Laws Relating to Flying - Rabbi Shabtai Yonah Friedman shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Hello and welcome, everyone. A few years ago, I had the privilege of publishing an entire booklet on the halachos relevant to flying. People are often surprised to hear that there are many halachos connected with flying, but these halachos really came from practical experience. People fly, and during the flight they run into all kinds of questions: What do you do in this situation? What do you do in that situation? These are not things that happen every day, so people don’t know how to act in the various situations that arise during a flight. I named the booklet after the verse, “If I ascend to the heavens, You are there.” We need to know that even when we go up into the heavens—“If I ascend to the heavens”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu is there too. Sometimes, when people are traveling or in unfamiliar situations, when they’re unsettled and away from home, it’s harder to observe the relevant halachos, so they become lenient here and cut corners there. We need to know that “If I ascend to the heavens, You are there”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu is everywhere, including in the heavens. On a flight, too, we must observe all the relevant halachos, as we’ll see in this class. In one of his letters, the Rebbe mentions that some argue, reportedly in the name of the Rogatchover, that one need not say Tefillas Haderech for a flight, because it isn’t a road—it’s in the sky, so it isn’t called a road. The Rebbe says that, by that logic, one might jokingly suggest that one need not study Torah while traveling either, since the verse says, “And when you go on the road.” But it’s utterly absurd to say that one isn’t obligated to study Torah in the sky, wherever one may be. Just as Torah study is necessary in the sky too, wherever one is, one certainly must say Tefillas Haderech as well. So, to prevent the mistaken impression that—as the Rebbe put it jokingly—there’s no need to study Torah in the sky, we’ll look at various halachos that come up during a flight, which people encounter when they usually

02:34 Speaker 2 fly. The first subject we’ll focus on is what needs to be done before a flight. First of all, we must engage in Torah study while traveling too, as it says, “And when you go on the road.” So, to be able to study Torah on the way, we need to have seforim to study from. Before setting out on a long journey, especially a flight, when there’s plenty of time to sit and learn, a person should take seforim along. For us, this mainly means the regular daily study schedules: Chitas and Rambam. We need to bring all of these along so we can study. As the Rebbe says in one of his letters, surely one studies the daily lessons during the journey, during the flight. Elsewhere, the Rebbe says to study a few lines of Tanya during the trip. That makes the journey a journey connected with a mitzvah, and “those engaged in a mitzvah are not harmed.” This is another way to stay safe during a flight. In another instance, someone wrote to the Rebbe that he was afraid of flying and asked what to do. The Rebbe told him to take a Tanya with him. The letters of Tanya can be rearranged to spell eisan, meaning strength; it gives a person strength so he won’t be afraid. Of course, his tallis katan should be kosher, and that will also help him have no fear. Before setting out, there is an instruction in the testament of Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid that a person should not oil his shoes. From this we learn that on the day a person sets out on a long journey, one from which he won’t return that day, he should not polish his shoes. Some say this applies not only to oiling them but to polishing them altogether. So one should try not to polish his shoes on the day of departure, but do it the day before. Others say this was stated specifically about someone traveling

05:00 Speaker 2 on foot, rather than by vehicle; or, as we said, that he should not oil his shoes. Today, shoe polish isn’t oil. There is room to be lenient if someone forgot, or if polishing them is very necessary and there is no one else to do it for him. But ideally, one should try to do it the day before setting out, so as not to reach a situation where he needs to polish his shoes on the day he leaves. When people set out on a journey, they sometimes forget important items and need to return home to get them. Here there is another instruction in Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid’s testament: someone who sets out on a journey should not return home. Some explain that when a person sets out, the Shechinah accompanies him, and by turning back he is, as it were, showing disrespect to the Shechinah that is with him. So if a person has already left home and left the building where he lives, and he needs something from home, he should ask someone else to bring him the item he forgot. If no one else is available and the item is very important, or if it is needed for a mitzvah—an item used for a mitzvah—some permit him to return. It is therefore recommended that even when the item is not connected with a mitzvah, he decide to give tzedakah when he returns home. Then he is considered to be returning for a mitzvah, and he can also take the item he forgot. Some maintain that this applies not only when he returns because he forgot something, but that one should not return home at all after setting out. As is well known, there is the story of Zalman Gurary, whose flight was delayed. He wanted to go back home and asked the Rebbe what to do, because of Rabbi Yehudah Hachassid’s instruction not to return home after setting out—even though in his case he hadn’t forgotten anything. The Rebbe is known to have answered that he should study a chapter of Tanya, and

