Heathrow chaplain Rabbi Hershi Vogel was a busy man this week, as you might imagine, answering pleas for help from passengers stranded at the snowbound airport

Except that Rabbi Vogel himself was a victim of the weather: he, wife Zelda and their youngest child, nine-week-old Elisheva, were marooned for more than a day at Amsterdam airport trying to get home.

Still, he took calls on his mobile from people in London looking for "places to stay, food and if I could help with tickets!"

Heathrow detainees included a group of would-be olim waiting for a flight to Israel - among them Daniel Braunold, 27, from Edgware and Natan Wiesenberg, 26 from Hendon, dressed as 1920 pioneers.

"We want to thank the chaluztnikim of old who make it possible for us to make aliyah to such a beautiful country," Daniel explained.

Let's hope they made it there by the time you read this.