An El Al flight that took off for Brussels 10 days ago included a large contingent of Haredi Jews - men, women and children - who boarded with great excitement and many coats, carry-ons and hats. The flight attendants greeted them graciously, leading them to their seats and helping them to get organized while calming those for whom this flight - to the wedding of a relative in Antwerp - was their first ever.

The extra effort continued throughout the flight. Their meal (with a special kashrut certificate) was served shortly before the regular service, every call received a polite, patient response, the inflight movie was naive and childlike, with no immodesty of any type - and even then, slightly censored. All in all, there were no complaints. Just the opposite: Everyone was satisfied and they even said so when they deplaned.

One may assume that this group, whose return tickets were also on El Al, felt bewildered, perhaps even slightly disgruntled, by the sudden boycott of the airline by its rabbis.

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It is difficult to comprehend what led the ultra-Orthodox rabbis to cause a major scandal over a chance late flight. After all, they are not in the coalition and the government will not fall because of them, and El Al is no longer a state company. It was privatized, and everyone knows that El Al itself does not fly on the Sabbath; Israir flies on Shabbat. But wonder of wonders, the Haredim do not complain about Israir.

Within the Haredi community itself this week there was some harsh criticism and more than a little anger over the inflated crisis. "All the battles over the past few years have only hurt us," people said. One person brought up the old story (which has a point even if it is not true) about the legendary Admor of Gur, the "Pnei Menachem," who was once approached by members of a modesty patrol group asking for permission to remove immodest posters hanging in the streets of Jerusalem. The respected rabbi answered thus: If there are images of abomination and they want to destroy them, he cannot tell them not to, after all we are talking about removing abominations. But they should do it wisely.

The Haredi public, particularly those members who have integrated into society and work to support themselves and have no interest in separatism for its own sake, realizes that the wisdom of the Pnei Menachem no longer inhabits its rabbis, and the same goes for his complex position vis-a-vis the state. The late Admor settled for the enormous power he held within his own community, which derived from his unassailable status within the religious hierarchy. Knowing that the activists wanted to drag him into creating a provocation, he sought to direct their energy toward the good of the community. The rabbis of today allow the activists to lead them by the nose, and the hacks themselves are slaves to the Haredi media, which are hungry for fights and scandals.

The hacks are in fierce competition with the media ratings, the rules of which are indescribably shallow. Gone is the ideological battle against Zionism and the state, the zealous observation of modesty and the Sabbath within the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and even the holy war for their yeshivas - now there is only the raucous protest against the Gay Pride march, the battle against transporting a turbine on a main road on the Sabbath and threats of extortion against the only airline that does everything possible to make the Haredi community feel comfortable.

The depressing result: The Haredi public knows that despite the stories in its newspapers, it is not its finest scholars who are determining its fate but rather its power-hungry, fame-seeking activists. And they know that the latter care only for their own welfare, not those of the community.

No Haredi flying abroad cares whether the pilot has violated the Sabbath. It is obvious to all that he, like every pilot on every flight, violates the Sabbath as do the flight attendants. The Haredi public only wants them to continue to provide it with the best service, and it also enjoys the competition that has reduced prices and improved hospitality. Perhaps this community will vote with its feet and continue to fly El Al. In that event, the activists and their rabbis would learn a lesson in the limits of power, and perhaps in good leadership as well.