07:11 Speaker 2 through studying Tanya he would become a new person. He would no longer be the same person who had set out, and in that situation he could return. So that’s another solution: if someone needs to go back home because he forgot an item, because his flight was delayed, or for any other reason, studying a chapter of Tanya changes his status, and he can return home. Similarly, some halachic authorities say that if he goes to a different house rather than his own, that is also permissible. Before setting out, a person should give tzedakah, based on the verse, “Righteousness will go before him, and he will set his steps on the path.” The word for righteousness, tzedek, is related to tzedakah: give tzedakah before setting out, and also make the journey one undertaken for a mitzvah. Therefore, before a person sets out, someone should appoint him as an emissary to perform a mitzvah. He does not have to give the very same coin he was handed. The fact that he was appointed to give tzedakah and must give the tzedakah he was asked to give makes him an emissary for a mitzvah. When he reaches his destination, he will give that tzedakah, carrying out the mitzvah mission he accepted. And it says in [unclear] that when someone is given a mitzvah mission to give tzedakah at his destination, he should give part of it when he arrives and another part on the return trip. That way, both the outward and return journeys are connected with a mitzvah mission. If no one gives a person tzedakah to distribute, but he wants to make his journey a mitzvah mission himself, he should take a coin, set it aside, and say, “This is the coin I’m going to give when I reach such-and-such a place, where I’m headed.” That way, his journey too becomes a mitzvah mission. And by taking the coin and intending to give it

09:20 Speaker 2 To charity at the place he is going to. The subject we’ll discuss now is when and how to set out on a journey—how to leave in practice, and when one may leave. The Rebbe writes in letters about the verse in the Torah, “or buy from your fellow,” from which the halachic authorities learn that when a person buys an item, he should buy it from “your fellow”—specifically from Jews. “Your fellow” means those who are with you, those close to you. Jews have first priority when it comes to buying things from them. So when a person wants to buy a plane ticket, too, there is a preference to buy from and fly with a Jewish airline, such as El Al and the like. The question is what happens when there is a difference in price, or when the flight times are inconvenient, and so on. Here the halachic authorities say that if the added cost is significant—close to sixteen percent, a sixth of the price charged by the cheaper company—then, particularly if the Jewish company does not observe Torah and mitzvos, one need not spend so much money. Likewise, if the times are inconvenient, one need not go to great trouble or spend too much money; one may fly with the cheaper company even if it is not Jewish-owned. But if the prices are more or less the same, it is preferable to buy the ticket and fly specifically with a Jewish company. The Rebbe once told someone in yechidus not to fly on flights departing immediately after Shabbos, because the plane is prepared during Shabbos. The Shulchan Aruch rules that if a non-Jew did work for a Jew, the Jew may not benefit from it after Shabbos until “enough time for it to have been done” has passed—that is, the time it would take to prepare it after Shabbos—so that we do not benefit from work the non-Jew did on Shabbos. The halachic authorities say that a Jew who, G-d forbid, publicly desecrates Shabbos

12:00 Speaker 2 has the same status as a non-Jew in this regard: after Shabbos, one must likewise wait “enough time for it to have been done,” so that this Jew will not do work for a Torah-observant Jew. Therefore, if a Jewish airline does work on Shabbos and prepares the plane then, one should not take a flight immediately after Shabbos. What counts as “immediately”? It used to be said that preparing a plane takes several hours—three hours. Recently, some have argued that it takes less time. So the accepted practice is to try not to fly on flights departing relatively soon after Shabbos, within three hours. Some say five hours. The reason is that the plane is prepared on Shabbos, and this is considered benefiting from work done on Shabbos, even though we are not actually benefiting from the work itself in a tangible way. It is not like cooking, where we benefit from the work that was done. They are only preparing the plane; there is no physical benefit from what was done on Shabbos. Nevertheless, we should not encourage the Shabbos desecration involved. So one should not fly immediately after Shabbos. Even if the airline is non-Jewish-owned, if most of the passengers on the plane are Jewish, then the non-Jew did the work for Jews, since they are the majority. Therefore, even with a non-Jewish airline, one should not fly on flights departing immediately after Shabbos. There are also other times when it is not advisable to fly. For example, when a flight is scheduled to land on Friday very close to Shabbos. One must be very careful about this, because some halachic authorities say that, in general, one should not set out too late on Erev Shabbos. Things can go wrong on the way, there can be delays, and sometimes it can

14:18 Speaker 2 lead to Shabbos desecration. If the flight is delayed a little, or there are other delays, we may not make it home before Shabbos. So one should try not to get into a situation where the flight—where the landing—is very close to Shabbos. There is another situation: in Eretz Yisroel, Yom Tov lasts only one day, while outside Eretz Yisroel it lasts two days. A person might want to fly abroad after the first day of Yom Tov ends, in order to arrive during the second day of Yom Tov there and reach the place he is going. One should know that halachah prohibits this, because once he enters an area where Jews live and observe the second day of Yom Tov, the restrictions of Yom Tov apply to him. He therefore cannot travel there in violation of Yom Tov upon arriving on its second day, even though he comes from Eretz Yisroel, where he observes only one day. Once he enters the techum of the Jews at his destination—within two thousand amos, close to a kilometer from their community—if Jews there observe the second day of Yom Tov, he too is obligated to refrain from prohibited work on that day. Therefore, one cannot land abroad on the second day of Yom Tov. If he arrives right after Yom Tov ends there, then, if there is a great need, one may be lenient, even though people will understand that, to arrive abroad immediately after the second day of Yom Tov, he must have left earlier and the flight must have departed during that second day. But ideally, one should be careful about this as well and not enter a Jewish community in circumstances that would cause people to suspect him and conclude that he flew on the second day of Yom Tov. Regarding

