Congratulazioni: El Al Flight Diverts to Rome for Birth of a Baby Girl

A Jewish couple returning home to New Jersey from Israel didn’t expect the first words they’d hear after delivering their first baby to be “Congratulazioni!” But that’s precisely what happened when their El Al flight was diverted to Rome and a new life entered the world Wednesday, five weeks ahead of schedule, in an Italian hospital neither of them had ever heard of.

When it became clear that the woman had gone into premature labor during the flight—despite receiving clearance to fly from her doctors—the El Al crew diverted the aircraft to Rome. The expectant father found himself in an unfamiliar city—his luggage bound for New York and his wife being rushed to a hospital 45 minutes away from the local Jewish community.

Fortunately, someone on the plane connected him to Chabad-Lubavitch in Rome.

Chani Hazan, co-director of Chabad di Monteverde in Rome, was still in the early stages of her morning when she saw the message. She and her husband, Rabbi Shalom Hazan, got to work, and the message went out across Rome’s Jewish community: A family from New Jersey was stranded, and they needed everything.

“It was very special how the community rallied to support this family,” Chani Hazan told Chabad.org. “So many people reached out offering food, baby clothes and places to stay throughout the day.”

Later in the morning, the baby girl was born, five weeks early. Thank G‑d, mother and child are both doing well.

Family members of the newly minted family of three are flying to Rome to support them as they navigate the bureaucracy to return with their new baby to the United States. The community is helping them find accommodations and showering them with support as they work out their next steps.

“We know that the Jewish people are one big family, and we’re all responsible for one another,” Hazan says. “It was incredible to see that in action today, and it’s special to have played a small part in this very unique story.”

The community, pictured celebrating a brit milah two days before, offered everything the young couple needed, including clothes for the baby, food and accommodations.