Bar Mitzvah Behind Bars
NEWS ITEM: A wealthy inmate was allowed to host a lavish bar mitzvah for his son at the Manhattan lockup known as the Tombs.
Bar mitzvah behind bars? That’s new!
A novelty to every Jew!
An inmate went beyond the pale
By staging one inside a jail.
His son was the bar mitzvah boy,
The object of parental joy.
The chaplain, yielding to requests,
Allowed the prisoner 60 guests.
The jail looked like a rented hall,
A glorious time was had by all.
They dined on catered kosher food,
They feasted in a jovial mood.
A noted singer entertained,
The festive mood was unrestrained.
The daddy, an acknowledged crook,
Could not be for a saint mistook.
A master of financial scam,
For years he had been on the lam.
The prison rules he now disdains
And parties with his ill-got gains.
In bygone days, few rules were bent,
And things were truly different.
Bar mitzvah boys were gifted then
(Ubiquitous) with fountain-pen.
But now, within our current state,
Inside the pen we celebrate!
Which standards will we see prevail?
Will brises be allowed in jail?
Now, knowing the particulars,
Let’s bar bar mitzvahs behind bars!
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Music After decades of waiting, we’re finally getting a Bob Dylan-Barbra Streisand duet
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Mosab Abu Toha, Palestinian writer targeted by far-right pro-Israel activists, wins Pulitzer for commentary
-
Fast Forward A Jewish nonprofit may have accidentally caused Michigan to drop charges against pro-Palestinian activists
-
Culture For Christian nationalists, Trump’s pope picture isn’t a joke
-
Opinion Is Israel really going to reoccupy Gaza? Ask Trump
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.