16:32 Speaker 2 traveling to the Rebbe, there are letters and many instructions in which the Rebbe set out how and under what conditions he permitted people to fly to him. First, there is the matter of obtaining permission. A husband should ask his wife’s permission, a wife her husband’s, and students the administration of their institution. Likewise, male and female teachers must obtain permission from the administration of their institution. The Rebbe also instructed people not to incur debts that would be difficult to repay, or that they were unsure they could repay, in order to fly. So if a person is not sure he will be able to repay the debts incurred for the trip, he should not go into debt for the flight. The Rebbe also once instructed, in a sicha, that students should not fly overseas to attend a family celebration. A few years later, the Rebbe was asked about this again, and the Rebbe said, “Times have changed.” Things were different now, and if the family relationship was particularly close and there was a special need, one could be lenient and fly overseas to attend a relative’s celebration, such as a wedding. In one letter, the Rebbe writes that one should not conceal the weight of baggage or other items taken onto a plane. The straightforward reason is that the crew provides a service, the items have weight and involve effort, and one must pay for that. Regarding avoiding customs duties, the Rebbe writes, “This requires further consideration.” It may relate to the principle of dina d’malchusa, because taxes are not always justified according to the Torah—particularly in Eretz Yisroel, if they are not in accordance with Torah law. Some argue that in such cases dina d’malchusa does not apply. That is why the Rebbe writes that it requires further consideration. Some indeed say that Torah scholars, who are exempt from paying taxes, are also exempt from customs duties. So the Rebbe leaves the matter

19:14 Speaker 2 That needs further consideration. But concealing the weight is something the Rebbe explicitly writes not to do: don’t conceal the weight, because too much excess weight could possibly lead to a dangerous situation. Also, people are working here, carrying the things for him. So don’t conceal the weight. Some ask whether they can pay for the plane ticket with maaser money, from the funds we are supposed to set aside for tzedakah. The general rule is that if a person performs a mitzvah he is not obligated to perform, he may use maaser money for it, provided he planned from the outset to set aside the maaser money for that mitzvah. So, too, with a trip to the Rebbe: it is certainly an important mitzvah, but it is not one of the mitzvos a person is obligated to perform, like putting on tefillin, wearing tzitzis, and the like, for which maaser money cannot be used. Rather, it is an important mitzvah that one could say is not obligatory according to the letter of the law, and so maaser money may be used for it. Some maintain, however, that it is not advisable to spend all of one’s tzedakah, all of one’s maaser, specifically on mitzvos one is not obligated to perform; some of it should also reach the poor. Therefore, it is not recommended to pay the entire cost of the flight solely from maaser money, particularly since there is also material enjoyment involved. A person flies, enjoys himself, buys things—not everything is solely for the sake of Heaven, solely for the purpose of traveling to the Rebbe to strengthen himself in matters of Torah and mitzvos. So it is not advisable to use maaser money for the entire cost of the flight. But certainly, some of the expenses may be paid from maaser money. Another possibility is that if he has a friend who wants to fly, he can certainly pay for his friend’s flight from his maaser money, and the friend can do

21:43 Speaker 2 the same for him, paying for his plane ticket from his own maaser money. That way, each does the other a favor and pays for the other’s ticket. Let’s now spend some time on the halachos that apply during the flight itself. Sometimes the seat we are assigned on the plane is not suitable. Sometimes it is between two women who are not always dressed modestly, or the very act of sitting between two women is not entirely straightforward according to halachah. There is a prohibition against passing between two women. The question is whether that applies to sitting as well, and often, because it is a long flight, it is difficult to avoid physical contact or things of that sort. So if he can easily change seats, without trouble or a commotion, to sit somewhere more modest and more suitable, he should try to do so. If that is difficult, he should at least put something between himself and the women, some object or the seat’s armrest, to maintain a little distance and avoid physical contact. Washing hands on a plane: often we need to wash our hands, whether after using the bathroom or before eating bread and the like. The faucet is inside the bathroom, and we know that normally one does not wash hands inside a bathroom, because it is a place where an impure spirit rests on food brought in there. The same applies to the water on our hands. Ideally, we do not take water from a bathroom, so we generally do not do this. But on a plane there is no choice; that is where the faucet is. So we try to make sure the bathroom is fairly clean, which lessens the concern about an impure spirit. We close the toilet lid and wash our hands there. If possible, we leave our hands

24:02 Speaker 2 a little wet and dry them outside, since drying is an additional act of purification, and that way the impure spirit will also leave our hands. Or we can rinse them lightly again outside the bathroom so that no impure spirit remains on our hands. But this certainly does not exempt us from washing our hands; we cannot eat without washing and so on. Rather, we must wash our hands in the bathroom and, as we said, dry them outside. And of course, we must recite the blessing for washing hands outside the bathroom. Regarding Tefillas Haderech when setting out on a journey: as is well known, the Rebbe cites in a letter what the Rogatchover says—that perhaps one need not recite Tefillas Haderech for a flight, because it is not a road; it is in the sky. The Rebbe does not accept this reasoning, because if we follow it, we might also say that perhaps one is not obligated to study Torah while flying in the sky, since the verse says, “and when you walk on the road.” The commandment to study Torah would apply specifically on the road and not in the sky. That is untenable; certainly, the commandment to study Torah applies when flying in the sky as well. It follows that Tefillas Haderech must also be recited when one is going to fly. But the Rebbe says that to avoid this question, one should in fact recite Tefillas Haderech already on the way to the airport, since an airport is generally not within the city itself but outside it. So once one leaves the city, one may recite Tefillas Haderech. Even though some airports may be quite close to the city, and if, for example, someone were only driving to the airport to see someone else off and then returning to his city, he would not need to recite Tefillas Haderech. That is because Tefillas Haderech is said only for a journey of at least a parsah—four mil, close to four kilometers—and if it is less than that, one does not recite Tefillas Haderech. So airports are often not

