Their black clothing, long-twirled sideburns and odd hats seem out of place in a modern society. Add to that their strict prohibition of getting too close to accidently touch a woman, and average Israelis think the ultra-Orthodox are at best peculiar, and at worst, harmful.

So it is nice to report that on a flight from Tel Aviv to New York, two of these religious Jews saved the life of an Arab woman. As the plane was flying high above the Atlantic Ocean, the woman collapsed and the two rushed over to help revive her. One of the helpers is a mohel, a rabbi who performs circumcisions, so he grabbed his medical kit and revived the woman (though he didn’t need his traditional instruments!).

After she came to, they couldn’t communicate, as the woman spoke Arabic and the men Yiddish. So another Arab woman wearing a burka (traditional Muslim head covering) helped. She interpreted into English for the Jews, who succeeded in stabilizing the patient until the scheduled landing when she was taken to the hospital.