Now I've seen it all. A jewish teen engages in the ritual of praying with Tefilin (T'filin) on a plane and ends up being investigated as a terrorist, and the plane is forced to land.
Just so this doesn't happen again, I will provide a little intro to Tefilin.
Tefilin or T'filin are little prayer boxes. The contain the most important Jewish prayer, "The Shma". Roughly translated, the Shma says "Here oh Israel the Lord our God is one." It is essentially an affirmance in the belief of the One True God.
In the Deuteronomy 6:5-6, the Bible says to put these words on your gates (that's what a Mezzuzah is, you see it on doors of Jewish homes), and to bind them on your arm and as frontlets between your eyes.
Traditionally, Jews do this ceremony at morning and night. It is referred to as "laying" T'filin. Only orthodox jews do so regularly today.
As a personal story, I was taught this ritual by my grandfather many years ago, and it always reminds me of him. I had not "laid" T'filin for many years when, this past Hanukah, I was approached at the airport by an Orthodox Jew who had been on my flight. He asked me for directions, which I gave him, and he started asking me questions about Hanukah, and did I know that it was also going to be the Sabbath that evening. Of course, I knew, and I told him I would be lighting the Hanukah candles with my family that night.
Then he asked, have you laid T'filin today? I said "no," and he said, "let's do it now." For whatever reason, I agreed. And we did the ceremony on the platform, as we waited for the airport train. I said "I haven't done this since I was a little boy with my grandfather." He said, "Call your grandfather and tell him that you laid T'filin today, and he will be so happy." I said, "he passed away many years ago." He said, "I'm sorry, but he will be happy for you in heaven."
I called my mom and told her about the incident. She asked if it had happened that day, I said "yes, why". She said it is your grandfather's yartzeiht -- the anniversary of his death -- today.
Here is a little youtube explanation of the ritual.