Jewish man wearing tefillin triggers bomb scare on Indiana commuter train

[Ian David]

Posted 11/16/2007

A Jewish passenger on a South Shore commuter train prompted a bomb scare on Wednesday when the traditional prayer box worn on his forehead was mistaken for an explosive device.

Bob Byrd, chief of the Northwest Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s Transit Police, told the Chesterton Tribune today that the incident began as Train 108 left the East Chicago station en route for Chicago. Several passengers sitting near the man became suspicious after observing what looked to them like a miner’s hat with a box in place of a lamp and wires sticking out of it.

<snip>

The collector then alerted the conductor, who made contact with the man. The man advised the conductor that he was praying and then declined to answer any more questions.

Possibly contributing to the confusion, Byrd said, was another passenger, apparently of Middle Eastern descent and wearing a turban, sitting in the next row. “For the people in that car the totality of this was too much for them to handle.”

<snip>

“In New York City,” Byrd added, “nobody would have looked twice at the gentleman. Here we appreciate the passengers’ response.”


More:
http://www.chestertontribune.com/Northwest%20Indiana/11164%20traditional_jewish_prayer_box_pr.htm

See also:

Tefillin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A set of tefillin includes the arm-tefillin (left) and the head-tefillin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin

And:


http://www.hasofer.com/html/tefillinposition.html



http://www.waupun.k12.wi.us/Policy/other/dickhut/religions/14%20Jewish%20Symbols.html


Oh, hillel yes.
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

Tefillin Barbie. No question I’d hit that.



More:
http://www.joemande.com/2007/03/

[Lurking Dem]

1. Wow.

The whole world is freaking the fuck out.

Tefillin Barbie is kinda freakin' ME out. But Ruth Handler would be proud!

[John Gauger]

2. "Too much for them to handle?"

There's something wrong when a man wearing a tefillin and a man wearing a turban is cause for panic.