OU Leaders Take Rebbe’s Lesson From Dubai Hijacking

By Mitch Aeder – President of the OU and Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph – CEO

In 1967, a group of Lubavitch women traveling to Detroit reportedly found themselves stranded by a snowstorm. Frustrated that they were unable to reach their destination, the leader of the group called the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s office for guidance and told his secretary that they were stuck in Detroit.

A moment later, the secretary returned with a message: “The Rebbe does not know what ‘stuck’ means.” 

She began explaining the meaning of the word stuck.

“The Rebbe knows what the word means,” the secretary clarified. “The Rebbe believes that a Jew is never stuck.” 

The women understood the message. Instead of simply waiting for the next flight, they fanned out across the airport, meeting fellow Jews and distributing Shabbos candles.  

His response contained a powerful idea: A Jew is never stuck. You are exactly where you need to be.

If Providence has placed you somewhere, even somewhere you did not intend to be, the question is not, how do I get out of here? The question is: What am I supposed to accomplish while I am here? 

We saw an extraordinary illustration of that idea unfold this week on FlyDubai flight 1073.

While most of the passengers and crew were understandably immobilized when their plane was hijacked, a number of passengers recognized that they were there for a reason. Yaniv Hayun, a plumber with no aviation experience, grabbed the controls and helped level the aircraft. A dentist, Dr. Shota Musayev, treated and stabilized the badly wounded captain, Captain Smit Machchhar, a hero in his own right. And Tzvika Manes and Assaf Rajuan, two businessmen, helped restrain the terrorist.  

They were simply passengers trying to get home. But at that moment, they were exactly where they needed to be. 

Perhaps that is a useful way to think about Jewish life outside of Israel. 

There are many mitzvos hat’luyos ba’Aretz – mitzvos that can only be performed in Eretz Yisrael. But perhaps, in a non-halachic sense, there are also mitzvos hat’luyos b’chutz la’Aretz – responsibilities and opportunities uniquely available to Jews who find themselves elsewhere. 

As the first yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, approaches, his life offers a shining example. Rabbi Hauer possessed a passionate love for Eretz Yisrael. Yet much of his extraordinary impact was accomplished from Baltimore and later from the leadership of the Orthodox Union in America. He taught Torah, built institutions, strengthened vulnerable members of our community, advocated for Israel and the hostages, testified before Congress on antisemitism, brought factions of the Jewish people to the same table, and helped give American Orthodoxy a serious and principled public voice.

He demonstrated what can be accomplished when a Jew takes seriously the place from which Hashem has asked him to serve. 

For those of us living outside of Israel, that means at least three things. 

Supporting Israel: When Esther hesitated to approach Achashverosh, Mordechai challenged her: “And who knows whether it was for a time such as this that you attained royalty?” Her unique position afforded her unique responsibilities. 

Since October 7, Jews outside Israel have demonstrated this in extraordinary ways: providing material assistance, advocating for Israel, volunteering, raising funds, and reminding Israelis that they are not alone. Those of us who are not physically on the front lines have opportunities to stand behind those who are. 

Building Jewish unity: Israeli society contains profound and often painful disagreements. Jews outside Israel have disagreements as well, but the distance can create an opportunity to build relationships across communal lines, learn to disagree without severing relationships, and create spaces where Jews of very different backgrounds still recognize one another as members of one people. 

Shining a light outward: Jews in the Diaspora live every day alongside neighbors, colleagues, and friends of other faiths and backgrounds. That proximity creates its own responsibility. Yirmiyahu instructed the Jews exiled to Bavel, “Seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you… and pray to Hashem on its behalf” (Yirmiyahu 29:7). We have opportunities to contribute to the societies in which we live and demonstrate through our conduct what a life shaped by Torah can look like. 

On Sukkos, we take four species, which the Midrash understands as representing different types of Jews. Each is different, yet each plays a critical role in the mission of Am Yisrael (Vayikra Rabbah 30:12). Perhaps geography works similarly. 

The service of Jews living in Yerushalayim, Tel Aviv, near Gaza, and in the North is obvious and deeply appreciated, especially since October 7. But we should not overlook the unique service to our people that can be performed by Jews from Los Angeles to New York – or over the skies of Saudi Arabia. 

Our personal circumstances may be different, as may be our plans for the future. But we share a yearning for Eretz Yisrael and simultaneously, a conviction that Jewish life outside of Israel should never be lived in a holding pattern. As long as we are here, there is Torah to teach, chesed to perform, a state of Israel to support, Jews to bring together, and a broader society to contribute to in ways that only Diaspora Jews can.   

A Jew is never stuck. There is always something to do exactly where we are