26:27 Speaker 2 all that far from the city where a person lives. If he were only going to the airport and back, he would not need to recite Tefillas Haderech. But here, the airport is only a stop on the way to his destination, which is much more than four kilometers away. So certainly, as soon as he leaves the city, he can recite Tefillas Haderech. Therefore, on the way to the airport, once he leaves the city, he can already recite it. Even if someone forgot to recite Tefillas Haderech on the way to the airport, he can recite it afterward while he is still on the plane, since he has already left the city. As long as the plane has not taken off, he can certainly recite Tefillas Haderech. In practice, even if he forgot and did not recite it before the flight, before the plane took off, he must recite it when he is already in the sky. Our text of Tefillas Haderech is fixed, and we say that same text when flying. On the following days, while we are still traveling, we should also recite Tefillas Haderech each day after davening, but without Hashem’s Name and the reference to His kingship at the end. This is because one opinion holds that, until a person returns home, the Tefillas Haderech he recited on the first day covers all the subsequent days. At the same time, on the following days we take into account the opinions that say Tefillas Haderech must be recited each day, because it is a new day. So we recite it each day, but without Hashem’s Name and the reference to His kingship at the end. In other words, we begin “May it be Your will” with Hashem’s Name, but end “Blessed are You, Who hears prayer” without Hashem’s Name. Shabbos is an exception: requests are not recited on Shabbos and Yom Tov, so he does not recite Tefillas Haderech then. He should recite this Tefillas Haderech each day after

28:34 Speaker 2 davening. Since he is traveling, he is still in a situation of danger even if he is in an inhabited place. Every day he must recite Tefillas Haderech, as we said, without ending with Hashem’s Name, but rather, “Blessed are You, Who hears prayer.” It is said of the Rebbe Rashab that even when he stayed at a hotel for a very long time, and even though he did not leave the city, he recited Tefillas Haderech every day until he returned home. Accordingly, Tefillas Haderech with Hashem’s Name and the reference to His kingship at the end of the blessing is recited only on the first day of the journey. On all the other days, including the day he returns home, since he already recited Tefillas Haderech with Hashem’s Name at its conclusion on the first day, he does not repeat it with Hashem’s Name and the reference to His kingship at the end. Rather, every day, including the day he returns home, he recites Tefillas Haderech after davening without Hashem’s Name and the reference to His kingship at the end. As for davening during a flight, people are often unsure: how do we look at it? How do we determine the times for davening? We leave at one time and arrive somewhere else at another time. The times change considerably. If we are flying from Israel to another country, to the United States, time moves more slowly. If we are flying from the United States to Israel, time moves more quickly. How do we determine the times? The halachic authorities say that the times are determined by wherever the plane is at that moment. We look at what is happening below, at the place the plane is flying over. If it is an inhabited place, what is happening right now in that place below? Is it day or night? What time is it down there? The same applies over the sea. Theoretically, if there were an inhabited place there, what would the situation be below right now? What time would it be there? That is how the times for davening are determined. So it can often be very easy to make a mistake, because

30:45 Speaker 2 Because the plane is at a high altitude and we can see far into the distance, we can sometimes see, for example, a sunrise or a sunset. But what we see is far away; directly below us it may still be completely dark, or it may still be light. As we said, the times for davening are determined by the place where the plane is at that moment. Today, we can find the times for our current location in the timetables and use them to determine the times for davening. The same applies to the times of a fast. Sometimes we fly during a fast, and then the hours change. How do we determine when the fast ends? Generally, it is determined by where we are at the time. If we fly from Eretz Yisroel to a country abroad, the day may last a very long time for us, and it can be difficult to fast for so long. Therefore, it is said that if we are still on the plane and nightfall has already arrived in the place we left, we may break the fast. The same applies when flying from abroad to Eretz Yisroel: the times move ahead more quickly, and nightfall may arrive much sooner than it does in the place where we started. If we can easily continue fasting until nightfall in the place where we began the fast, all the better. If not, since it is already nightfall where we are now, we may break the fast. Davening while standing is not always comfortable, especially when the plane starts shaking and bouncing. Instead of concentrating on davening, we are mainly concentrating on not falling. That is not desirable, particularly since it can sometimes cause a chillul Hashem when the flight crew tell us to sit down and we insist on standing. If we can stand without difficulty, all the better,

