B

ack in the early 1970s, soon after the Lubavitcher Rebbe initiated mitzvah campaigns to encourage unaffiliated Jews to lay tefillin, light Shabbos candles, hear the shofar, and participate in other basic Jewish practices, a young Israeli bochur named Yekutiel (“Kuti”) Rapp decided to take the Rebbe’s instructions to the place where thousands of Jews passed every day — JFK airport. Initially he would engage El Al staffers, but it wasn’t long before he was known as “the Rebbe’s man at the airport.” Rapp — who died tragically after being hit by a taxi two summers ago — might have been the first to tap into the huge potential of Jewish air travelers, but his turf soon spread out internationally. Taking his cue, Chabad shluchim — some official airport chaplains, others who man “tefillin booths” — have been setting up shop in major international airports for years, helping countless thousands of Jewish travelers to benefit from essential Jewish rituals — donning tefillin, receiving Shabbos candles, lighting menorahs, and performing other holiday mitzvos.

A Jewish presence in airports hasn’t gone unnoticed. A synagogue serving Jewish travelers passing through Moscow’s bustling Domodedovo International Airport was recently opened, and among Chabad’s 11,000 menorahs displayed in public internationally, many are in airports. But there’s nothing like the personal attention of a black-hatted Jew who makes himself available to help every traveler with his needs. What does a day look like for those dedicated men who stand for hours behind their tefillin stands, watching the world go by?

RABBI YOSEF BUTMAN

 Ben Gurion Airport, Israel

 Rabbi Butman, a mashgiach for over 300 talmidim at Chabad yeshivah in Lod, manages the Beis Chabad at Ben Gurion International Airport a few times a week on the 3-7 a.m. shift, one of about 150 rotating Chabad airport volunteers. Not everyone who stops by is a Jew interested in putting on tefillin for the first time, though. Beyond the tefillin booth, many religious travelers take advantage of an inner room in order to daven a late Maariv or early Shacharis, or to have a chalav Yisrael cup of coffee before their flight.

My Most Memorable Minyan

 Sometimes we have non-religious people who have a yahrtzeit and they want to say Kaddish. Since they’re flying and in a big rush, they stop by our tefillin booth and we find them ten people for a minyan so they can say Kaddish on the spot — otherwise, they wouldn’t make it in time to say it in a shul. We’ve had travelers on their way to their parent’s levayah, who said Kaddish at our booth. One time, I leined the Megillah at 5 a.m. for a family who was on their way to a levayah. If I hadn’t, they would have missed hearing the Megillah.

My Most Common Sh’eilah

 Since I am at the airport so early in the morning, chareidi travelers often ask me, “How can you put tefillin on people now? It’s not yet zeman tefillah!” I explain to them that we have a psak from Rav Moshe Feinstein ztz”l in Igros Moshe Orach Chayim, siman yud-alef, which he wrote 82 years ago. An anus — one who has absolutely no other choice but to lay tefillin earlier than the proper time, is allowed to lay before the zeman.

My Busiest Day

 Each day, we put tefillin on at least 300 people. Many travelers who don’t wear a hat, yarmulke, or tzitzis, proudly show us their tefillin. I would say about 20 percent of non-Orthodox men put on tefillin every day. Monday morning, Thursday, and Erev Shabbos are the busiest days. People leave for business on Monday and leave on Thursday to travel somewhere for the weekend.

My Jewish Geography Lessons

My son, Bentzion, is on shlichus in Cambodia. One day, a young man who’d been backpacking through the Far East came over to me and screamed, “Bentche [my son’s nickname], your son, taught me how to daven!” Another son, Zalman, is on shlichus in Pardes Chana-Karkur, a town in the north. I usually ask the people who come to put on tefillin where they’re from. When a man told me he lives in Karkur, I told him, “I have a son there; do you want me to have him get in touch with you?” He said, “Well, why not?” My son contacted him, and since then, they have been davening in shul together every Shabbos.

My Most Memorable Encounter

Before asking travelers if they want to lay tefillin, I greet them with a warm “Beruchim haba’im — welcome to Beis Chabad — you should have arichus yamim and shanim tovos and all blessings.” One 65-year-old man gave me a tough ‘no’ and walked away. About ten seconds afterwards, he returned and said, “You know what? I’ll do it. You know why? Because you spoke to me very nicely. But you should know, I never did it.”

I put the yarmulke on his head and the tefillin on his arm and then I said, “Baruch.” He asked, “Do you mean I should repeat after you?” I said yes. Before he started, he said, “I’m telling you again, I never did it. I don’t like people who force me. You spoke to me very, very nicely, and that is why I’m doing it.”

