A Century Past Due

In Judaism, at 13,
A boy becomes a man
With Torah* reading and a party;
That’s the standard plan.

But Yisrael Kristal missed his chance -
The war got in the way –
And then 100 years passed by –
He’s 113 today!

The oldest living male, they say,
Surviving Hitler’s reign,
Though something made him rise above
His Auschwitz grief and pain.

So finally, he’ll take his place
When he will now recite,
A century past due, the prayers
For his Bar Mitzvah** rite.

This story is amazing and
Quite touching, even though,
It’s obvious that he became
A man quite long ago.

*holy book written on a scroll
**the ceremony at which a boy becomes a man