33:07 Speaker 2 but if it leads to a lack of concentration or to a chillul Hashem because we do not sit when asked to, that is not desirable. Instead, we sit down and daven seated. If we must say Shemoneh Esrei seated as well, we should try to stand for the bows, bowing and prostrating while standing. The same applies to the three steps we take after Shemoneh Esrei, and, if possible, the three steps before Shemoneh Esrei: we should take those while standing too. Our feet should also be together, not one leg crossed over the other. Crossing one’s legs is a posture of arrogance; we should daven Shemoneh Esrei with our feet together. Sometimes, when we want to daven or learn, there are women around us who are not dressed modestly. According to halachah, there is a problem with saying words of Torah or davening while facing parts of the body that are meant to be covered. So we should try not to face that area: we can look into the sefer, turn our head a little to the side, or, if there is no other choice, close our eyes and daven or learn that way. The movies or other things shown on the plane can also distract us. We should try to make sure that what is in front of us does not interfere with our concentration in davening—turn the screen off or look to the side, and daven without being disturbed or distracted by the images and sights we see during the flight. As for eating during the flight, in principle there should not be a problem with drinking coffee made with the hot water provided on the plane, since it is not considered bishul akum. It is reported in the name of the Arizal that he was stringent about this, but as a general guideline, drinking coffee on the plane should not be a problem. The issue is the utensils in which the drinks are served. If they are reusable, there can often be

35:35 Speaker 2 situations where the utensils required koshering but were not koshered, or where they were washed together with all the other utensils without regard for kashrus. Therefore, reusable utensils should not be used. Sometimes, even if we take hot water directly from the hot-water urn, someone before us may have prepared a non-kosher dish using the plane’s hot water, and some of its contents may have splashed onto the urn’s spout and not been cleaned off. Therefore, ideally, if it is not necessary, we should not use the hot water on the plane either. If there is no alternative, we should let some hot water run first to clean the spout, and only then use the water. We also need to check that the meals served to us are properly sealed, so that nothing else has been put inside. Then we can rely on the kosher certification on the package, knowing that it arrived that way and that, G-d forbid, the food was not switched. This halachah is particularly relevant to meat. There is a halachah concerning meat that has been left out of sight. Sometimes meat is served with a meal, and if we get up from our seat or there are a few moments when we are not watching it, someone who wants our meal instead of their own might switch the meals. We need to be careful about this, so that our meat is not left out of sight, and keep watch so that, G-d forbid, we do not inadvertently eat non-kosher food. Meals on a plane are generally based on foods whose berachah is mezonos, and sometimes one can become full just from eating them. We need to be careful not to reach a situation where eating mezonos foods constitutes a full meal. Then the question arises whether we need to bentch, and perhaps wash our hands beforehand as well. So we should try not to eat until we are full.

38:01 Speaker 2 The meals during the flight are small, and that way we will not face the question of whether we need to bentch over the mezonos foods we have eaten. It is mentioned in one place that the Rebbe once instructed Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik a"h to order a kosher meal on a flight, even though he had no intention of eating it, in order to strengthen the availability of kosher food on the plane. The very fact that people order kosher meals will lead the airline to make sure kosher food is available for those who want to eat it. So we should order kosher meals. Each person should try to order one, even if in the end they bring their own food from home. Making sure there is kosher food on the plane will mean that someone who wants it—and perhaps forgot to order—will have the option of eating kosher food during the flight. We generally know not to put food under a bed that someone sleeps on at night, because a harmful spirit rests beneath a bed where a person sleeps. On a flight, though, there is more room to be lenient. This concern, this prohibition, applies primarily when the bed is on the ground. The issue relates both to the ground and to the bed on which someone sleeps. Here there is no ground beneath the seat: there is the plane’s floor, and beneath that, air and sea. The element of the ground is absent, so there is more room to be lenient. Besides, the seat we sit on is not designated solely for sleeping. It is not actually a bed; it is also meant for sitting. So we can say that the prohibition against placing food under a bed does not apply here. It applies primarily to a bed used only for sleeping and, as we said, specifically at night and when there is earth beneath the bed. Here there is a floor, but not ground beneath the plane, and it is a seat that is not necessarily meant only for

40:27 Speaker 2 Only for sleeping. So one may be lenient and place food under the seat where we sit during the flight. As for traveling to the Rebbe, regarding saying Krias Shema before bed on a plane: usually, we don’t always manage to sleep properly during the flight. The question is whether we need to say Krias Shema, and what about the blessing of Hamapil? As is known, the need to say Krias Shema before bed at night is not necessarily connected to sleep. It also provides general protection for a person, so even on nights when someone has no intention of sleeping at all, he needs to say Krias Shema before bed. Only in Lubavitch was the custom not to say it on three special nights of the year when people stay awake all night, such as the seventh day of Pesach, Hoshana Rabbah, and Shavuos. Generally, though, one should say Krias Shema before bed every night, even if one is not going to sleep. But Hamapil is a blessing specifically connected to sleep, so one should say it only if one plans to sleep for at least half an hour. If he thinks he will not fall asleep at all, and certainly not for half an hour, he should say Hamapil without Hashem’s name or the words acknowledging His kingship, since the blessing was instituted to be said when one sleeps for at least half an hour at night. As for preparing water for washing one’s hands before going to sleep, so it will be ready when one wakes up: sleep on a plane is generally not very comfortable. It is in a seat, and one does not always sleep as one normally does at home. Nevertheless, because this is the sleep available to us during the flight, and sometimes a person sleeps for more than half an hour, it may already be considered a full sleep for that person, since this is his sleep for the night and he is not sleeping in a regular bed

