[Photos and videos below.] An Israel-to-JFK flight that was unexpectedly diverted to Detroit turned into a powerful display of achdus and chesed, as members of the Detroit Jewish community mobilized within hours to provide passengers with kosher food and emergency assistance.
The flight, originally scheduled to land at JFK Airport in New York, was rerouted to Detroit due to unforeseen circumstances, leaving dozens of passengers stranded far from their intended destination. With little notice and limited airport food options that met kosher standards, the situation quickly became challenging for the frum travelers.
Enter Daniel Greenbaum, owner of Metropolitan Dry Cleaners, who immediately began coordinating a community response. Working together with the owners of Jerusalem Pizza and members of Hatzalah Detroit, Greenbaum helped organize a large-scale food delivery to the airport to ensure that every passenger in need would be taken care of.
Within a short time, cars were packed and dispatched to the airport loaded with an extraordinary amount of food and supplies. The shipment included 65 large pizza pies, 8 gluten-free pies, and several vegan and cheeseless pies to accommodate a range of dietary needs. In addition, volunteers prepared and delivered 150 individually plated orders of fries and 50 tuna and egg sandwiches.
Several cases of water and Snapple were also included to make sure passengers had drinks after hours of unexpected delay.
Community members described the effort as seamless and inspiring. Volunteers worked quickly to prepare, pack, and transport the food, transforming what could have been a stressful and uncomfortable ordeal into a moment of genuine ahavas Yisroel.
Hatzalah Detroit members were also on hand to assist with any medical or emergency needs, ensuring that passengers had access not only to food but to support and reassurance as well.
What began as a routine international flight disruption became an unforgettable example of how a Jewish community—no matter the city—steps up instantly when fellow Yidden are in need.
Passengers expressed deep appreciation for the outpouring of support, many noting that after a long and uncertain travel interruption, the sight of cars arriving filled with hot kosher food was both comforting and uplifting.
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{Matzav.com}
[Videos below.] The Police Benevolent Association is urging authorities to make arrests and pursue charges after a group was filmed throwing snowballs at NYPD officers Monday in Lower Manhattan.
The incident occurred during a pre-arranged snowball fight gathering at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Video circulating online shows several individuals trailing uniformed officers, shouting at them and hurling snowballs as the officers made their way toward a police van.
Police officials confirmed that the encounter is under review. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch condemned the conduct in a post on social media, writing, in part, “The behavior depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal. Our detectives are investigating this matter.”
Staten Island Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis also spoke out, calling for public officials to respond. “This is disgraceful. @NYCMayor and every elected official in our city should denounce this juvenile attack on our #NYPD. Back the blue and hold those who disrespect them accountable.”
The Police Benevolent Association said those involved should be identified and charged, arguing that attacks on officers — even if involving snowballs — cannot be dismissed as harmless behavior. Detectives are continuing to investigate the incident.
WATCH:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quipped Sunday that if there is ever a spike in pizza deliveries near the Pentagon, it might simply be him placing large orders to mislead online observers who monitor such activity as a predictor of major world events.
Appearing on Fox News, Hegseth was asked about the “Pentagon Pizza Report,” an account on X that tracks ordering patterns at pizzerias located near the Pentagon and other key military facilities. The account analyzes Google Maps “popular times” data under the theory that unusually high late-night demand may signal that senior officials are working extended hours in response to unfolding military developments.
Hegseth acknowledged he is familiar with the account and joked about deliberately disrupting its conclusions.
“I’ve thought of just ordering lots of pizza on random nights just to throw everybody off,” he said Sunday on Fox News. “Some Friday night when you see a bunch of Dominos orders, it might just be me on an app, throwing the whole system off so we keep everybody off balance. We look at every indicator.”
The Pentagon Pizza Report focuses on spikes in evening activity at restaurants near U.S. military headquarters, suggesting that sudden increases could indicate heightened operational tempo or pending action abroad.
On June 12, for instance, hours before reports emerged of Israel launching a major strike on Iran, the account noted a sharp rise in activity at four pizza establishments close to the Pentagon around 7 p.m., interpreting it as a sign that top officials remained on site to monitor events.
“As of 6:59 p.m. ET nearly all pizza establishments nearby the Pentagon have experienced a HUGE surge in activity,” the account posted on X that evening.
Although the United States initially said it did not take part in the first wave of attacks against Iran, it later entered the 12-day conflict. On June 22, U.S. forces carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in an operation known as Midnight Hammer.
Hegseth maintained that Pentagon officials are conscious of publicly available tracking methods and take them into account.
“There’s a reason Midnight Hammer worked, because we understood open sourced, we understand classified ways in which the public and others are trying to watch movements and in sensitive ways, we control for a lot that,” he said.
Launched in August 2024, the Pentagon Pizza Report is part of a longer-standing public fascination with pizza deliveries as a barometer of military activity, a pattern observers have noted since the 1980s.
In January 1991, Frank Meeks, who owned 43 Domino’s locations in the Washington area, told the Los Angeles Times that pizza delivery patterns sometimes reveal more than official briefings.
“The news media doesn’t always know when something big is going to happen because they’re in bed, but our [pizza] deliverers are out there at 2 in the morning,” Meeks said.
He recalled that on Aug. 1, 1990, the CIA placed an order for 21 pizzas — a one-night record at the time — just hours before Iraqi troops moved into Kuwait, setting off the Gulf War.
{Matzav.com}