After repeating after me until the end of the first perek of Shema, he said to me, “You know, the person next to me looks like he said more. Are you sure I’m finished or do you want me to say more?” I told him, “Okay, we’ll say until ‘emes,’ which he did. When I started to take off the tefillin, he told me once again, “You should know, it was only because you spoke to me nicely. That’s why I did it.”

RABBI HERSHI VOGEL

Heathrow Airport, London

Rabbi Hershi Vogel has been the Jewish chaplain of Heathrow Airport for over 15 years. He can be found in the airport at all different times of day, as needed, and can often be found putting tefillin on travelers while walking around the airport or while visiting El Al staff members behind the scenes. In addition, he and his wife, Zelda, also a chaplain at Heathrow, do whatever they can to help those who need assistance or guidance.

My Most Memorable Minyan

While Heathrow Airport doesn’t have a shul or a regular minyan, I have arranged many minyanim, particularly on days when the Torah is read. Once a passenger, who recently lost his father, was flying from New Jersey. I arranged for eight men to be at Heathrow Terminal 3’s multi-faith prayer room — a designated  room with no religious symbols — to make up the minyan for this avel. As we were praying, a few non-Jews politely asked if they could also use the room. They went off to prepare water and mats for their prayers. We were facing East and they were facing West. A fellow chaplain was passing by and said, “If only this could happen in the Middle East!’

My Most Common Sh’eilah

Most questions relate to kosher food provisions and security concerns regarding religious items such as tefillin, lulav, and esrog. I’ve also had sh’eilos about techum Shabbos, if people are stuck Erev Shabbos in Heathrow, and other Shabbos-related questions. I often get questions about the availability of kosher food, but here kosher food provisions are sparse. Kosher sandwiches are available only in certain spots — not nearly enough to cover all the terminals. My wife is now a chaplain in Heathrow and is in the middle of negotiating this very issue. On many occasions, we have made food at home and delivered it to passengers who were in need of kosher food — either at local hotels or stranded in the airport, and even to passengers who were taken ill on the plane and on arrival were sent to the local hospital for treatment.

My Busiest Day

Once in a big snowstorm, flights were cancelled or delayed, and there were many Jewish passengers who were stranded without food or accommodation. I had to help with this and also with trying to rearrange their tickets. I was there till the early hours of the morning, staying with them for moral support and arranging practicalities with them.

My Most Memorable Encounter

My wife and I once met the Belzer Rebbetzin in Heathrow. We were amazed how genuine, thoughtful, powerful, and respected she is. She presented us with a gift that we use every Shabbos, reminding us of our special encounter.

My VIP Meetings

Heathrow employees wear badges of various colors that allow different levels of access depending on their job. Chaplains have a pass that allows access to the entire airport, and they need to be able to access all areas, including right near the plane. If someone needs assistance, needs help getting out quickly, or if he’s a dignitary receiving special honor, we’re available. I’m privileged to meet and greet many VIPs. And the biggest honor is to greet the rebbes of many chassidic courts and many rabbanim and roshei yeshivah — and, lehavdil, entertainers. I’ve also provided VIP status to passengers who need to get out of the airport quickly in order to make it to a levayah.

Once, when all flights were grounded and it was chaotic, a taxi driver asked if I could help his passenger who needed to be in Chicago by that evening. I found out that the passenger was none other than Rav David Yosef, son of Rav Ovadiah Yosef ztz”l. I was able to take his ticket and push through thousands of people to secure a flight for him to Chicago. I wished him a safe trip and asked him to ask the Chief Rabbi (his father) for a brachah. One day, the postman delivered a gift from Rav David Yosef — a set of seforim that he authored on halachah.

My Near-Fiasco

I arranged for a group of men to travel quite a distance into Heathrow to make a minyan for a particular traveler. Two of them didn’t show up, though, so I davened to Hashem for help. This traveler had never missed a minyan and I didn’t want to be the one responsible for breaking this amazing feat. It was a Monday so we had to include leining. Even if I found two travelers I wasn’t sure they would be able to stay that length of time. Amazingly, I saw a man sitting and waiting by arrivals who was happy to join. I wondered aloud how I would find the final man needed to complete the minyan. “‘My brother will be here shortly,” said the ninth man. We’re surprising our parents so we’re in no particular hurry.”

My Life-Saving Experience

I never helped save a life, but I once facilitated the continuation of life. A very interesting request was made that I be a shomer for an embryo that was being shipped abroad. Due to its sensitivity, the biological material couldn’t pass through the usual scanning devices, so I had to ensure the seal was intact and, if it had to be opened for inspection, to reseal it with a new, unique tab I was given. This was a huge halachic responsibility.