43:03 Speaker 2 in the usual way. So one could say that even in this situation, an impure spirit rests on his hands. Therefore, when he wakes up, if he feels he has finished his main sleep, he is obligated to wash his hands upon waking. Accordingly, there is reason to arrange to wash his hands near where he slept, without walking four amos—two meters—before washing. If it is very difficult to arrange enough water to wash each hand three times alternately upon waking, he should wash each hand at least once. That already removes the main impure spirit from the hands, and he can walk four amos and complete the washing afterward. But certainly, ideally, if he can arrange to do the entire washing near where he slept, that is much better. If we forgot to prepare water and there is no one to bring us water for washing, we should walk less than four amos at a time, stop and pause before reaching two meters, and continue that way until we reach the restroom, where we can wash our hands properly. Washing one’s hands: can the water for washing be placed under the seat on the plane? Here, too, one may be lenient and say there is no problem placing it under the seat. As for saying the morning blessings after sleeping, sometimes we do not manage to sleep and remain awake all night. In that case, the obligation to say the morning blessings begins only after dawn. Only when the night is over do we use the restroom, wash our hands, and, according to Chabad custom, recite all the morning blessings in order. But if we did manage to sleep and it is already after midnight, we may wash our hands—and it is preferable to wash them—and say the morning blessings for which we have become obligated. Usually we sleep in our clothes,

45:37 Speaker 2 so we cannot yet say Malbish Arumim. Nor can we say Roka Haaretz Al Hamayim, because the earth is not here; we are in the air. So we should not say those blessings until after dawn. Hameichin Mitzadei Gaver, however, we can say, since we begin to walk, and that blessing is said over walking. But Nosen Lasechvi Vinah, which refers to the rooster, Roka Haaretz Al Hamayim, Malbish Arumim, and also She’asah Li Kol Tzorki if we are not wearing leather shoes—those blessings must wait until after dawn. Only then do we say them, because we have not yet become obligated to say them. The blessings for which we have become obligated, though, should preferably be said as soon as that obligation begins, rather than simply putting them off for many hours until dawn. At that point they would only be said as a make-up, not in the ideal manner. Ideally, we should say the morning blessings as close as possible to the time when we become obligated to say them. Regarding the blessings over Torah study, the same principle applies: if we slept and woke after midnight, we cannot study Torah before saying those blessings. Sleep has interrupted our attention, and since it is after midnight, it is already considered a new day. We therefore need to say the blessings over Torah study before learning. Generally, if the sleep was temporary and not our main sleep, we are lenient. Someone who falls asleep at a table in shul while learning Torah at night, for example, can continue learning when he wakes up, because his attention was not interrupted in that way. But on a plane, where we sleep in the seat we are sitting in and that is

47:54 Speaker 2 our sleep for the night, if it was our main sleep, we stopped thinking about learning, and we woke after midnight, we first say the blessings over Torah study. Only afterward can we learn Torah. As for going to the mikveh before davening, as chassidim customarily do, that is not possible on a plane. So there is the Rebbe’s instruction that in situations where one cannot go to the mikveh, one should at least learn a few mishnayos from Tractate Mikvaos, which serves in place of going to the mikveh. If the flight is in the early morning, one can go to the mikveh a few hours beforehand, if it is open, and immerse. That also helps for davening later, since it is considered preparation for that davening. Regarding the blessing of Hagomel after a flight, our custom is to say it specifically for a flight over the sea that lasts a certain amount of time—at least sixty-two minutes—not for short domestic flights that do not pass over the sea. It is related in the Rebbe’s name that the Rebbe once said that domestic flights within the United States, even if they take several hours, do not pass over the sea and are not considered dangerous. Nowadays, planes are not dangerous to fly in, so a domestic flight on its own is not considered a dangerous situation. We do not say Hagomel for a short flight. Someone who flies and stops along the way for a layover should not say Hagomel then, even if it is a day when the Torah is read and they read from the Torah there, because he is still traveling. He is still in a situation of danger and should not yet say Hagomel. Even if he reaches his destination but is returning within a day or two, some halachic authorities maintain that he still should not say Hagomel in that situation. Therefore, it should be said without Hashem’s name or the words acknowledging His kingship, in deference to those opinions that hold

