in yesterdays post, I spoke about meals on planes. thus I figure why not talk about the people serving the food…

On my recent flight with American Airlines from Chicago to Tokyo, I must say I was served by a couple of airline stewards/s who were old enough to be my grandparents. Now please don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against older people being air stewards, though these people did not seem to happy to be doing what they were doing.

Many people who fly are accustomed to the sickening, overly-smiling airline workers who seem to smile from take off to landing. I’ve always wondered how they do it. Fly Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, various Asian Airlines, and many other airlines and you will most likely be served by a young-smiling-happy person. This is not the case with many of the American based airlines.
The people serving me on my American Airlines flight looked like they were in their fifties and sixties, and I did not see a single smile ONCE! They seemed to go about their job with monotony, indifference and boredom. My wife reported a similar experience on her recent flights with United Airlines; in fact, she said she had the worst flight she had ever experienced because of the negative attitude of the flight attendants.

Why is this?

Working as an airline hostess/stewardess used to be a job for young people, something they did for just a few years. They would fly around the world, get to travel, meet new people, and overall just have a good time. It was never a career decision. No one would say “I want to spend the next twenty plus years being an airline steward/ess.” It was more like something you did for 2-3 years while you figured out what you wanted to do with your life. You had to take a relatively short and easy course, and if you had a pleasant personality (and you weren’t too short to close the overhead bins, or to fat to fit down the aisle) you cold get the job.

But in America it has changed. Now there are middle-aged people who have made being an airline hostess a career, and I don’t think this is such a good thing. Instead of viewing their job as a fun adventure, they view it with resentment because it takes them away from their home and family. If you are a middle-aged person who enjoys your job as an airline host/ess and you are full of joy every day (my wife met a woman like this on a recent US Airways flight, so they do exist!), then by all means continue fulfilling your passions, but if you are no longer happy with this choice, then please move on to a new career!

Having flown on some 300 flights in my life so far, I have tasted a fair share of kosher airline meals. Some have been fantastic, balanced, and well thought out, while others could have used some work.
Once, my regular kosher meal did not make it onto the plane. However, a first-class passenger had ordered a kosher meal but did not show up. So I was given the extra first-class kosher meal. The tray was too big even to fit on the tray holder in front of me and it came with real dishes and cutlery! All the other passengers were staring and asking what kind of meal I ordered, which came with a variety of very nice courses. I told them I ordered a kosher meal – boy, they might have been disappointed on their next trip!
On my recent trip to the United States from Australia, I flew with Japan Airlines which coded shared with American Airlines. On the Japan Airline flights I had three meals, two of which were wonderful fish meals, with rice and various side dishes. The third meal was three large pieces of while fruit, which I found interesting. The fruit was wrapped in plastic and had a KSML sticker on it. I tried communicating with one of the air hostess, wanting to understand how they arrived at this unique kosher meal. I explained that the meal was indeed kosher, and I being a fruit lover, I enjoyed the meal. But many other kosher passengers would not be happy with such a meal. I never did get a good explanation.

On the way back with American Airlines I received three meat meals. One was some sort of gooey dried out chicken nuggets, another was frozen meat balls, and the third a pastrami sandwich. My wife, who does not eat meat, would not have enjoyed these meals at all. I guess that is why she always makes sure to pack enough food for an army when she flies somewhere. Once we nearly missed our flight because she was cooking a huge meal to bring with us!

Now those who know me, would be aware that I don’t eat a lot of meat, though I still enjoy a good quality fleishig meal. None of the meals were good, and three meat meals on a twelve hour flight I feel is over doing it. But Americans do like their meat I guess, and Japanese like fish, so the airlines order similar types of kosher airline meals to what they think the passengers would enjoy. Whoever is making those kosher airline meals for American Airlines, I think there is a lot of room for improvement. I’ve had some fantastic kosher airline meals, but sadly yours have not made the list.

Burial site of the Baal Shem Tov in Ukraine

The 18^th of Elul is the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov is known as the founder of the Chassidic movement which started around 300 years ago. I have long been a fan of the Baal Shem Tovs teachings many which are widely accepted today amongst Jews though years ago were not the norm. Things like seeing divine providence in everything, though this was known in the past it was the Baal Shem Tov who made it tangible.

