to have the kitchen closed at a fixed time.
ReplyDeleteIt is not the first time El Al has discussed it, many years ago El Al was looking at buying new planes, and one of the models they were looking at had a small downstairs area accessible to passengers, and they discussed whether to turn that area into a Beit Knesset.
If I recall correctly, in the end El Al bought a different model plane, and they abandoned the idea of a dedicated shul on the plane.
Looks like my memory was close, in 1999 Airbus tried to sell planes to El Al that would be fitted with a shul downstairs, but in the end El Al didn't buy those planes:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/aug/04/jamesmeek
interesting
DeleteRaises all kinds of interesting shailos. Which nusach will the minyan daven? Will they duchen?
ReplyDeleteWho will decide when to skip tachnun 🤣
Delete