50:15 Speaker 2 For less than three days, one still does not recite Birchas Hagomel. The custom is to recite Birchas Hagomel after the Torah reading. Since ten people are present for the Torah reading, the blessing is said then. Some poskim say that, strictly speaking, there is no obligation to receive an aliyah in order to recite Birchas Hagomel; it is not like other obligations. But it is a good custom to receive an aliyah before reciting Birchas Hagomel, and immediately after the aliyah and its final blessing, he recites Birchas Hagomel. If he received the aliyah before Kaddish is said after the Torah reading, he should wait until after Kaddish. That is our custom: to wait until after Kaddish and then recite Birchas Hagomel. Until when can one recite Birchas Hagomel? The Alter Rebbe uses the expression “whenever he wishes.” Some poskim maintain that this means as long as he still wishes to recite it out of joy over what happened to him, while he still remembers the event. But if he no longer remembers it with that sense of joy and gratitude, he can no longer recite Birchas Hagomel. Ideally, says the Alter Rebbe, Birchas Hagomel should be recited within three days of leaving the danger behind. So if he emerged from danger on Monday, he should not wait until Thursday’s Torah reading. Similarly, if someone landed on Monday and did not manage to hear the Torah reading that day, he should not wait until Thursday to recite Birchas Hagomel. Rather, he should gather ten people, or recite Birchas Hagomel after davening, when ten people are already there. Some poskim nevertheless maintain that the established custom is to wait and recite Birchas Hagomel specifically after the Torah reading in every case, even if three days will have passed since he became obligated to recite

52:33 Speaker 2 Birchas Hagomel. The question is whether that is indeed our custom as well, because the Alter Rebbe writes not to wait, but to recite Birchas Hagomel before Thursday’s Torah reading, in the presence of ten people, so that three days will not pass from the time the obligation arose. The accepted practice is that women do not recite Birchas Hagomel. Regarding a woman after childbirth, there are differing opinions about whether she recites Birchas Hagomel. But regarding a flight, or any other situation in which a woman was in danger and emerged from it, the more accepted practice is that women generally do not recite Birchas Hagomel. Rather, when she hears the chazzan say “Borchu” at the Torah reading, she should intend, as she responds “Boruch Hashem hamevorach,” to thank Hashem for saving her. But she does not recite Birchas Hagomel herself. That permits carrying on Shabbos. Another matter is a karmelis, and another is an actual public domain, where carrying on Shabbos is forbidden. One must be very careful not to take objects from homes or from the shul out into the street, so as not to violate the prohibition of carrying on Shabbos. The melachah of carrying on Shabbos forbids taking objects from a private domain to a public domain, or walking more than four amos along the street with objects. Often, in the middle of walking down the street, we suddenly remember that we have something in our pockets, and we abruptly stop walking. One should know that stopping is not the right thing to do, because then it is considered that we have set the object down in the street. To avoid violating the prohibition of setting it down in the street, it is better, the moment we remember or realize that we have something in a pocket, to keep walking without stopping. Then the carrying began without our awareness, and we are continuing to walk. While walking, we should try to throw the object away in an unusual manner, to cast

55:06 Speaker 2 it aside. That way, we will not violate the prohibition of carrying and setting an object down in a public domain. If it is a very valuable object or a sacred object that cannot be thrown away, then in such a situation one needs to walk less than four amos at a time and stop to rest. That is how to move the object, or one can pass it from one person to another, each person carrying it a short distance along the street. Then, when we reach a place close to a private domain, we throw the object in, setting it down in an unusual manner. In this way, we will not violate the prohibition of carrying and walking more than four amos along the street with objects. There are other matters that arise when traveling abroad. When the festivals come around, does one have to observe two days of Yom Tov or one? The same question can arise when someone flies from abroad to Eretz Yisroel: does he observe one day or two days of Yom Tov? On this subject, there are differing rulings even among Chabad rabbis. In a later edition of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, the Alter Rebbe writes that people from Eretz Yisroel who arrive abroad must observe two days of Yom Tov, because the holiness cannot depart in one day. The author of Shaar Hakollel, who was the Rebbe’s great-grandfather, also writes that, accordingly, in the reverse case, those who come to Eretz Yisroel should observe only one day of Yom Tov. He presents this as a practical halachic ruling. There are many letters from the Rebbe on this subject. At times, when people asked the Rebbe, he told them to ask a rabbi. They then told the Rebbe what the Shaar Hakollel ruled, and the Rebbe said, “I didn’t say which rabbi to ask.” He, too, was a rabbi, and one can rule like him. But the Rebbe often said that these matters are based on Kabbalah, and it appears from the Rebbe’s statements that this is not how the halachah is generally ruled. Usually,

57:36 Speaker 2 the halachah determines that a person follows the practice of the place he came from, if he intends to return there. That means that if someone travels from Eretz Yisroel abroad, since he intends to return to Eretz Yisroel, he must observe only one day of Yom Tov. What does “one day of Yom Tov” mean? It means that on the second day he davens the weekday prayers privately. Likewise, he puts on tefillin privately. Outwardly, however, since the Jews in that place observe the second day of Yom Tov, he, too, is required to observe it. Outwardly, he must wear Yom Tov clothes and refrain from melachah that day. Outwardly, he must conduct himself as on Yom Tov, but as far as tefillin and davening are concerned, he must daven the regular weekday prayers and put on tefillin. Similarly, if someone comes from abroad to Eretz Yisroel, since he intends to return, he must observe two days of Yom Tov in Eretz Yisroel. Some people arrange special minyanim in Eretz Yisroel for residents of other countries. All this, however, applies if he is traveling alone. If he comes with his family—his whole family, including his wife—then, since the family establishes a residence in the place, it is like what the halachah calls “uprooting one’s dwelling.” If someone rents a home and moves to live somewhere else, the very fact that he has left his home and come to settle in the new place establishes him there, and he must follow the practice of the place where he currently is. Therefore, if someone travels abroad with his family, he observes two days of Yom Tov, since his family is there. The same applies in reverse: if someone flies from abroad to Eretz Yisroel with his family, since he has established himself there and is currently

