The Taxi Driver Who Gave His Time for Minchah — and Got More Than a Fare

When Rabbi Meir Shalom Vaknin, head of the Lev Yitzchak institutions in Ashdod, ordered a taxi to attend a memorial service in a village near Ashdod, he didn’t expect the driver to become the unsung hero of the evening...

Time Is Money!

Rabbi Vaknin relates:

It was a family I knew quite well, and I set aside time in my schedule to make the trip and stay for the prayers and the seudah (festive meal) that would follow. That meant taking a taxi, as the buses run very irregularly to this particular village.

When I arrived, it was already close to evening and Jacob, one of the family members, was there waiting for me when I got out of the taxi. “We don’t have a minyan,” he told me worriedly; I was only the ninth man there, and they needed ten to pray Minchah, the afternoon prayer.

I glanced at my watch; sunset was in half an hour and we had to pray before then. Jacob looked at me, and then glanced at the taxi driver, a friendly-looking guy with a kippah on his head.

“I know it’s a bit much to ask, but maybe... maybe you wouldn’t mind staying to complete the minyan?” Jacob asked him. 

“With pleasure,” the taxi driver agreed. I looked at him in admiration. After all, this meant precious minutes from his work-day, but he didn’t even hesitate.

Staying Calm, Staying Kind

But the prayers didn’t begin immediately, even though Jacob tried to hurry everyone along. Several of the family members were still arranging the refreshments and setting out the chairs. The driver, instead of getting frustrated or walking out, simply waited. In the end, he sat there for 20 minutes until they were ready to start.

No one rushed through Minchah — after all, it was a special day — but the taxi driver showed no outward sign of impatience. Afterward, I was about to thank him for his time, but someone else beat me to it.

“What about Maariv? We’re still going to need a minyan for the evening prayer. There’s a Torah lesson first — would you mind staying?’”

Amazingly, the driver agreed once again.

The Sacrifice and the Reward

After Maariv was the seudah. Naturally, the driver was invited. By now he was hours behind his work schedule. He turned to me and said, “I think I will stay for the seudah, and afterward, I’ll take you home. After all, I’ll be driving back to Ashdod anyway, so you won’t owe me anything for the ride.”

I protested, but the driver was adamant. Just then, someone standing nearby turned around to address the driver.

“You’re a taxi driver? Amazing! I’ve been trying to arrange a trip for my mother. She really wants to travel up north, to Meron. Could you take her, tomorrow? There and back? Of course we’ll pay you for the waiting time, probably around two hours.”

There are standard rates for such intercity trips, which aren’t cheap.

“You do know the price?” the driver queried. “With two hours’ waiting time, it will come to 2,000 shekels.”

The man nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

You Don’t Lose Out from a Mitzvah

In fact, that wasn’t all. Another family member arranged a regular daily ride for a friend of his, which the taxi driver delightedly agreed to.

What had appeared like a sacrifice of time and money ended up being an amazing investment — both in this world and the next. The Torah tells us, “These are the things of which a person eats their fruits in this world, while the main and enduring part [of the reward] 

is in Olam Haba[1]: honoring one’s parents, gemilut chasadim[2]...”

No one loses out from giving to others.