In recent years, the co-mingling of the sexes has become a major source of tension on flights to and from Israel. Some very religious men are being seated next to women to whom they are not married or related, which necessitates an extended game of musical chairs before take-off. (Never mind the departure time, modesty trumps timeliness. Always.)

Now Israel’s national airline, EL AL, has pledged its commitment to its passengers spiritual safety in a new in-flight video. Never again, thank God, will a man be forced to sit next to a pesky little woman for several hours at a time. Effective immediately, every aircraft will be equipped with a “male congregation area”—and if a male passenger absolutely must sit next to a woman, he may avail himself of the use of a transparent full body protection vest to keep the lady-cooties at bay. (Added bonus: Ebola protection.) There’s even a shofar for attracting attention in the event of a safety breach. So innovative! (They don’t call Israel the “Start-Up Nation” for nothing, right?)

Read more about this ingenious Israeli solution over at our sister-site, Tablet Magazine.

The In-Flight Safety Video El Al Should Show from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

The post El Al Pledges Commitment to Passengers’ Spiritual Safety in New In-Flight Video appeared first on Jewcy.

A reader brings this picture to our attention, allegedly of an Orthodox man flying from Cyprus who sealed himself in plastic for the duration of the flight. While this seems like an effective way to guard oneself against the Contagion-level germ count on airplanes, we’re told it’s likely because he’s a descendant of the biblical Kohanim, and adhering to a shockingly strict interpretation of ancient laws regarding contact with the dead.

Apparently, since all planes fly over cemeteries, this is an advised method of spiritual protection. About.com’s Judaism page (a questionable source, we know) explains:

A kohen initially was not supposed to approach any dead body, and if he did so he became ritually impure (tameh). There were rituals that could be employed in ancient days to restore him to ritual purity, but that is no longer possible.

The fact is that all of us have sat on a chair where there was a dead fly, been in a building where there was a deceased animal, etc. Thus, we are all ritually impure, including the Kohanim.

Needless to say, the other passengers pictured look thoroughly confused. The real question, though, is what would Sandy Cohen do?

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