Uber Drive in Los Angeles Triggers a Chain of Mitzvos

By Levi Nagel – Los Angeles

Several weeks ago, my wife and I hosted in the backyard of our house a Bris Milah ceremony for the newborn son of our cousins Moshe and Tirzah Ciment who recently moved to Los Angeles. It was a happy occasion and the Mohel was Rabbi Nachman Kreiman.

One of the guests at the celebration was Moshe’s friend Avi Mogilevsky, a licensed insurance agent at National Income Life Insurance Company who flew in from Atlanta, Georgia.

After the Bris, Avi took an Uber ride to the airport. He began chatting with his driver and learned that the man’s name was Jake. The driver said his mother is Jewish and that she grew up in an orphanage in the former Soviet Union.

“I never had a Bris and actually wanted one,” he confided and added that he dropped the idea when he heard it would cost $1,300.

By the time the ride was over, Avi agreed with Jake that they will go ahead with a Bris and that it would be sponsored.

Avi then asked me if I know a mohel in the area who can perform a Bris on an adult. I recommended Rabbi Kreiman, a leading mohel in California who has over 30 years of experience.

I pretty much forgot about the story until this past Motzoei Shabbos Parshas Vayeitzei. I happened to have called Rabbi Kreiman about a non-bris-related matter and he told me about the Bris planned for the Uber driver Jake at the hospital the next morning.

I was excited to join and meet Rabbi Kreiman, Jake and Avi Mogilevsky who flew in again for this second Bris.

Jake said that he initially debated whether to go through with the Bris. He then picked up a passenger named Misha, a Jew who was born in Kiev and immigrated to the United States.

Misha told him that he received his Bris as an adult and encouraged Jake to have it as well.

“You should definitely do it and I’ll come to hold your hand while you do it,” he promised.

It was the push that Jake needed and Misha was there, true to his word.

Jake received a Bris and was named Yaakov on Sunday, Yud Kislev, where we read about Yaakov Avinu facing Esav and fighting for the purity of his family.

The train of Mitzvos didn’t end there. After the Bris, Jake put on Tefillin and he was followed by Misha and even a Jewish doctor at the hospital.

And this is how the Jewish community survives!