Naughty naughty El Al a shame on you, like I did not know it would happen again, its all politics. Can you guarantee to me charity that is given to the Haradim is not money earned on Shabbat, I remember back in England and I am sure around the world many businesses open on Shabbat gave money to Jewish charities and they excepted it so what’s the difference here

You make a big error . Other airlines are not "Jewish" , they can fly Shabbat , serve shrimps . You can even have Kosher food on board . For the rest , i agree with your writing . But remember another thing : El AL's security is better , they check you , even abroad .

Don't talk about "protection from above" , we have seen what it means during the Shoa . Totally inexistant , even for "good" Jews and their babies .

and putting people up for Shabbat .You're the greatest and we're proud of you. Did the 5 shomer shabbat israelis at least say thank you...? Sundor (i.e. El Al with a shtickel shticker) flies every Fri and Sat. so whats all this hypocritical nonsense.

It was always a crappy airline. Those with an alternative always chose another. The most loyal customers they ever had were religious jews. I suppose it will take another 60 years before business schools in Israel will teach their students that the customer is always right. No wonder Israel has no idea how to serve and respect a customer. Its a pity...Keep it up...You will always be in poverty.

Look if the Haredim don't want to fly EL AL that’s there decision but don't decide for the rest of the religious sector I am Modern Orthodox and I know mistakes happen and I will continue to fly the flag as long as they keep their No Shabbat policy for the future. If they do decide in the future to fly on Shabbat then I would have to think seriously who to fly with.

Charles - I am sure that I speak for many of us on YNet, that we feel your pain. Many are plagued by the same questions as you are. There have been many books written and many big Rabbis have addressed the issue, especially ones who themselves went through the horrors of the Concentration camps - eg: the Klausenberger Rebbe or the Sanzer Rebbe. The only small insight I can give is that as a tree needs constant pruning, so do the Jewish people. We are one people and you can't separate why something would happen to a certain "good person". We are one entity. The sooner we all realise that, the sooner we may find peace. Kol tov

Evil of the Shoa was created by and perpetrated by mankind and mankind alone.. Where was mankind during the shoa is the question, many knew what was going on. Good jews 'bad' jews doesnt apply at all. Gd believing Jews cope(d) in a different way during tragedy and its aftermath. One sees it all the time. Mankind is responsible for evil, no on else. How different people cope and react in evil circumstances, is a different theme.

All fine and well , but there was , there is'nt , and there will never be a "protection from above" . It's not pain for the lost , but it infuriates me that people dare to talk about this "protection" 60 years after the Shoa , and i ask myself : how can they still believe in a "god" who did nothing to protect "his" people , could not do nothing , or worser , wanted this to happen .

Lovely airline, lovely lounge, lovely loyal flyers who feel at HOME with El Al, Al, and who meet all the time and wouldn't consider coming HOME any other way, Al. El, Al actually. But the key word is HOME, Al. Makes Al(l) the difference.

of the (late) Klausenberger Rebbe mentioned above,( the builder of Laniado hospital after the murder of his wife and many chidren in the Shoa. He felt that he must have been saved for a reason, so he built the hospital). A resident of Netanya went to him complaining of the 'pritzus' ie the indecent way of behaving and immodest clothing, as after all Netanya is a beach resort. The Rebbe told him to come back in a few days. When he went back, the Rebbe said 'I looked on my way to t'filla in the mornings, and all I see round me everywhere, are men hurrying to the tfilla with their tallit bags. What wonderful Jews we have here'...

Did you also stay at the hotel in nw11 on a main road? Very central spot for shabbat observers. near shops too for emergency shoes/clothing etc. No doubt, israelis expected el al to pay for the shoes and clothes too? LOL

Oh! that's right, there isn't one. So you'll just have to put up with it.

Howzabout these kharedi fruitcakes stay IN Toronto and not fly to Israel with ANY airline company!

El AL made the correct decision in this case. The Religious Jews were able to keep Shabbat in London, and the non-Religious and non-Jewish passengers were able to continue their journey to Tel Aviv. Let's not create problems where there are none.

Tell the overt phony ritious to WALK!

If the folks who invented the Shabbos Goy, the sale of chometz for Pesach, and changing your name to avoid an evil decree .... can not let El Al follow those rules, so long as the Haredim can stay in Glatt Kosher hotels in London: A POX ON THEM. Let then start their own airline and let us live.

So wait, I'm supposed to fly El Al so that it will be cheaper for you? How stupid is that? Actually, the best response is not to leave Israel at all - to simply vacation here. In any event, I wouldn't fly Luftansa and never have. Your comment "why does the majority have to pay for you" is absurd when I've just said that I'm not flying El Al. What you are saying is that we should ignore our beliefs to save YOU money because you, as a businessman care only about money and not Jewish values. That being the case, why do you even bother to live here at all? Why don't you take your El Al flight and go live in the US or England or anywhere you want. It is YOUR hypocrisy that is pathetic because YOU see this hurting YOUR wallet and that's all YOU care about. Geez, get over your selfishness man - the world doesn't revolve around you!

aren't YOU the one who doesn't even live in Israel? More likely, we religious will choose to STAY in Israel rather than compromise our principles...oh wait, you don't understand the concept or principles, do you. Never mind.

