Dr. David Dao was forcibly shlepped off his United Airlines flight. A stroller was violently taken from a mom flying American. Chaos erupted in when Spirit pilots refused to fly in Florida. A family was threatened with jail time for not wanting to give up their baby's seat on a Delta flight to Hawaii.
What is going on? What has happened to common decency and courtesy?
Let's take a step back to an airline's inaugural flight, or to a maiden voyage of a cruise ship. As one can imagine, everything takes place in idyllic fashion. The stewardesses smiles are fresh and bright, the pilot's broadcast over the PA is animated and joyful, the passengers are courteous to one another. Perhaps they hired a band to greet the passengers in the terminal, complimentary hor d'oeuvres and champagne to set the mood.
What happens on that flight is not just a marketing ploy to attract future passengers. I think that, at least on some level, it represents some core values that the airline believes in. Wanting to make travel enjoyable, providing exemplary customer service, creating an environment of camaraderie in the air, (Hey, and make a little money on the side 😉 ).
But then amidst the pressures of day to day life, those same values fade into the background. While trying to accommodate hundreds of travelers hurrying to their destinations, the couple who would like to sit together seems more like an annoyance. Not out of mal intent, but simply getting caught up in the black and white of getting the airplane off the ground with a constantly ticking clock.
Between Passover and Shavuot it is a time of mourning, as thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students were dying. On "Lag B'omer" the 33rd day, the plague finally stopped. The day (this Sunday), is a day of celebration, 
celebrated with music, bonfires and festivities.
What was the cause of this plague? The Talmud tells us that they didn't respect one another. This is thoroughly perplexing as their teacher, the great sage Rabbi Akiva's MO was to love your fellow as yourself. How could his very own students act with disregard for another's feelings?
But like the airlines, their core beliefs of respect and love were forgotten in their quest to "do life" right. While trying to ensure that their fellow life passengers were doing exactly what the instruction manual recommends, they forgot the spirit by which they meant to operate.
Lag B'omer (as we turn mourning into marshmallows) represents coming back to the basics; that amidst all the hustle and bustle, the baggage and seat assignments, the focus needs to remain the same for flight attendants and passengers alike. The American (and yes, very Jewish) value of truly flying... United.
Get some commUNITY tonight at the Jewish Social Network Shabbat Dinner. 6:30pm, 1970 Rainier Circle. I hear the food will be better than any airline!
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I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all the moms out there - beginning with my own mother (Hi Mom!) and Devorah - a very happy Mother's Day! Thank you for being mom!
ב"ה