Confusion over a Jewish man practicing an ancient religious tradition brought a South Shore train to a halt early Thursday.

Before the misunderstanding was resolved, Metra police and a bomb-sniffing dog were called to a Chicago train stop to investigate.

Robert Byrd, chief of transit police for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, said passengers on Train No. 108 out of East Chicago told the ticket collector they believed a man on the 6:46 a.m. train was dressed strangely and acting suspiciously.

The man was described as wearing a head piece with a box on the front of it. Passengers said the box had wires sticking out of it. Other wires led down his arm, they reported.

When the man did not respond to repeated inquiries by the South Shore ticket collector and conductor, crews called Metra police as they approached the Illinois passenger train company's tracks in Chicago.

The South Shore crew stopped the train at the 57th Street station in Chicago, where they were met by Metra police and a bomb-sniffing dog.

The man explained that he was Jewish and was in the middle of reciting his daily morning prayers when the South Shore crew tried to question him.

The box on his head did not contain wires, he said, but rather, leather straps which bind the box to his head. More leather straps bind another box to his arm.

In Hebrew, the items are called tefillin, two black leather boxes containing religious verses hand-written on scrolls. The verses comprise the prayer "Shema Yisrael," which begins with the phrase, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

The boxes are bound by the leather straps to the left bicep and the center of the forehead and are worn by observant men over the age of 13 during daily morning prayer, except on the Sabbath and scriptural holy days.

Scrolls containing the prayer are also placed in cases called mezuzah on the doorways of Jewish homes.

Michael Steinberg, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana in Munster, said the prayer is, "an affirmation that there is one God in the world."

"When you fly to Israel, you will have guys standing up and doing this on the plane," he said.

The tefillin is worn only during morning prayers, but those who use them believe they are called to pray three times a day, Steinberg said, much like Muslims are five times a day.

After the man, who said he was from New York City, explained what he was doing, the train continued on to the Randolph Street station in Chicago as planned, Byrd said.

Byrd said NICTD encourages its passengers to report any suspicious activity or behavior through it's Transit Watch program, which uses the motto "See Something, Say Something."

He said he was thankful the incident turned out to be a misunderstanding and praised everyone involved.

"The passengers did a great job, the crews did a great job and we had immediate response from Metra cops," Byrd said.

Steinberg agreed and said he can understand why South Shore passengers may have been concerned, adding that many likely have not been witness to the religious practice.

"It's good that people are alert," Steinberg said. "I think this gives us an opportunity to learn about another culture or religion."