Once and Future

My father, born in Yerushalayim in 1925, loved to regale me with stories from his youth. He recalled how, as a child, his father brought him to Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld for a brachah at the Kosel. And how he celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Kosel in 1938.

In 1967, following the Six Day War, my father and many other Jews yearned to daven at the Kosel again. The following year, having saved money for an entire year, my father fulfilled his pledge from the previous year.

We arrived in Yerushalayim for Shavuos of 1968. On Shavuos morning, I insisted on accompanying my father and uncle as we trekked from Rehavia to the Kosel to daven vasikin. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

It was that Shavuos morning at the Kosel when my father told me that with Hashem’s help, just as he had had his bar mitzvah at the Kosel in 1938, I would have my bar mitzvah there as well. And indeed, after four years of frugality and careful planning, my father was able to fulfill his promise. In the summer of 1972, we arrived in Yerushalayim to celebrate my bar mitzvah.