‘Bar Mitzvah Pilot’ and Rabbi Reunite for Video

By COLlive Staff

Rabbi Kalman Weinfeld, member of the Vaad Hakashrus of OK Kosher and Rov of Bais Eliezer Yitzchok in Crown Heights, and pilot Jason Rubenstein, have reunited nearly a year after they first met on a United Airlines flight from New York to the Bahamas.

Rubinstein, a commercial pilot, met Rabbi Weinfeld on the flight last November, after he offered the flight’s other pilot to put on Tefillin for the first time, and they celebrated his Bar Mitzvah.

Rubinstein was quite moved by the singing and dancing, and admitted that he too had never before put on Tefillin, and celebrated his own Bar Mitzvah right then and there as well, at the age of 44.

Today, nearly one year later, Rabbi Weinfeld and Rubinstein have created a video with a message for Yud Tes Kislev and the upcoming Chanukah holiday.

VIDEO

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⁣ 🎥 A PILOT’S BAR MITZVAH: As Rabbi Kalman Weinfeld, Head of the Food Service Department of OK Kosher, was deplaning on a United Airlines flight he took a moment to thank the pilot who responded with a hearty "zei gezunt!" (be well in Yiddish).⁣ ⁣ "When he said that, I asked him, 'are you Jewish?'" Rabbi Weinfeld told COLlive. "He said yes and I asked him, 'have you put on Tefillin?'"⁣ ⁣ The pilot replied that he had once before, and he was happy to put on again. As he was helping the pilot with wrapping Tefillin in the cockpit, the co-pilot walked in and commented that he is also Jewish, remarking that he knows the ashram but he had never put Tefillin on in his life. ⁣ ⁣ Both pilots ended up putting on Tefillin and the three broke into a joyous dance of 'siman tov u'mazel tov,' celebrating a Bar Mitzvah right there in the cockpit of the United Airlines plane.⁣ ⁣ "After the flight, the pilot was in touch, and told me that his family is thrilled that he had a Bar Mitzvah, and said that he would like to keep in touch to learn more," Rabbi Weinfeld said.

A post shared by COLlive (@colliveofficial) on Jan 13, 2020 at 1:31pm PST