Day 0: The Israeli Character

We haven’t left the US yet, but we are already beginning to experience Israeli culture.  Our Israeli friends have generally describe the Israeli character in a number of terms that I will judiciously summarize as “Assertive”. We have our first concrete example of this at Gate 139 Newark airport.  Our flight to Israel appears to consist of about 60% Israelis heading home, 30%  New York Hasidim and 10% “none of the above”. As it gets closer to our flight time a large crowd of mainly Israelis begins to crowd together at the entrance to the boarding gate. The Continental gate agents begin to request that the crowd move back to allow first class, business class and elite mileage passengers to board the aircraft. Not a single person moves back so much as an inch. “Please” the gate agents begin to plead,  “We won’t be able to board the plane until you move back to allow First Class,  Business Class and Elite  passengers  through (they seem to love repeating all the privileged class ticket categories as though to remind the rest of us that we are traveling steerage and should expect no favors from them).  The crowd stands it ground (are these are all Leninists, thinking if the capitalists need to sit first they will have to force their way past us?). Now the agents are tired of cajoling and have moved into threat phase. “You need to move back; no one will board until you move back”. But these are Israelis and they know how to stand their ground (and they also know that the  fool who steps back is simply sacrificing his chance at getting to an unfilled overhead bin). The threats, demands, pleadings all go on for some time until somehow the First Class, Business Class, Elite Status, and Other Plutocrats have managed to push their way through the belligerent clot of humanity and onto the plane.  It is all very amusing, but then I think about those poor Continental gate agents – they must have to repeat this every day!

Our second glimpse at Jewish culture (not sure if this was an Israeli or a New York Hasid) comes on the plane just before take-off. Everyone has been seated except for one Hasidic  gentleman standing in the aisle just before my seat. He hasn’t said anything to anyone, but he is looking around with a worried frown on his face. He wanders off somewhere and the woman in the center seat of the row ahead of me stands and turns to me. “I don’t think that man will sit next to me, any chance we can change seats?” Ah, the light suddenly dawns – an orthodox Jew sitting next to a strange woman – not good. I’m not eager to give up my aisle seat for a center one, but before I make a decision, another orthodox man has arranged for his wife to change seats with the worried guy. Crises solved.