Five Hours Into the Flight

We got on the plane at 11:00 p.m. and took off before midnight. While the flight attendants were serving dinner, I went straight to sleep. Can’t say that I slept deeply or well, but I did sleep, which was good considering it is now 5:30 a.m. New York time and a little bit after noon in Israel. When I awoke, I got up to move my body around a bit. I feel all tight and puffy. The cabin had men in huge white prayer shawls with blue stripes covering them pretty much from head to toe surrounding each little uncovered window davening and praying toward the light. As I walked up and down the aisles of this very large airplane (I’m in seat 56K), I noted more people reading little Torahs than I’ve ever seen reading Bibles in airplanes in America. For all the talk about us being a “Christian nation”, it’s clear that Israel is far more actively in touch with its “Jewish” identity.