It was October 21, 1961, when the Rabbi of Hebrew Institute, informed my family and I that on November 7 of 1962, Hersh Wolf (ME…my Hebrew Name) would become a Bar Mitzvah. Oy thought I, a whole year of Hebrew School, a full year of Bar Mitzvah lessons, and God only knew the expectations that might arise once I became a MAN. Hebrew Institute was located on the corner of the street upon which we lived. Our family was far from an Orthodox practicing Jewish Family, but location, location, location, and a Membership well below those of other Temples or Congregations, made The Hebrew Institute the perfect place for the Buncher Family, and in particular the Prince of the Buncher Family…soon to be King…ME. (Back in the day, a son a grandson was a prized procession, because back in the day, a male child, was THE ONE to carry on the lineage, the purity, the prestige of the LAST NAME.) Of course, I played the Prince, soon-to-be King role very well, but actually hated the pressure of Royalty!
I remember clearly, my parents sharing this Jewish News with me. A Bar Mitzvah, a soon-to-be a man, a coming of age…all fell within the parameters of the late ’50s and early ’60s (always stay between the lines and NEVER use crayon on the white space). I also remember my parents telling me, soon, I would start a growth spurt. They both recalled stories from the ages (Not certain which ages) of short boys, erupting like a volcano into tall adolescents; one day actually lying in bed wondering where their legs went because they had grown so tall, their lower limbs hung over the mattress! Even my own father a hulking man of 6’1 mentioned he too was amazed as to how fast he had grown between his 12th and 13thyear of life. I BELIEVED none of this. I knew kids that grew tall, BUT they were already tall, so getting taller was no big ACT OF NATURE, just a continuum of NATURE. I was 5’4”. I was always in the front row for class pictures as we stood on the stage and the photographer would announce that the short kids move aside for the tall kids to stand on the bleachers. I remember, the teachers always announcing the same kid's names, telling us we too SOME DAY, would get to stand on the bleachers. (Back then I knew the term BULL SHIT, but never quite understood its depth and TRUE interpretation of a moment when all truth was actually TRUE LIES)
I read the news today (Yep, I put myself through that agony…thinking just do it, get it over with). And once again the LIES fall as might acid rain, nuclear radiation, or the smothering change of the climate. There is less truth being told, and more insistence that somehow what is NATURAL, will be ignored. Trump lost…the GQP hates democracy…the vaccination works…teach history because we learn nothing by ignoring it… I did grow taller, but not for my Bar Mitzvah (I needed a step stool to read the Torah) Finally when I entered High School I was a whopping 5’7”. But like having brown eyes, brown hair, being Gay, I was supposed to be 5’7” eventually!