Rabbi Yossi Lew

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta

Ask most people to name the location of the world’s busiest airport, and they’ll likely say either New York or London or Tokyo. But the title, in fact, goes to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia; last year more than 104 million passengers passed through. Atlanta, which is the hub for Delta Airlines, is within a two-hour flight for most cities in the US, and the huge travel traffic isn’t lost on Rabbi Yossi Lew. In addition to serving as rav of Chabad of Peachtree City, for the past two years Rabbi Lew has been volunteering once a week as the airport’s Jewish chaplain.

My Most Memorable Minyan

There is no Jewish minyan or Chabad booth in the airport, so I basically walk slowly around the concourse area where people are waiting for planes, visibly carrying my tallis and tefillin (and lulav and esrog on Succos). I’m stopped by lots of people — Jew and non-Jew alike — who see my name and chaplain badge and ask me for guidance, direction, advice, or just a quick prayer. At the Atlanta airport there is an interfaith chapel which is really just a room like any other room in the airport, with no symbols, pictures or anything else that would need covering up, and I’ve been given a heter to daven there. But recently we’ve also secured a small “reflection room” where I now send people to daven. This room is separated from the prayer chapel.

My Most Common Sh’eilah

Travelers will ask me where they can daven, and I’ve also had questions about lighting the menorah in the airport for one’s own personal mitzvah. Some rabbanim permit it, others don’t. Of course, I don’t light my menorah in the airport, but if a person is flying through the night and will otherwise miss the mitzvah — and there’s no one at his home to light either — he can certainly light without a brachah. But mostly, travelers ask me about the availability of kosher food. Since there is none available, I’ve often gone out to buy food and bring it to them. I’ve been working very hard for a frustrating year and a half, to try to make kosher food available in the airport. Basically, what we’re asking is that sandwiches from a local kosher restaurant be sold there, and although the concessions are ready to work with us, nothing has come through yet. I once got a call after midnight from a family who, after traveling, got to their hotel and realized they had no food or diapers for their children. I spent about $75 and had the items delivered. I tried to imagine myself being stuck somewhere and having to call up someone and ask them for something.

My Busiest Day

Thanksgiving, December 25, and July 4th week.

My Most Memorable Encounter

I was walking in the airport and was approached by a young man who was holding a Bible in his hand. He asked me whether he could share with me some words of the Bible. Immediately my red flags went up and I said, “What part of the Bible would you be reading to me?” He replied, “Something from the Book of Numbers.” I said, “In that case, you can go ahead.” He opened up to the words of Bircas Kohanim in parshas Naso, and he read the lines out loud. He said he felt he needed to share those blessings with someone, and when he saw me he immediately knew that, as a Jewish person, I should be receiving these blessings. I was very moved. I opened up my siddur and I showed him that the words he had just read to me in English are here in Hebrew. I read those back to him in Hebrew, as he closed his eyes and became emotional.

My VIP meetings

Delta has a very special honor guard ceremony on the tarmac. The airline sends a military escort to accompany the coffin of any military serviceperson as it gets transferred from one plane to another — the bodies almost always come through Atlanta. That escort has to be accompanied by an airport chaplain at all times, and sometimes the layover can be three to four hours. Although I’m not assigned to do this, I’ve done it several times. It’s a kiddush Hashem when they see that the rabbi is also willing to be part of it.

My Being in the Right Place

I always give my phone number out to people and tell them if they don’t get on the plane for whatever reason, to give me a call. On the sixth night of Chanukah, when the airport experienced a blackout, we had a couple of people stay overnight at our Chabad House and light the menorah. We take in people all the time. You know how many times travelers are stranded and can’t make it to their destination in time for Shabbos? I haven’t yet saved a life, but I’ve helped save many neshamos!

RABBI LEVIE GABAY

Charles deGaulle Airport, Paris

Rabbi Levie Gabay has worked in partnership with the two Jewish chaplains in the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris every day for the last eight years. He also services two smaller airports — Orly and Paris Le Bourget, the busiest private jet airport in Europe.

My Most Memorable Minyan

It’s usually Minchah or Maariv when someone needs a minyan. But when we need one for the morning, I have a sefer Torah flown in by private jet to Paris Le Bourget.

