The Bar Mitzvah Speech

Salomón Zytner

1955

Bernardo Tzalkin stood there as though he had just been drenched with a bucket of cold water. Perplexed, at a loss for words, he tried to ask the doctor whether the boy could possibly get out of bed the next day for just an hour. It was his thirteenth birthday. . . . He attempted to explain that there was to be a big party. All the guests had been…

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Creator Bio

Salomón Zytner

1904–1986

Born into a Hasidic family in Bialystok, Salomón (also Shloyme) Zytner received a primary religious education before pursuing further studies independently. He became active at a young age in Zionist labor organizations. In 1925, he emigrated to Uruguay, working initially as a traveling salesman and then in textile manufacturing. At the same time, Zytner was active in the local branch of YIVO and pursued a career as a writer, publishing short stories, poetry, and news reports in Montevideo’s Yiddish journals and newspapers. In 1967, he moved to Israel.

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