Monday, January 14, 2013

Satmar Rebbe Undergoes "Humiliating" Search at the Airport; Will Now only Fly on Private Planes

The Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg is flying to Israel from Miami. When he went through the metal detector it beeped and therefore they asked him to undergo a patdown. His Gabbaim tried to explain who he is and how important he is to no avail. He was forced to take off his outer garments and be patted down. Satmar Chasidim were deeply hurt by the lack of respect and decided that from now on the Rebbe will only fly on private planes.

I am not a Chosid but even so I fail to see how this was humiliating. If they want to waste money on private planes that is their choice, but then they shouldn't expect people to give them money when they come collecting.

Here are some pictures from the airport.



2 comments:

bohr salino said...

I think that if he would fly El Al they would arrange for him a smooth process.

Avi Greengart said...

El Al doesn't fly from Miami. Even if it did, he'd still need to go through TSA security and take off his coat before he got anywhere near El Al. Now, if the Rebbe had enrolled in TSA Pre, he wouldn't have had to take off his coat and he could go through a standard metal detector, not the backscatter radiation version seen here. But that would require filling out a humiliating form, submitting to a humiliating background check, and paying a humiliating $100.