Israir plane takes off with first 'Sky Torah'

An Israeli airliner flew the holiest book in Judaism to Tel Aviv on Friday - billing it the first "Sky Torah" to be used for prayer in flight. The Israir plane, carrying 260 passengers, landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Friday morning with the handwritten scroll. It was accompanied by rabbis as it left Thursday from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The torah was carried onto the plane under a huppa. The procession was dedicated to the memory of IDF soldiers who died defending the country's borders; celebrants included Nissim Elmaliach, rabbi of the Israel Airport Authority at Ben Gurion.