Everyone Has a Story — Shabbat Shalom, Juan

After a great day of riding, I thought of the coming Shabbat. I’ve decided to stay in Reno for the night. I wanted to go to services and be in community. Temple Sinai was having Shabbat in the Park.

I decided to take an Uber. Interestingly, there was only one—yes, one—driver working in the entire Reno metro area: Juan.

I was picked up in a gold Tahoe Denali, the massive SUV. When I climbed in, I quickly noticed that Juan looked like TV’s portrayal of a “gangbanger.” Tattoos all over his body, neck, face… gold teeth. Apparently, Juan really likes early 1990s hip-hop, as the stereo was loudly playing Naughty By Nature.

On the side of Juan’s neck was a large tattoo of the Hebrew letter shin, ש. Only this one had four prongs. Typically, one would see this only on phylacteries. The mystical rabbis teach that it symbolizes the Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.

Looking closer, I noticed a huge tattoo of the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God, on Juan’s left forearm. Now I was intrigued.

“Hey Juan,” I started, “I’ve noticed your Hebrew tattoos…”

In broken English: “You no like them?”

“No! They’re great! I’m curious about the Hebrew ones…”

“I am Catolica. I love Yudio. I read Tora…”

“Juan, yo soy rabino. Me estás llevando a adorar…”

Juan panicked. He quickly sat up, turned off the radio, and became a very different person. Everyone has a story! Juan was born in Mexico. He moved to Reno 20 years ago with his wife. He works hard and drives Uber on the side. He has been married for 22 years. They have six children, ages 3 to 19.

“No más!” I exclaimed. Laughing, he replied, “Sí, no más.”

On this Shabbat, I found blessings and community.

As I climbed from the Denali, from over my shoulder I heard, “Rabino… Sábado Shalom.”

Shabbat Shalom, Juan. Shabbat Shalom.