By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews
“When you live past 70, it’s like a new life,” said Henry Friedman. Friedman will be celebrating his Bar Mitzvah this Saturday, June 25, at Temple De Hirsch Sinai. He is 83.
“When my dad was reaching 80,” explained Friedman, rather than celebrating becoming an octogenarian, “he said, wait until I’m 83. He says, Jewish custom is that when one passes 70, and when one is fortunate enough to live to 83, he can have a second Bar Mitzvah.” His father died at 81.
Neither Friedman nor his father had the opportunity to have a Bar Mitzvah due to World Wars I and II. When Friedman was 13, Poland had become Judenfrei. He and his family were hiding in a neighbor’s barn.
“Most young people, when they’re 13, they study about Judaism, they go up there and make a pledge to continue Judaism,” said Friedman. “They don’t even know what it even means.
“At my age, what does it mean? It means a lot to just reach 83. But after the Holocaust…I had a difficult time with God. How could he allow something like this to happen? It took many, many years to make peace with God.”
Over his long life, Friedman has spoken countless times about his experiences, has met world leaders, and cofounded the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center.
His mission, besides education, “is to give something back, to say ‘thank you, America’ for giving me the opportunity to raise three wonderful children, six grandchildren, now a great-grandson, because I won’t be around,” he said. “My enemy now is time.”
Think of it as not a mitzvah project, but a thank-you project.
“I want to give something back to the community, to the state of Washington,” Friedman said. “To me, this is like holy.”
Friedman will be reading Parashat Korach on Shabbat. Originally, he related the rebellion to his own situation and Moses to the oppressive leadership. But upon deeper reflection, he said: “Korach was not interested in the community. He was egotistical, he wanted to be the leader.”
Most important, will he have a DJ or karaoke at the party?
“Remember, most of the guests are older people,” Friedman said, laughing. “They don’t like noise. They don’t hear too well.”
Friedman joined Temple De Hirsch in 1955. On his relationship with God, Friedman explained that through the Holocaust, although he doubted, “by believing, it gave me hope. I don’t think I would have survived otherwise.”
The events he’s had the honor to attend, like the Rabin-Arafat peace treaty and Kol Nidre at the Vatican, seem like miracles.
“I made peace with God, because I am blessed.”