July 11, 2002

Rabbis on Duty

Pair responds within an hour of LAX shooting.

By Tom Tugend The July 4 attack at the El Al check-in counter, in which a gunman killed two people, occurred at 11:32 a.m., and within an hour, two Los Angeles rabbis, who double as police chaplains, were on the scene to comfort airline passengers and crew. Rabbi Dan Shevitz of Temple Mishkon Tephilo in Venice happened to be at the Venice police station when the first reports on the Los Angeles International Airport attack came in. Anticipating a heavy traffic jam at the airport, Shevitz went home, jumped on his motorcycle and raced to the police command post at LAX. Shevitz, who has served as chaplain for the Los Angeles Police Department for five years, first tracked down the El Al crew. Finding them in good condition, he proceeded to a holding area, where eyewitnesses to the attack were waiting to be questioned by the FBI and police. The rabbi first ran into Arieh Golan, a 54-year-old Israeli electrician, who had tackled Hesham Mohamed Hadayet as the gunman opened fire. Hadayet was shot to death during the attack. Golan displayed a "souvenir" -- his T-shirt pierced by two holes where a single bullet had entered and exited without inflicting any injury. After talking with the passengers for about six hours and translating the testimony of one Israeli who spoke no English, Shevitz left. He returned Sunday to calm the frayed nerves of some police officers who had been on constant duty. "What really struck me was how orderly both police and passengers behaved in a situation that could have easily degenerated into confusion," Shevitz said. "I was very proud of our city." Shevitz seems to have a knack for being "present at misfortunes," he said. In 1995, as a congregational rabbi in Oklahoma City, he helped comfort survivors after the explosion at the city's federal building. There are five to six Jewish chaplains attached to the LAPD, among a total of 30 chaplains, Shevitz said. Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, founding director of Jews for Judaism, has served 11 years as chaplain for the Airport Police Department at LAX, which is separate from the LAPD. He was at home when he got the call and immediately reported to the airport police command post, donned a police vest and began offering emotional support -- as well as food and drink -- to the El Al crew and passengers. "I had been trained in what is officially called 'critical incident stress debriefing,'" Kravitz said, and he proceeded to put the training into practice. After seven hours on the job, Kravitz left but returned Sunday to check on the morale of airport police officers. The July 4 attack was the third major recent incident requiring Kravitz's chaplaincy services. The first was the Alaska Airlines crash two years ago. The second was the Sept. 11 attack, when he counseled families and law enforcement officials emotionally affected by the Twin Tower disaster in New York.