
The first-ever brit mila [circumcision] in the 11,000-foot high Andes city of Cusco, Peru has been performed for the new son of the local Chabad Rabbi, Ofir Riper and his wife Yael. Chabad flew in a rabbi to perform the ceremony for the baby, who was named Shalom.
The Andes mountain range, 4,400 miles long and 300 miles wide, reaches a peak of almost 23,000 feet and is a popular attraction for Israeli and other Jewish hikers, who find a Jewish home away from home at the Chabad House in Cusco, an ancient capital of the Inca Empire.
Many of the Jewish hikers come into contact with Jewish laws and customs for the first time at the Chabad House. One of those on hand at the brit mila for the Kripor baby was Amy Bakal, a Chicago native who has been living in Cusco for more than six years.
She first stumbled upon the Chabad House last year when she noticed a young rabbinical student making photocopies of flyers at a stationary shop. She eventually attended a Passover Seder at the Chabad House, and her daughter and that of the Kripors play together. After attending the circumcision, she said, "It was the first time I’ve ever been to a bris."
Travelers who happened to be at the Chabad House at the same time of the brit mila included one who celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, and another hiker put on tefillin that are used in weekday morning prayers.
Logistics for the ritual ceremony, which dates back to the Biblical forefather Abraham, were not simple. The two-mile high city often causes altitude sickness to people not used to the thin air. Rabbi Levi Heber, who flew to Cusco to perform the circumcision, admitted he "felt different and somewhat dizzy. When doing a bris, you have to be in control," he said.
Rabbi Kripor prepared him ahead of time for the change of air, but Rabbi Heber said, "I didn’t understand the seriousness until I landed."