This is Houston, We Have a Problem...

Have Knife - Will Travel

Welcome to travelingmohel.com! If you are expecting a boy, or if your son has just been born, and you live in an area without a local mohel (or the local mohel is unavailable, or you are exploring other options), travelingmohel.com is the address for you.

I come highly recommended by happy parents, rabbis and physicians, and have developed the traveling for a bris down to a science so that you have the best experience possible from a traveling mohel, your baby is given the attention he needs and deserves, and we remain in constant contact until your baby is completely healed from his bris (circumcision).

I currently live in South Florida, making me an ideal candidate to fly anywhere in the Caribbean or the United States. I am open to flying just about anywhere in the world!

For more information about me and my thoughts on bris milah/ brit milah/ berit milah, please see my regular blog at http://www.mohelinsouthflorida.com/

Click here to read the inaugural thoughts of this website/blog. This posting is the important first step in understanding what I offer and how my mohel services will best fit your needs.

Monday

This is Houston, We Have a Problem...

Heading to Houston, TX, for a bris this morning, because last week I got a call from a family looking for a specific style from the mohel they sought to hire.

Can't take full credit - I did get a referral. But while a simple search for mohel in Houston did net a few results, including one who was featured as one of :"America's Top Mohels" (JTA 2014, in one of the classic reasons why "top" anything lists are kinda silly) I can see that the variety of options is not like what people can find in Florida, where I live, or in New York.*

Of course, many people just call the local mohel when they need to have a bris. In some towns there is one mohel, and he is beloved by everyone, or he somehow works for everyone.

When that is not the case, I am happy to make the trip. After all, "Have knife... will travel!"

*I found out that this mohel had to leave town for very crazy reasons. Thank God he is OK, but his departure left a void in the Houston mohel scene.

See here for Houston round II

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About Me

I have been a practicing mohel since I completed my training in Israel with Rabbi Mordechai Sasson, the government supervisor of Mohels in Israel, back in the late 1990s.

I have a unique style of presiding over a bris, which celebrates Jewish tradition while maintaining the utmost sterility in the care of your son. Beginning with a phone call before the bris and continuing through the follow-up visit and follow-up phone calls, I look forward to guiding you through every step of the bris journey with charm and graciousness. You will be given the time and courtesy you deserve, sensitively and professionally, to make your overall bris experience meaningful and memorable.

The number of brisses I have performed is in the 4 digits (that description won't need an update for awhile!), both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, throughout the US and Israel (including in Puerto Rico!).

For my schooling and rabbinic training, I studied in Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion, Israel, and completed my rabbinic ordination and a Masters in Education at Yeshiva University in New York.

A Note on Costs and Remuneration

I am a rabbi of a synagogue. Any honorarium from bris milah services helps supplement my "parnassah" (livelihood), and is therefore greatly appreciated.

Bris services are offered on a sliding scale, in which I leave the final amount up to the parents (or generous grandparents!) to decide. The following are guidelines for the different circumstances which may arise.

LOCAL BRIS ON A WEEKDAY (local = reasonable driving distance)
Most people give between $600 and $1300. Average is between $700-$1000. (multiply by 2 for twins, multiply by 2.5 for triplets)

TRAVELING and SPENDING A NIGHT
Weekday "travel bris" is between $800-$1500 plus travel expenses
Shabbos "travel bris" is between $1000-$1800 plus travel expenses

TRAVEL EXPENSES include
Air travel - plane ticket plus airport parking
Car rental (+ gas) or taxi/uber
Driving - about $.65 per mile per U.S. recommended reimbursement
Hotel accommodations when needed.
Home hospitality for Shabbos is absolutely acceptable at a Shomer Shabbos/Kosher-keeping home.

Some people cover the hotel and/or flights up front and therefore need not include them in any remuneration. Thank you!

Rabbi Avi Billet - The Traveling Mohel

Have Knife - Will Travel

Monday