A moving event took place on Monday in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro – a Jew who escaped heavy shelling in Kharkiv decided after 40 years to enter into the bris of Avraham Avinu.

The huge Menorah Jewish community center in the city has been transformed into a center for humanitarian aid, and many refugees living in the battle zones have been arriving in recent days, as the city is located in a part of the country that isn’t being heavily shelled.

One of those refugees, whose name is now Dovid, requested to undergo a bris davka now, after he succeeded in fleeing Kharkiv- the site of some of the harshest Russian shelling.

The mohel, HaRav Yaakov Geisinovich of Bris Yosef Yitzchak, performed the bris. The sandek was Chief Rabbi of Dnipro HaRav Shmuel Kaminetzky.

“Vayikra Shemo B’Yisrael,” Rav Kaminetzky called out with emotion, “Dovid ben Yisrael.”

A seudas mitzvah was held at the Shoshanas HaZahav shul at Menorah after the bris was performed and Dovid received an aliyah l’Torah for the first time in his life.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)