On a razor's edge

(JNS) — As the plane touched down in Thailand, I received the check-in email for my journey back home. Despite the 11-hour flight, I could only stay one day. I had a wedding to officiate upon my return.

As a “freelance rabbi” (meaning not the head of a synagogue), I serve in a few capacities. I help people join the Jewish religion, I help them marry, and I’m a mohel (ritual circumciser), performing the sacred ritual of brit milah (circumcision) in Israel and around the world. The latter was the purpose of my visit to the Far East.

I make these trips regularly because many places in the world d...