Washington – OU: TSA To Permit Lulavim And Esrogim During Airplane Travel

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    Washington – Today, the national Transportation Security Administration (TSA) declared a special travel period for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The travel period will begin approximately on Wednesday, September 30, 2009, and end on approximately on Tuesday, October 13, 2009. This policy will allow observant Jewish travelers to carry their Lulavim and Etrogim in airports and through security checkpoints. (During the Sukkot holiday, Jews utilize four species of plants as part of their daily prayer service. See Leviticus 23:40.)

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    The Orthodox Union (Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America), the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, approached TSA to issue this important policy.

    “TSA works closely with members of the Jewish faith to ensure our security workforce is familiar with the religious holiday Sukkot, and is familiar with the prayer items that passengers may be traveling with,” said Kimberly Walton, Special Counselor for the Transportation Security Administration”.

    Nathan Diament, public policy director of the Orthodox Union stated:

    “The Orthodox Union is pleased to work with TSA on this important issue. This special travel period will allow observant Jews to travel freely during Sukkot while still being able to practice the laws of Lulav and Etrog that are crucial to the holiday’s observance. We commend TSA on all of their efforts.”

    Here is the alert form the TSA web site


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    20 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    The tip of lulovim are very sharp, the Yidden should take care not to poke people with it.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Can I travel with a pop up Sukkah?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I’m not sure this is a good precedent. Do the Sikhs now get to travel with their ceremonial swords? More importantly, do islamic terrorists get to board a plane with the “tools of their trade” since they view suicide bombing as a chiyuv under the jihadist view of the Koran.

    formally
    formally
    14 years ago

    yes this happens under the Obama administration for all you obama haters

    BoredJew.Com
    BoredJew.Com
    14 years ago

    awesome, hope some idiot screws it up.. by doing something stupid with it. like start poking people..

    Aryeh
    Aryeh
    14 years ago

    We have always been able to travel with lulavim, why the fanfaire? On the other hand, I was once asked to dismantle several mezuzot scrolls for inspection at the Burlington airport. I prayed (without shoes on) that the confused security officer wouldn’t want to tear apart anything else.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    its funny that both the OU and the Agudah are claiming credit for this.

    Arnold
    Arnold
    14 years ago

    Is there an exemption for bringing a lulav and esrog into the US from Canada by car? Can anyone supply a link? Thank you

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    only in america! hooray for the obama administration1 they are ture ohavei yisroel…oh wait, they ARE all jews

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Does xraying the esrog hurt the fruit?

    AuthenticSatmar
    AuthenticSatmar
    14 years ago

    Seems like someone in the OU is close to someone at the TSA. First the 0U hosted the TSA screeners course, and now they are reassuring we can take a lulav onboard.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    So, you buy a Lulav and Etrog imported from Eretz Yisrael and then fly it back where it came from.