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Haredi men #fundie timesofisrael.com

An international flight from New York to Tel Aviv was delayed for half an hour after ultra-Orthodox men refused to sit between two women

The flight crew of Delta Flight 468 departing John F. Kennedy Airport on December 20 attempted to find other seats for the haredi men. But other passengers refused to swap seats in protest at their refusal to sit next to female passengers, according to a Friday report by Israel Radio.

The men were finally accommodated by an American passenger who agreed to switch seats.

According to Federal Aviation Authority regulations, a flight is not permitted to take off until all passengers are seated.

Mehdi Taeb #fundie timesofisrael.com

In a speech to religious students on April 20, Mehdi Taeb, who heads a think tank and is considered close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that Jews are powerful sorcerers who have used their abilities to attack Iran. He noted that while “the Jews” had yet to unleash their full powers, their abilities were negated after they tried to use magic to interfere with the Iranian elections of 2008 and 2009.

“The Jews are currently subjecting us to an unprecedented trial,” Taeb said, according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute. “As you read in the Koran, [King] Solomon ruled the world— and God ordered a group of sorcerers to come out against him. The Jews have the greatest powers of sorcery, and they make use of this tool.

“All the measures that have been brought against us originate with the Zionists,” he continued. “The US is a tool in their hands. So far, they have not used the full [scope of] their sorcery against us. Sorcery was the final means to which they resorted during the [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad era, but they were defeated. This ability of the Jews was eliminated by Iran. Five years ago they tried to oust Ahmadinejad [by this means].”

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky #fundie timesofisrael.com

n a responsum to a reader published on Sunday in the ultra-Orthodox daily newspaper Yated Ne’eman, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky said that “it is forbidden to be in possession of [an iPhone], and one must burn it”; this despite the fact that the reader, a business-owner, said it was “crucial for [his] dealings.”

And lest a contrite Jewish smartphone owner think to hawk his device on eBay and pocket the cash, Kanievsky also warned that it is forbidden to sell the phone to a non-Jew, “just as it is forbidden to sell a weapon to a non-Jew.”