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ב"ה

My Gas Station Synagogue

Thursday, 21 January, 2010 - 6:56 pm

As I read the news this morning of a US Airways flight that was diverted and made an emergency landing in Philadelphia due to a passenger praying in tefillin, I was reminded of my own experiences praying in public. In fact, just this week I was traveling home from Wyoming and stopped to refuel at a gas station when I noticed the sun approaching the mountaintops. Realizing I had a limited amount of time to daven (pray) Mincha (afternoon service), I immediately prayed right there under the Shell banner. I’m sure it was the first time for many Southeast Idaho residents to see a Jew in a yarmulke praying.

Inevitably, such incidents resurrect the debate about Jews praying in public.  Some argue it’s unbecoming to turn an airplane or a gas station into a synagogue. After all, doesn’t G-d deserve a sacred place?

Others counter that one ought to be able to pray wherever and whenever one wishes. After all, doesn’t the civil liberty ethos of a free and democratic society mandate such privileges?

***

In July, 1999 I was traveling from Uganda to Kenya with a friend. Since our bus in Uganda was not registered for transport in Kenya we needed to switch to a Kenyan bus at the border. So we found ourselves waiting for a bus in no-man’s land between the borders of Uganda and Kenya in the early morning. Knowing we would probably not get a better time or place to pray that morning, we found a quiet spot near a kiosk and whipped out our tefillin for the morning ritual.

About half an hour later, I looked up to notice that a crowd of about 200 locals had gathered. It may have been then that I truly learned the meaning of the word gawking. Unsurprisingly, none of them had a clue as to who we were and what we were doing. Respectfully, they waited until we completed our prayers. A lively conversation ensued in which we explained that we were Jewish, what Jews are, what we believe and what we were doing.

As a result, 200 people – most of whom had never met a Jew before – now had a greater understanding of Jews and Judaism which they would then share with their respective families and communities.

***

After the plague of the firstborn, releasing the Jewish people from Egypt became an urgent matter. According to the Midrash, Pharaoh approached Moses in the middle of the night and said, “Get up and leave!” Moses responded, “Are we thieves that we must sneak out in middle of the night? We will leave tomorrow in broad daylight.”

To me this sheds a great deal of light on public displays of Jewishness. What are we ashamed of? Do we consider prayer so eerie an act that we must hide it? Is a Jew wishing to pray any worse than a sports star that has just scored a goal or touchdown?

Moses was not only addressing the Pharaoh of yesteryear, but also the figurative Pharaoh whose crusade lives on today. This voice of ‘reason’ argues that we must not ruffle any feathers. You can be Jewish, but do it quietly, under the cover of dark. Keep it away from the public eye. Don’t make such a fuss about the food you eat and the way you appear.

It was sixty years ago that a man in Brooklyn saw this attitude for the Pharaoh that it really is. As Rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn took the reins of the Lubavitch movement, he initiated campaign after campaign to bring mitzvah awareness and observance to the public. Thanks to the Rebbe’s efforts we’ve come a long way since then.

It’s high time we realize that the more open we are about our tradition, the more we help advocate our cause of tolerance and understanding.

Comments on: My Gas Station Synagogue
1/21/2010

Yisroel wrote...

I was on the New York subway last year and was at that time less than comfortable when praying in public. I realized the train ride would last pass the time for Mincha the afternoon prayers. I noticed two teenaged girls standing in the crowded subway. I realized they were reciting Tachnun when one of the women began the light, rhytmic chest taps that are uniquely associated with these prayers. This gave me the "courage" to pray on that crowded subway. Those young ladies may never know that their mitzvah that day was doubled when it led another to prayer. Perhaps this boys misfortune will lead to more Jews publicly demonstrating our faith.
1/22/2010

Rabbi Mendel wrote...

I received the following comment about today's story from a friend:

I vividly remember when as a child of fourteen I flew with an elderly Chabad Chassid from Sydney to NY. During our two-hour layover in San Fran airport, which was our only time to daven, I noticed there was a small janitorial room adjoining the gate. I told him if he would wait for a few minutes, I would ask a United employee for permssion to daven there, so we wouldn't need to do it out in the open. I will never forget how visibly agitated he was when he replied sharply, "In Soviet Russia I had to hide to learn and put on tefillin. Here we don't hide to daven."

The impact of those words stay with me till today. Whenever I daven in an airport, I never make an effort to find an obscure corner.

While we should not be looking to specifically flaunt our faith or aggrivate others, this surely puts into perspective how proud we ought to be.