59:46 Speaker 2 His family is currently in Israel, so he will observe only one day of Yom Tov. But those who fly to the Rebbe come with the intention of following the practice of the place where they are now. This is called coming on the Rebbe’s terms. There is strong reason to say that they should follow the practice of the place where they are staying. In fact, it is told that in the early years of the Rebbe’s leadership, chassidim—young men—came to the Rebbe and were unsure whether to observe one day of Yom Tov or two. The Rebbe said, “What is the question? Of course you come on the Rebbe’s terms, so you are considered settled in the place where you are now and must observe two days of Yom Tov.” But in other places outside Israel, where one is not staying with the Rebbe, it does make a difference whether he came alone intending to return to Israel—in which case he observes only one day, as we said earlier—or came with his family, in which case he observes two days. There are other details concerning situations that arise when we fly abroad. For example, what if they have already begun saying Vesein Tal Umatar in Israel, but outside Israel they have not yet begun asking for rain? Generally, the guidance is to continue as we have been doing until now, following the practice of the place we were in before. If he began asking for rain in Israel, he should continue saying Vesein Tal Umatar abroad, unless he is leading the prayers. In the repetition of the Amidah, he should not say Vesein Tal Umatar, because the congregation does not say it; but he should say it in his silent Amidah. An Israeli who is abroad when they have begun asking for rain in Israel, but have not yet begun abroad—where they start only sixty days after the Tishrei equinox—should not yet ask for rain, since the local people are not yet asking for it.

1:01:55 Speaker 2 In a letter from the Rebbe, it sounds as though he should ask for rain in the Shema Koleinu blessing, saying Vesein Tal Umatar there. That way, he satisfies all the possibilities: on the one hand, he did not say Vesein Tal Umatar in Bareich Aleinu, but he did say it in Shema Koleinu, where one may add personal requests. Other situations can arise when someone travels from abroad to Israel or the other way around and the weekly parshas differ. Often, the second day of Yom Tov abroad falls on Shabbos, so there they read the Yom Tov reading on Shabbos. But in Israel it was already an ordinary Shabbos, and they went on to read the next parsha. As a result, there is a difference between the parshas being read in Israel and abroad. So here, too, someone traveling from one place to another may find that he has missed a parsha. If he arrives in Israel and there are at least six people—a majority of a minyan—who have not heard that Torah reading, they can make it up: the first person called to the Torah, the kohen, reads the entire previous parsha through the second aliyah of the current parsha being read in Israel. They then continue with the current parsha for the remaining six aliyos. If it is the other way around, and someone comes from Israel to a place abroad, they will be reading a parsha he has already heard. He is still obligated to hear the Torah reading. As for Shnayim Mikra, he has already said it for that parsha and does not have to say it again. Let’s finish with the blessing the Rebbe gives several times in his sichos concerning flying. The Rebbe says: “And all the Jewish people, wherever they may be, will go with the clouds of heaven—as we fly by plane, but even faster.” Elsewhere, the Rebbe says that all the Jewish people

1:04:09 Speaker 2 will come with Hakadosh Boruch Hu on the clouds of heaven, without any need for airplanes or the like. For through the clouds of heaven, Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s clouds, we will come much faster and without any trouble to our Holy Land, to the holy city of Jerusalem, to the holy mountain and to the Third Beis Hamikdash. May it all happen immediately, right now. There are various times when someone flies and has obligations to fulfill, such as lighting Chanukah candles. When should he light the menorah? Certainly, it is best to avoid the question altogether by taking a flight that departs later, after nightfall, so that we can light Chanukah candles where we live before setting out. If we did not plan for that and leave before nightfall, and will land only after the night has ended, then we have no choice. If we know in advance that any flame we light will immediately be extinguished and there is no possibility of lighting a flame, some say it is preferable at least to turn on a flashlight or something similar in remembrance of the Chanukah candles, without a blessing. If someone flies during Pesach, he should decide in advance that he does not wish to acquire any chametz that may be on the plane and that he wants no connection to it. He should also be careful if someone next to him is eating food that is not kosher for Pesach: he should make sure it does not come into his possession and that, G-d forbid, he does not end up eating any of that food. Someone once told me that a booklet I published on the halachos of flying had actually saved him. He flew during Sukkos and thought that, according to halachah, he was not allowed to eat anything. He nearly fainted. But then he saw in the booklet that someone flying during

1:06:26 Speaker 2 Sukkos is permitted to eat because he is exempt from the sukkah, and that brought him back to normal. That is indeed the halachah: someone flying during Sukkos is exempt from eating in a sukkah. Nevertheless, if possible, it is recommended to eat things that do not require a sukkah—fruit, for example, or less than an egg’s volume of mezonos, and similar foods—and to make do with those rather than eat foods that require a sukkah.