My Grandson's Bar Mitzvah

My Grandson's Bar Mitzvah

Bar/Bat Mitzvah by Harold M. Schulweis

My grandson a Bar Mitzvah
Child of my child called to the Torah
I am face to face with the future.

Geography has distanced us
I have not raised him
nor given him instruction
Bound his wounds, absorbed his sobs
rallied him to victory.

Yet from the distance
I have heard and imagined
his defeats and triumphs.

Now he is present
for me to see.
I listen to a chant, a prayer, a benediction
I too once sang.

Now
before family and friends
I receive unmerited blessing.

In him,
I am continued
This child holds
a validation of my being
chanted confirmation of my immortality.

A grandson in the presence of our community
Alone, on his own two feet
we are bound together as never before
My grandson.

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