My Most Common Sh’eilah

If they are flying to Israel because their relative was niftar, they usually have a lot of questions — what they have to do special, and where they have to go when they get there. And of course, many travelers ask about kosher food. There are a lot of strikes and delays in the airport so we try to provide kosher food for stranded passengers. We had a Chanukah miracle at the airport on the third day of Chanukah. After many years of talking about bringing kosher food into the airport, Relay — a store in the airport — started selling kosher Israeli products, like hummus and salami.

My Busiest Day

In general, Thursday is the busiest day. On Purim, we read the Megillah in the airport every 50 minutes. On Chanukah, the travelers going to Israel light the menorah next to the check-in.

My Most Memorable Encounter

We set up a table with 12 Chanukah menorahs at each of the 12 doors at the airport. Everyone traveling was able to light a menorah. Of course, many people consult their own rabbis about the permissibility of this — and only when it’s a sha’at dechak, no one is home to light — and whether or not they light with a brachah, At first, the police and the fire department came out and said the menorah lighting is hazardous, but since the manager of the airport is Jewish, they were told, “If the people are Jewish, they can do whatever they want.”

My VIP Meetings

The airlines typically supply hotel accommodations for VIPs. One VIP family that the airlines made hotel reservations for near the airport preferred to stay and eat with a family, since it was over Shabbos, so we had to find them a family to stay with in Paris.

My Near Fiasco

Once a Delta flight full of students from Miami flying to Israel via New York, had to make an emergency landing in Paris due to technical problems. And to top it off, Delta forgot to log in the kosher meals on the flight. Those kids left Miami at 10 a.m. and hadn’t eaten since they left. In Paris, they were told they couldn’t get off the plane. Hours later, when the airline realized they couldn’t fix the plane, the kids got off and were placed in hotels overnight. I called my friend who has a pizza shop in Paris, and I ordered about 50 extra-large pizzas and other food for them. They hadn’t eaten in over 24 hours.

Rabbi Yosef Rapp

JFK International Airport, New York

Rabbi Yosef Rapp is the shaliach for Chabad of the Airport at its newly installed white-topped tefillin stand at JFK’s Terminal 4. Chabad of the Airport started over 40 years ago and was directed by his father, Rabbi Yekusiel Menachem (“Kuti”) Rapp, who began a tefillin campaign during the Yom Kippur War for passengers and El Al employees to help fight the war in a spiritual way. Rabbi Yosef Rapp took over the directorship after his father’s untimely death in the summer of 2015.

My Most Memorable Minyan

There was a man that hadn’t missed a minyan in ten years, and he came over to us to assist him. Baruch Hashem, we were able to be there for him; I took him to the shul in JFK and helped him out.

My Most Common Sh’eilah

Where is there kosher food? Is there a shul around here? And for long-haul travelers, can we light a menorah? I actually got a heter from Rav Yaakov Schwei of the Crown Heights Beis Din for people with no other options to light at the airport. And then there’s the question people ask every day: Who gave you permission to stand here?

My Busiest Day

Summertime is the busiest season, where there are two or three flights to Israel every day, and I’m often there for an all-day stretch. Succos is also very busy, and this year, for the first time ever, we put up a succah in JFK. It was open from morning to night and many passengers ate in it. I think it’s the first succah in any airport in the world.

My Jewish Geography Lesson

Just hours after my father was niftar, a shaliach approached a man in the airport in Prague about putting on tefillin. He told the shaliach that he really wasn’t interested, but asked the shaliach if he knew “Rabbi Kuti” from El Al – my father had actually performed the bris for this man’s son. “Of course,” the shaliach answered, “but you know, he passed away just last night.” The man was shocked,  and put on tefillin as a tribute to the indefatigable airport emissary.

My Most Memorable Encounter

Recently, after the horrific fire in the Azan home in Flatbush, members of the family came through the airport after the levayah, after which they sent off the bodies for burial in Eretz Yisrael. I set them up at the shul and provided them with refreshments. I don’t think I ever saw such a tragic entourage.

My VIP Meetings

I had the opportunity to light the menorah in the El Al lounge together with Ambassador Dani Dayan, the Consul General of Israel in New York. Another time, Likud MK Oren Hazan was late for his flight and he called me asking for assistance in holding up the plane for him. He’s not religious, but he put on tefillin before the flight. Many singers, like Avraham Fried and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, come through JFK, too.

My Near-Fiasco

A woman was stuck at the airport about two hours before Shabbos. She called me to ask if there was any gefilte fish or challah that she could use in the airport during Shabbos. She admitted that she had no money to stay a night in a hotel, and that she’d just stay in the airport over Shabbos. We arranged for her to come to Crown Heights before Shabbos, set her up in a home for sleeping and eating meals, and we brought her back to the airport on Sunday.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 695)