Why are they more concerned with sanctity of shabbat and not the sanctity of life. They, on their horse, they support other airlines, like continental who fly everywhere in the world on shabbat. How stupid can you be? If they were nice enough to put the religeous people up in a hotel, and allowed those willing to fly to continue, why aren't we praising them for caring enough about ALL PEOPLE! If the Haredim don't want to fly, let them sail. I'm tired of them trying to tell us how to live our lives. What happened to live and let live? And why don't they open up Hardi Air. Then they can do what ever the hell they want.

#1They didn't broke any agreement. they used a loop hole. there's a difference. /#3 It IS the haredim's fault again, as usual. how typical of religious nutcases to whine that the others are causing problems for the religious. you're the ones who want everyone else to live by YOUR rules while refusing to even respect the others, thereby causing trouble for the rest. people want to be able to fly whenver the hell they feel like it without "divine" approval first. if it bothers the haredim so much then they should start their own airline, but that's not to be expected since i doubt they could raise the funds, the haredim districts of israel are as poor, or even poorer than, the arab ones. your way of life only works if there are other people around supporting you so you can whine. the haredim on this flight that were offered to stay in London with all expenses paid should have gotten nothing at all. if it doesn't suit them to fly home then they can sit on the street and starve, it's none of El Al's concern. you have the exact same values as the insane wahhabis in saudi arabia. i'm sure you'd like it there. apartheid and flogging if you forget to pray. a dream society, huh?

The level of hatred against Chareidim seems to have reached an all time high on your talkbacks. I am sure that Y-Net have contributed to this in no small way, but I would like to point out that as so many of you keep stating, anti-semitism doesn't differentiate. Why have such a burning hatred for those who, at the end of the day, are attempting (if not always succeeding) in living their lives according to the Torah - which is just what all of our families did just a few short generations ago.

had the haredim be flying a goy airline (as they threaten to do) then would that airline have so easily also offered them a free weekend in london over shabbat simply because the plane was delayed a few hours

All Hareidi passengers who didn't want to fly had hotac arranged for them in the uk according to the story out yesterday. EL AL always gives them the choice. I'm getting sick of thei Hareidi blackmail and coercion - iEL AL is a for profit company now so lay off them - or maybe ELAL should make a deal and use the extra (fake)yeshiva student money filched by the Hareidim to pay for the rooms?????

To all those that have problems with Haredim and their religious coercion should know they have no care flying other airlines and they threatened to do so and will if they feel is right. They were doing Elal a big favor by giving them 2 chances in the past 30 years to help them out of their big financial losses. They could have just left while elal goes bankrupt but because they have a heart for their Jewish brethren and when Elal knocks on their door to plead with them to try to work something out, they look to help. In a democratic country anyone could be willing to boycott a company that isn't catering to their needs. Nobody is forcing anything down your throat. We will leave, if our Rabbis and leaders say so. That is none of your business what we do for ourselves and if you prefer to fly on Shabbat then go knock on Elals door and plead with them to fly on Shabbat the same way Elal keeps pleading and begging for the Haredim to work something out. And if you don't believe me then answer me why in the hell would Elal or any company cater to orthodox Jews by not flying a whole day or getting Hashgacha for their food products if they will make more money by not doing so. It must be that you seculars don't realize it is your own type of people seeking Orthodox approvals because they see where the money is. So please complain to yorselves why you keep coming back to us for our approvals and our money . Would you just leave us alone already. There are such nice Gentiles out there that respect us for who we are and cater to all our wonderful needs. We lasted 3000 years without you seculars and we will outlast you by another 3000 years. As to # 53 Chaim if you only know the respect Gentiles have to the beliefs and religions for the Jews you would look at Elal as if it is an Iranian airline. Gentiles respect the Jewish religion more than secular Jews ever will.

You talk about hatred against the charidim . You are wrong , it's hatred against intolerance , against coercision , it's against those "charidi" stone throwers . It's not against a great part of the Charidim , who are tolerant toward seculars , who live their religious life in a TRUE way , who don't want to impose religious rules on everyone . Those are fine people , are'nt hated but deserve respect .

The chareidim should be impressed with El Al's classic Talmudic maneuver!

I cannot understand why a few people feel that they must set the standards for all to follow. It appears from all that I have read that El Al accomodated those that did not want to violate the Shabbath by providing them with accomodations in London. Those that had to travel to Israel were also accomodated. What's wrong with that? Esther

There are only religious "schnorrers " who come to my door to beg for money . It was so in Galut when i lived there , it's so here in Petach tikva . And what the charidi passengers , they will not be permitted to behave the same way on a not El Al airline , as they do now . El Al accomodated both segments of the passengers . Did you want the seculars and non Jewish passengers to loose a day in London because of your religious requirements ? Had El Al done this , they certainly would loose ALL those passengers involved .