The Chief Rabbi of Almaty Rabbi Elchonon Cohen also acts as a mohel, and when he was in Israel for a family event, he received a message asking him to conduct a bris milah back in Almaty on that Tuesday. Rabbi Cohen’s flight was due to leave Israel on Monday, but as it drew closer to the time of his flight, he was informed that a general strike that would include Israel’s airports was due to begin on Monday morning from 8:00 a.m. This meant that his plane back to Kazakhstan would not be able to take off.
Rabbi Cohen started looking for a replacement mohel that would not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan. There are indeed a few mohalim that are permitted to enter the country without a visa, but Rabbi Cohen’s efforts were in vain as they were all booked to perform other circumcisions around the countries of the FSU. Rabbi Yedidya of the Bris Yosef Yitzchok organization then got involved, and he also tried to find another mohel who didn’t require a visa, but things did not look very hopeful. Rabbi Cohen approached travel agent Yossi Cohen and asked him to find him a way to reach Kazakhstan in time . The only feasible flight was via Kiev, and it was due to take off from Israel at 8:15 a.m., just fifteen minutes after the strike was called to begin. In Kiev, Rabbi Cohen would then have to wait for another ten hours before getting the
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