Seeing divine providence is a highlight of my travels. Many of my best travel stories which I enjoy telling over are about episodes of divine providence. A s Jews we don’t believe in coincidence, rather, it is G-d who is directing every single things that takes place in our universe.

It is interesting, because it was with divine providence that I ended p visiting the Ukraine a few years ago and subsequently the burial site of the Baal Shem Tov. It is a bit of a story which I’ll need to type up some other time, but for now I just wanted to share a photo of the burial site and remind everyone to celebrate the founder of Chassidt. And the best way to do it is of course through learning the teachings.

Burial site of the Baal Shem Tov in Ukraine

During the times of the Temples Jews travelled to Jerusalem on pilgrimage three times a year. Thousands of Jews from all corners of Israel and neighbouring countries came to see and be seen during the festivals. On Passover they came to offer the Pascal sacrifice, and eat with family and friends. On Shavout (the harvest festival) they brought the Bikurim (the first fruits) to the priest in the Temple. Back then virtually everyone was a farmer and it boggles the mind to imagine the constant flow of pilgrims coming to Jerusalem with baskets of fruit.

Then there came the festival of Sukkot, and as the Talmud relates: “One who did not see the celebration [of Simcaht Beit Hashoeva, the water drawing] never saw a celebration in his life.” Imagine being there with perhaps hundreds of thousands of fellow Jews celebrating!

And Tisha B’Av brought an end to all of this. The Temples were destroyed and the Jews exiled. For the next two thousand years Jews sought refuge from place to place. Travel was no longer a time to celebrate, more likely it was running for your life with nothing but the shirt on your back. Crusades, Inquisitions, pogroms, a holocaust, and so much more.

Once again in the last couple of decades Jews have begun to travel for the festivals. All inclusive Passover retreats in America and Europe are popular, where participants can eat gourmet, be entertained by singers, performers, and comedians, all while the kids are kept busy with day camp activities. There are Sukkot getaways which offer more or less the same as the Passover ones. Should you choose not to go away for the whole week, there are still plenty of fun chol hamoed activities: fruit picking, circus performances, carnivals, museums, and even DisneyLand.

Please G-d may the third Beis Hamikdash be build speedily in our days, and we can once again celebrate with all Jews in Jerusalem.

Read more on Tisha B’Av: Hashem is Homeless… And So Are We…

Read more on Rabbi Lawrence Keleman on Tisha B’Av

Read more on Babies, Now You Can Celebrate Tisha B’Av, Too!

Read more on Parshas Devarim & Tisha B’Av: We Have to Look for the Good

Read more on Controversial Music: The 3 Weeks, The 9 Days, and Tisha B’Av

Read more on Avoiding Music & Bringing Jews Closer Together: The 3 Weeks, the 9 Days, and Tisha B’Av

From http://halachafortodaycom.blogspot.com.au/

 I’m posting this because I think it is very important. I touch on this idea in my book ‘Freiing Out,’ and about the importance of respecting differences in others within a halachic framework.

 Also ‘Halach for Today’ is a great site to sign up to. You will receive a daily halacha. I’ve been receiving their email now for over a year and have found the content very interesting.

 ……

This solemn period in the Jewish calendar is a time for reflection of our relationship to one another, especially as it relates to “Sinas Chinam, baseless hatred”, the sin that brought about the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, the sin which the Talmud states is equal in severity to transgressing the three cardinal sins of idol worship, murder and sexual depravity.(Talmud Yoma 9b)

The Netziv, HaRav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin (in Shu”t Mayshiv Davar Vol.1 Siman 44) famously expounds upon this “baseless hatred” and explains that it was not just a hatred towards people for petty iniquities, rather it included a hatred for any Jew who practiced their “Avodas Hashem” in a different manner than them

 If one saw another Jew relying on a Halachic leniency which was accepted in that person’s community, but wasn’t relied upon in their own circles, instead of accepting that “Eilu V’Eilu Divrei Elokim Chaim” (See Talmud Eruvin 13b) , that person was deemed a heretic and was baselessly hated to the point that people were attacked or even killed for being different!

All Jews who long for the arrival of Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash – and the Jewish nation- to its former glory, should try and rectify themselves during this period, especially in this crucial area of Sinas Chinam.