50 davening rabbis circle Israel in a plane to ward off swine flu

[BurtWorm]

Not a joke.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wsj/health/feed/~3/vqVfjoWQGok/



In Israel, about 50 rabbis prayed on an airplane that circled the country earlier this week in an effort to fight the flu, the BBC reports. The aim was “to stop the pandemic so people will not keep dying from it,” one rabbi told a local newspaper, according to the Associated Press.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8196786.stm

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/08/11/20090811israel-flying11-ON.html

[joeybee12]

1. Sounds like the name of a movie...

...you can't make this s**t up, can you?

[phantom power]

3. Flakes on a Plane

[DeSwiss]

12. LULZ

[rurallib]

2. can they also drive out republicans and rats?

[mike_c]

4. I can't believe that anyone in the 21st century still does this...

...witch doctor thing. This story has been posted before and it doesn't get any less bizarre with repetition.

And people still die because they (or their caretakers, even worse) pray for a cure rather than take medical steps.

Religion = insanity.

[Why Syzygy]

5. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x215747

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. And to think they call it the 'Religion of Reason'.

Judaism was my last stop before throwing in the towel and returning to the atheism of my youth.

[Meshuga]

14. These nutjobs cannot be compared to rabbis from other movements

And they do a huge disfavor to Jewish sages with this display of foolishness.

[rd_kent]

17. Foolishness is in the eye of the beholder. To me, they are ALL foolish.

These guys in the plane is no more foolish to me than the folks at the western wall, for example. And to call THESE guys "nutjobs" and not call all the others who do weird things in the name of religion "nutjobs"? What separates the two?

[The Wielding Truth]

7. Hope the virus has not accompanied them on their enclosed flight.

[MichellesBFF]

8. I can understand why....

Swine Flu isn't kosher.

[DeSwiss]

13. Yeah but....

...does that mean that the Avian Flu could be kosher as long as the ribbits say so?

:shrug:

[charlie]

9. Hope the fight was chartered

It would be beyond surreal to get on a plane and find yourself among 50 rabbis doing their prayer thing and some guy with an Alpine horn going HRRRAAALLLLWOOOOOOOOOOONK.

[onager]

18. I was on a flight once full of Muslim holy men.

Going from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (where I lived at the time) to Rome.

I wondered if they were going to visit the Pope, and decided probably not. :-)

The imams had been to some sort of big religious hoopla in Jeddah. Nothing really stood out about the flight, except that these particular holy men clearly did NOT believe cleanliness was next to godliness. Cough...

This flight was on Saudia airlines, so no alcohol was served and they blasted the Arabic "prayer for safe travel" thru the cabin before takeoff. This particular flight also had male flight attendants only, maybe in deference to the sensibilities of all those imams.

Rumor said there were worse airlines than Saudia. e.g., Pakistani International Airlines, or PIA. Frequent fliers on that one claimed the initials really stood for "Please Inform Allah." Or "Pray I Arrive."

[virgdem]

10. All I can say is...

OY VEY!!!!!!!!!

[Sinistrous]

11. Yeah---That's going to help.

:banghead:

[ZombieHorde]

15. Funny.

[rrneck]

16. Where the hell is Mel Brooks when you need him? nt

[sam sarrha]

19. there's 50 Rabbis in a plane and the engine quits.... a duck walks into a bar..

[sakabatou]

20. Oy vey

[laconicsax]

21. Any word on how that's working out?

[Silent3]

22. Is that a cue to reuse my terrible pun...

...from the last time this story popped up? :)

[charlie]

23. In-flight video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0gvbw1S4Ks

[GodlessBiker]

24. Obviously, prayer is an indication that we are not happy with God's divine plan for us.

Hey God...could you please rethink what you are thinking about doing?