The great poskim, have published a letter asking all
travel agents to schedule flights for Torah observant
passengers flying abroad only in travel sections where
arrangements have been made not to show indecent films and
where the general environment conforms to the religious
lifestyle. By this, says the letter, the passengers will be
prevented from transgressing, and the travel agents will help
increase kevod Shomayim and prevent chillul
Hashem.
The chareidi and religious communities are very grateful for
the arrangements made with a series of airlines in respect to
a plan known as Darka Achrita, which designates
special sections in flights in which no movies are shown, and
the personnel dress modestly. The public has been informed of
these arrangements by the Nationwide Committee for the
Prevention of Indecent Advertising, an affiliate of the
Committee for Purity of the Community in Eretz Hakodesh and
the Worldwide Chinuch Committee of the United States.
Flights with these special sections go to many destinations
the world over. Soon, El Al will also arrange for special
Darka Achrita flights on small planes, which will then
reach nearly all the world.
Currently, the following airlines have come to terms with the
Committee, and provide for the special Darka Achrita
arrangements: Tower Air, which has Darka
Achrita sections in its flights to all of its
transatlantic destinations in the United States, Canada and
France; and El Al which has similar flights (at this
point only on Boeing 747- 400 and 747-200 planes) as well as
a daily flight from London to Israel and back. British
Airways operates two flights a day from Israel to London,
and to additional destinations in Europe which involve brief
flights from London. Scandinavian Airways -- SAS
operates flights with Dark Achrita sections to
Denmark, Sweden and all East Europe. One may fly to Poland on
the Lot airline's Darka Achrita plan and to
Hungary, on Malev's Darka Achrita program. El
Al plans to add additional flights in the near future.
The gedolei haposkim, Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom
Eliashiv, HaRav Shmuel Wosner, av beis din of Zichron
Meir; HaRav Nissim Karelitz, av beis din of Ramat
Aharon, and HaRav Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky, the gaavad
of the Eida HaChareidis, wrote a strong letter to all travel
agents in the chareidi and religious sectors, asking them to
refer all of their religious clientele to sections where
these arrangements have been secured
The letter reads (in translation): "To all of the travel
agents: With Hashem's help, the activists involved in the
issue have succeeded in persuading a number of airlines to
set aside special sections in their planes where no indecent
films will be shown. These sections will be called Darka
Achrita, and travel agents should refer all Torah
observant passengers to these sections. In this way the
passengers will be saved from violating the prohibition of
velo sosuru acharei levavchem ve'acharei eineichem. By
the same token, the travel agents will merit the
zechus of increasing kevod Shomayim and
preventing chillul Hashem."
On erev Rosh Hashono 5757, all of the gedolei
haTorah vehaChassidus issued a Krias Kodesh on
this important matter to all of the airline companies, and
called upon to make arrangements so that passengers would not
be forced to view immodest sights. That letter said: "The
outcry of bnei Yisroel, headed by the roshei
yeshiva and the directors of the various educational
institutions regarding the stumbling blocks encountered by
religious passengers en route to and from Eretz Hakodesh, has
reached us. These people are forced to view very offensive
sights and appalling pictures, by means of films projected
directly at members of the Am Kodosh, who are
disgusted by such spectacles and make every effort to avoid
them."
In the remainder of the letter, the gedolei haTorah
vehaChassidus issued a heart-rending call to all of the
airlines to attend to this problem and to make every attempt
to eliminate these breaches in tsnius and
kedusha in the best matter manner possible, noting the
important efforts being made by the Nationwide Committee for
the Prevention of Indecent Advertisements. All arrangements,
they said should be coordinated with this committee.
At the end of the letter, the rabbonim expressed their
opinion -- da'as Torah -- that "surely, when these
arrangements are implemented, chareidi passengers, am
kodosh who fear Hashem's word, will book flights only
with those companies approved by the abovementioned
committees, and that the roshei yeshiva and the
directors of educational institutions for young women will
direct their students to book passage only on airlines which
have organized sections where modesty is fully observed."
The outcry of the gedolei haTorah vehaChassidus was
signed by: Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, HaRav Aharon
Leib Steinman, HaRav Mordechai Yehuda Lefkowitz, HaRav Nissim
Karelitz, the Admor of Vishnitz, the Admor of Gur, the Admor
of Slonim, the Admor of Belz, and all of the botei din
tzeddek throughout the Israel.
The call of gedolei haTorah and the country's
poskim fell on attentive ears, and after much effort,
the prominent activists managed to reach agreements with a
number of airlines.
Reservations for all airlines should be made by the travel
agents, who have received special instructions for this
purpose and have been apprised that reservations in the
Darka Achrita sections must be made in advance, while
purchasing the ticket, and are not accepted at the airport.
This is especially so in El Al, which has designated a
special computer code (similar to the that for reserving
strictly kosher meals) for chareidi passengers and where such
reservations are made by computer. The other airlines make
such arrangements at the companies' counters at airports both
abroad and in Israel.
A very prominent rosh yeshiva wrote that, "The efforts
to reach these agreements were very strenuous, and it is
difficult to describe how much work and mesiras nefesh
were involved. All this was simply to prevent fellow Jews
from violating the serious prohibition of viewing films."
At the end of his letter, the rosh yeshiva stressed
that until now it was needless to turn to the travel agents
[but rather to the airlines.] However, "now the matter is
dependent on the travel agents who are capable of insuring
the success of this new arrangement. Every ben Torah
knows that the sale of a ticket to a forbidden place is like
the sale of treif meat -- and even worse than that --
and besiyato diShmaya . . . you will be the agents to
implement this endeavor in the best possible manner."
Mr. Uri Sirkis, deputy-general director for commercial
development and secretary of El Al, who was the middleman
between El Al and the chareidi activists, said that the
company was motivated by a willingness to provide the
chareidi and religious sector with its needs and by a
sensitivity to its feelings. He said that it accords the
requests of the religious sector the same consideration it
accords every group of passengers which seeks to fly with El
Al, and that the reason it took so long to reach an
arrangement was that it involved many complex technical
aspects. But now, thanks to the cooperation of all the sides,
the arrangements have been completed
He also related that the company will soon launch a publicity
campaign in the chareidi media. The slogan of the campaign
will be: "Fly ke'halocho in good company. Fly only in
film-free areas."
The heads of the nationwide committee expressed their
gratitude to the heads and editors of the chareidi press for
their cooperation, stressing that they played a decisive role
in realizing the call of the gedolei haTorah
vehaChassidus on this important issue. Without this vital
cooperation, they said, such great achievements couldn't have
been accomplished.
They also mentioned all of the members of the rabbinical
committee who were active in this endeavor, and served as the
emissaries of the gedolei haTorah. They also cited the
prominent rabbonim and activists who helped ensure the
success of the arrangements. They also singled out Rabbi
Avrohom Shapira, at whose Tel Aviv home many important
meetings on the issue were held.
