Free Monday the Rabbi Took Off by Harry Kemelman Page B

destination, and he could not wait. He looked at his watch repeatedly and then would get up from his seat beside Miriam and stride up and down the lounge in an effort to make the time pass more quickly. When he came to the window, he stopped to look out anxiously at the driving snowstorm outside, fearful that it might prevent the plane from taking off and yet buoyed up by the thought that it had been no different at Logan and they had had no delay in takeoff there.
    At last came the announcement over the loudspeaker, like all the announcements first in Hebrew and then in English, that the plane was ready for boarding. Along with everyone else in the room, they hastily gathered their belongings and. with Jonathan securely in hand, hurried to join the line. They opened their handbags for inspection, and then the line divided into two, one for men and the other for women.
    Each person was halted in a curtained cubicle where they were checked electronically for concealed metal and then manually frisked. The rabbi had seen the maneuver on television crime movies but had never been subjected to it himself. Jonathan began to whimper since he associated the frisking with an examination by a doctor which usually ended in something unpleasant like the jab of a needle, but his father reassured him. “See. it’s nothing, Jonathan, nothing at all.” When Miriam rejoined them, he said, “We were searched quite thoroughly, even intimately. How about you?”
    She nodded. “The same, I expect. It’s nice to know they’re taking all possible precautions.”
    Although all had been assigned specific seats in the plane, there was nevertheless considerable pushing and shoving. “Why do they do it?” Miriam wailed as the crowd of passengers struggled along the aisle of the plane. “Don’t they know we’re not going to start until everyone is settled?”
    The rabbi looked about at his fellow passengers. “I suppose for a number of them this is their first time in a plane. Or maybe they don’t really believe that there is a seat for everyone. We’ve always been skeptics, I guess.”
    They had had only a light lunch and were now quite hungry. Fortunately, the stewards and stewardesses began to serve almost as soon as they were airborne. Here and there a passenger was skipped. The man sitting across the aisle from the rabbi pointed it out to one of the stewards. “Look, that man didn’t get a tray.”
    “I know, I know,” said the steward. “Are you his lawyer?” He hurried on down the aisle.
    The man leaned over and confided to the rabbi. “Fresh. These young Israelis they’re fresh – no respect.”
    The explanation for those who had been passed over was not long in coming. As soon as the stewards had finished with the trays, they began distributing flat cardboard boxes marked “Strictly Kosher.”
    “Aha. so why couldn’t he say so?” the man demanded. “And isn’t our dinner kosher? They told me that on El Al all meals were strictly kosher.”
    “Why don’t you ask the steward?” the rabbi suggested.
    “And get another fresh answer?”
    “All right. I’ll ask him. I’m curious myself.”
    When next the steward passed, he plucked at his sleeve and said. “Isn’t our dinner kosher? In what way are those others more kosher?”
    The steward shrugged and smiled. “Six years I’ve been with the airline and I haven’t been able to find out.”
    The rabbi smiled and nodded his thanks, but his friend across the aisle shook his head slowly from side to side. “Fanatics, that’s what they are. I understand the country is full of them.”
    Shortly after dinner the lights were turned out, and the passengers settled down for the night. Both Miriam and Jonathan slept, but the rabbi succeeded only in dozing fitfully. Nevertheless, when the sun came up, he was neither tired nor sleepy. Miriam was already awake, as were a good half of the passengers. In the aisle two or three men were standing facing the windows reciting the