I had a sinking feeling as the plane faced the runway

AT 11.35PM there were about 40 passengers, myself included, who stood by the exit door wishing to disembark. We had been sitting on the tarmac for two-and-a-half hours. A stewardess said we would lose our tickets and not be rebooked. Our response was unanimous: “that’s fine, just take us back so we don’t violate Shabbat”. Then the captain told us over the intercom that we were going to go back to the gate as soon as everyone was seated. We all did.

I can’t begin to describe the sinking feeling in my stomach as I saw the plane turn away from the terminals and face the runway. Less than six minutes later, we were in the air.

Four hours into the flight the captain announced that because of the “Charedim”, the plane would stop in Athens. I realised the packaged egg which they served for breakfast and the half-sandwich left from when I boarded the plane could very well be all we had to eat on Shabbos.

I wish they had announced the truth: we were stopping in Athens because El Al made a series of bad calls.

Yes, there were some raised voices, but most of the time it was secular Israelis who came to yell at the passengers concerned about Shabbat that we were ruining their weekend.

Once we arrived, we were met by a woman from El Al who explained we were would be staying across the street (literally) at a hotel.

Walking into Kabbalat Shabbat was beautiful. The room was full of about 70 men and 10 women and everyone was singing. Later, 85 per cent of the dining area was reserved for tables set beautifully with bottles of wine, grape juice and challah. For El Al, it was a wasted marketing opportunity.