So Avi reinvented himself as a taxi driver, learning new skills, mastering new routes, and meeting new people. Most of all, he says, his career change meant a boost in bitachon
“T
he best part of being a taxi driver? When you start your day, you never know where you’re going to end up.”
Avi Mizrahi’s affirmation applies perfectly to today — when he woke up this morning, he had no idea he’d be accepting a challenge to take our readers to the location that best showcases Jerusalem. He definitively decides the Old City is our destination, but the route, he says, is part of the experience too.
“‘For sure we should start with Kever Rochel. If you’re coming to Yerushalayim for the first time you can’t miss Mamma Rochel,” Avi tells me as we pick up our photographer, Esther Tscholkowsky.
If you’re expecting the quintessential Israeli taxi driver — an excitable Sabra vehemently espousing his views on politics and other drivers on the road, eating a falafel with one hand while smoking a cigarette with the other — the ride with Avi is a little different. He pleasantly and coherently answers my questions but doesn’t chew my ear off. He’s the furthest thing from prickly: easygoing, calm, and unassuming. He tells us that one of the best parts of his job is meeting all sorts of people, and he seems to genuinely like all of his customers.
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