From: goldberg@techunix.technion.ac.il (Jacques Goldberg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Fly El Al [was: Multiple Hechshers]
Date: 31 Jul 92 08:34:26 GMT
Organization: Technion, Israel Institute of Technology

rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il (ROBERT WERMAN) writes:


>Michah Lerner responds to my posing on Multiple Hechshers,
>quoting me:

>>>>>Traveling on an El Al plane can be wild.  The local hechsher is not
>>>>>good enough for some of the passengers; at least two London ones, a
>>>>>Swiss and Belgian one were requested by neighbors of mine.  And finally
>>>>>there was the fellow who refused all food and took out his home-made
>>>>>sandwich.  Yiden, gevald!

>[and writes:]

>>  Sigh, but the sunrise from those planes is so beautiful, I wonder
>>  how it got that way.

>****************************

>Has v'shalom that I should impugn El Al; do fly the Blue
>Skies of El Al by all means.

   What has this issue to do with El-Al? I personally wholeheartedly rely on
the Israel Rabbanuth Rashith  to tell me what is Kosher or not. Some people
don't (basically, because that Rabbanuth is too Zionist for them, even if they
don't know it explicitly today  and just follow their parents tradition, which
one should do of course. I am not criticising, just stating a fact). Many of
the Israelis who don't satisfy themselves with the Rabbanuth HaRashith want
BADATS (most often an extra stamping on already Rabbanuth-Kosher stuff...).
Isn't it natural that somebody has his own sandwich more reliable than BADATS?

What does that have to do with El Al?

PLEASE don't rush on El Al. Everybody knows it is a very bad airline. I really
hate it: it has become almost impossible to find a seat later than 2 months
in advance, I have recently been obliged to pay the extra business class fare
to find a seat (I of course won't fly any other airline). Also, everybody knows
that they are never on time: this is absolutely true: I have a frequent flyer
with El Al, since February 90; they give 1 point for each flight to or from
Europe, 1.5 to/from USA. I have 29 point so far, and yes this lousy airline
was late by 25 minutes ONCE, just to save its reputation I believe, once out
of more than 25 flights. Also, people with a sensitive heart should keep away
from El Al, for they might think for one minute during their flight who was the
last immigrant, from Tashkent of from Addis Abbeba, seated yesterday on your
seat.
Many of you readers live in the USA, here is a story for you. About 6 years
ago I once went to Boston via Paris and therefore could not fly El Al.  The
return TWA flight from Boston to Tel Aviv with a connection in Paris could 
not land in PAris due to fog, and finally went to Zurich. That specific flight
was Boston-Paris-Zurich and the same plane would fly back the same path. There
was crowd waiting to board in Zurich, the plane could not take them and its
Paris passengers. TWA asked El Al to carry the connecting passengers to Tel 
Aviv. The vast majority of them were awfully scared to board the old 707, and
had decided they would have a bad fligth, bad plane, bad pilot, and no food.
We were a few Israelis that tried to calm they down. After they had had a
smooth flight, and a Rabbanuth-Kosher meal with smoked salmon and wine from
the Hebron cellars (free on El Al, don't rush please), they were only scared
by the landing. Some of them discovered they had landed when the plane was
stopped. They did not believe, when we had told them where El AL's flying 
staff comes from.

I have no affiliation with El Al. But I was Bar Mizwah on May 15, 1948. This
may explain why I am fond of Rabbanuth-Kosher food and of blue-and-white
airlines.