The world’s oldest living man, Yisrael Kristal, a Holocaust survivor who lives in Haifa, Israel, is one year older on the record books, which marked his 113th birthday on Sept. 15.

However, on 22 Elul, which corresponds this year to Sept. 25, Kristal will be celebrating his 113th Jewish birthday (considered in mystical Jewish tradition to be akin to an annual personal Rosh Hashanah) and the still rarer distinction of it being 100 years since he began wearing tefillin during daily prayers.

In an interview with Sichat Hashavua—a weekly circular published by Chabad in Israel—Kristal said that since his 13th birthday, he has wrapped tefillin every day, except for extreme circumstances during the two great wars.

RELATED

As he stated: “Instead of being acclaimed as the world’s oldest man, I’d rather be known as the oldest and longest daily wearer of tefillin in the world.”

He was recognized as the world’s oldest man in March.

Kristal was born in Zarnow, Poland, on 22 Elul 5663 (Sept. 15, 1903). His mother passed away when he was 7 years old. His father was drafted into the Russian army during World War I and subsequently killed, leaving Yisrael on his own at the young age of 11. However, his father had provided him a solid traditional Jewish education, and that helped him remain a man of deep faith and religious commitment throughout his life.

His 13th Jewish birthday, ordinarily celebrated as a joyous milestone, passed without fanfare due to the war. Yet, like generations of Jewish men before him, he began wearing tefillin every weekday, with the exception of Shabbat and holidays.

One hundred years later, some 100 family members and friends will gather for a private belated bar mitzvah in which they will sing, dance and wish him a hearty “mazal tov.”