102-year-old WWII veteran to have first bar mitzvah at the Pentagon at 103: ‘My next bucket list’
Harold Terens, a 102-year-old WWII veteran, is celebrating his birthday and planning a bar mitzvah at the Pentagon next year.
A 102-year-old World War II veteran is celebrating his birthday with family, but that is not the only milestone he is looking forward to. Harold Terens, who turned 102 with family and friends in Florida, said that while his brother got the traditional Jewish ceremony marking the beginning of adulthood, the bar mitzvah, when they were kids living in New York, he did not.
“My mother came from Poland. My father came from Russia. And my mother was a religious Jew. And my father was anti-religious. So they had two sons. And one son, they compromised. One son got bar mitzvahed, the other son didn’t," he told Associated Press.
However, the war veteran has claimed that he, too, will fulfill his wish for the ceremony early next year at the Pentagon outside Washington. His dream came true after a rabbi heard his wish while he was appearing on TV for a news panel.
"I mentioned that I would like to be bar mitzvahed at 103, and he’s the rabbi of the Pentagon, so that’s my next bucket list. I am going to be bar mitzvahed in the Pentagon,” he added.
Terens, who officially turns 102 on August 6, helped repair planes returning from France on D-Day so they could rejoin the battle. The veteran went to France 12 days later to help bring captured Germans and American prisoners of war back to England.
He was honoured in June 2024 by France during the 80th anniversary celebration of their country’s liberation from the Nazis.
The veteran also made news for marrying Jeanne Swerlin, 97, last year. “I thought my wedding in Normandy last year was the highlight of my life. Number one of all the moments of my life. You know, that’s the saying, that life is not measured by how many breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away," he said.
Terens has cheated death many times after surviving World War ll. He was part of a secret mission in Iran and once barely escaped a German rocket after leaving a London pub.
He claimed his life has been"one huge fairy tale" and intends to live his life to the fullest. "I think if you can learn how to minimise stress, you’ll go a long way. You’ll add at least 10 years to your life. So that is number one. And 90% is luck,” he said, sharing his secret to a long, happy life.
(With inputs from AP)
