The Race to Get on a Flight to Austin Proved Monumental

By Rabbi Michy Rav-Noy – Los Angeles, CA

In honor of Yud Aleph Nissan, I wrote up this story (by request):

With much gratitude to Hashem, our family was in New York for a multitude of special simchas! Our daughter got engaged, we celebrated the 90th birthday of my father-in-law, our nephew got married, sheva brachos… the works.

We were scheduled to fly home on Sunday, April 7. But something very important was happening the very next day—the ‘Great American Eclipse’. Being that I dabble in astronomy and Hilchos Kiddush Hachodesh, I was very interested in seeing it! We would have to reschedule our flight to be in the path of totality to watch it get dark in the middle of the day.

I asked my youngest daughter if she wanted to join me, and she was so excited! We were able to change our flight so we could stopover in Austin, Texas (in the path of totality), land at 10:45 AM, go to a park near the airport, enjoy the full eclipse at 1:36 PM for just under two minutes, and then catch a flight from Austin to Los Angeles at 4:30 PM.

On the way to JFK, my daughter asked me, ‘Abba, why are we going so early?’ I explained to her that things happen sometimes and we always need extra time.

It took a while at security, and we got to our gate towards the end of boarding. We entered the plane and took our seats when I noticed that something was wrong. I looked at my daughter and asked her, ‘Do you see my Tefillin?’ She tells me, ‘Abba, I don’t see it’….

Oh no! I remember coming to the airport with my Tefillin and my Mivtzoim Tefillin—three pairs. Now I realize that I have a pretty serious problem and that I cannot go to Texas without my Tefillin.

So I told one of the flight attendants what had happened. She said, ‘If you want to go and get your bag, you need to take all your stuff with you. You need to take your daughter too. We cannot separate you. You might make it back, and you might not.’

So I told my daughter that we needed to deplane and get our stuff. She JUST settled in but was a great sport and came off. Then I proceeded to run…no…to sprint across the terminal, down the stairs to the TSA machines. Baruch Hashem! My Tefillin bag was right there. No one moved it. Baruch Hashem for that because every second counted.

I ran back—full speed…up the stairs, across the terminal, to our gate B25. I was getting tired, but I made it.

I told the clerk that we were back. She said, ‘We gave away your seats.’

Oy…

“I need to get on this plane.”

She said, “I’m sorry, they closed the doors… it’s not up to me.”

“No… I need to get on that plane.”

I repeated myself a few times. She got on the phone and called the plane.

“OK, let’s go, I’ll open up for you..”

Phew!

She starts to open up, and suddenly, I hear someone saying, “Oh, no you don’t.”

A nearby supervisor was not happy. “We closed the doors.”

“What? I need to get on this flight.”

She wouldn’t budge. “They closed the doors. They told you you might not get in…”

I realized it was time to pull out my card:

I went on a Shabbaton in Ventura many years ago, probably about twenty years ago with Rabbi Amitai Yemini. The scholar in residence was Rabbi Sholom Ber Kalmanson from Cincinnati. We arranged a lot. He said something that I remember clearly.

I don’t remember his source, so I’ll just quote it in his name. He said that whenever he has a real problem and needs people to listen to him, he tells them, “I’m on a mission of the Lubavitcher Rebbe,” and they listen.

I used this twice in my life. Here’s a brief recap of the first time in August of 2022.

‘Medinat Yisrael’ decided that kids of Israeli parents could no longer get a visa to learn in Yeshiva or seminary. They are Israeli citizens! You don’t give a visa to a citizen. That’s like giving a Green Card to an American citizen. Well, I wish it was that simple.

The process of signing up my daughter and son, who were off to seminary/Yeshiva, was huge. Tons and tons of paperwork. One step in the paperwork was the international ‘Notary Republic’ known as apostille (at the Secretary of State). After having all my papers rejected by the Secretary of State and my kid leaving in about 4 days, I was stuck. Long story short, I asked the clerk at the secretary of state if she could do same-day service. She said no. So did the lovely security guard there. This process was going on for months. It was time. It had to end.

I looked at the guard and the clerk and told them, “There is a very holy Rabbi called the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I am on a mission from him, and so are my children… They are going to learn in his schools in Israel this year…”

The guard didn’t really budge, but the clerk, who already saw that I tried this once, asked me to lean over and quietly asked me, “Which ones do you need right away?”

I pointed to my daughter’s and son’s birth certificates and my marriage license. She instructed me, “Can you change the dates on the checks? I don’t want my boss to get upset.” I quickly wrote the checks and gave her a stamped overnight envelope. Within a day (or two), it all came BH BH.

So that was the first.

Now was the second.

I handed my card and told this supervisor: “I’m on a mission from the Lubavitcher Rebbe… I have to get on this flight.”

She looked down and sighed. It looked like I had struck something…

I said it again.

She got on the phone.

By now, a really loud alarm was ringing. I don’t even know why.

She opened the door and told my daughter and me, “RUN!”

We say “thank you” and ran for it.

As we got on the plane, the flight attendant told me, “Look to your left into the cockpit and say thank you to the captain… he was the one who let you in.” I thanked him profusely!

We walked to our seats and thanked everyone for waiting. We made it on the plane. Thank you, Hashem!

I sat down, totally exhausted. The flight attendant was so nice and brought us water. I told her I was about to pray and that she should ask the captain if he had anyone who needed prayer. I asked her the same question about herself. I didn’t know how to pay them back. That’s all I could think of. She checked with the captain and told me they were all fine, but another flight attendant asked if I could pray for her son. So I did.

Then, a thought occurred to me.

I’m in debt! Shlichus of the Lubavitcher Rebbe? To see an eclipse?! Yes, I am a Shliach in California, but how could I use that card to go see an eclipse? I was now obligated to do some ‘Shlichus’ in Austin, Texas. But what? I don’t know anyone, and I’m staying for just a few hours.

I realized that I had to put Tefillin on with someone in Austin.

A bit later, I went to wash for Hamotzi.

As I approached the back of the plane, I met a man and he asked me: “So what did you lose?”

I told him: “It’s a religious article called Tefillin.”

He told me: “I know what Tefillin are…”

“Are you Jewish?”

“Yes, I am.”

“What’s your Hebrew name?”

He told me: “Michael Ben Tzvi” (English name Marc)

“When is the last time you put on Tefillin?”

“About 10 years ago.”

“Would you like to put on Tefillin?”

So he tells me something funny:

“Look, Rabbi, I’m a pilot; this is not El AL; there isn’t much room here. I’ll tell you what… when we land, I promise you that I’ll wait for you by the gate and I’ll put on Tefillin with you.”

Oh my, a Shlichus in Austin!

So that’s just what happened. He waited for us by the gate, and we put on Tefillin. He was so excited. He asked me if he could give ‘charity’. I told him that I don’t need his money, but if he wants, he can give something, and I will make sure it gets to poor people. He said, “I wanna be on a Mitzvah roll.”

This fellow is a pilot for Delta, and he also flies for the military. He was coming to Austin for a friend’s birthday. I lost my Tefillin, in order that he should put them on.

A mission of the Lubavitcher Rebbe indeed!