Disco, a dance craze in the 1970s, is not usually thought of for its healing purposes in 2026. But help a Yid it did, a few weeks ago at a senior home in Brooklyn, where I am director of recreation.
It started with a man who I’ll call Lenny. He was younger than most of the people at the Home and his music tastes were definitely not the Hebrew and Yiddish songs most of his peers reveled in.
I learned about Lenny’s musical avocation from his roommate, who told me, “You know Lenny used to be a disco deejay and he still has the boom box and strobe lights.” Then he added, “You should give him a chance to show what he does.”
I am a big believer in putting people in the spotlight with the strengths they have. Disco, though, was pushing the envelope a bit. But it would have made Lenny so happy. So after tossing and turning the issue in my mind for a while I agreed to give Lenny 20 minutes to do his thing as part of one Thursday morning program.
Prior to this groundbreaking program, a man who I’ll call Shmuel walked gingerly with his walker and sat down in the first row.
He immediately told me how much pain he had on his right leg. “My therapist said I need to walk on it, but it hurts so much. What should I do?” I told him, “Whatever walking you can will be good for you. It will be less stiff.”
He answered, “You’re right. But it’s so hard.”
He grimaced and I wished him good health.
It was now time to start the 20-minute program.
I gave Lenny a big introduction and he took us back in time to the 70s with his hard, driving music and strobe lights. The intensity of it all made me wonder if I made a mistake. When I heard a complaint from way in the back, I cringed. I couldn’t stop him once I told him he could do it, but I couldn’t wait until it ended.
And then I saw it. Guests, some in their 80s and 90s, who often needed to be invited to move to the music, needed no prodding.
On their own, they were moving to the rhythm of the enhanced beat. A 95-year-old Holocaust survivor was having the time of her life, moving this way and that way with a big smile.
Just when I thought it could not get any better, it did in a dramatic way.
Shmuel, on his own, stood up with his walker and began moving to the cadence of the music. Lenny, in the excitement of the moment, was encouraging Shmuel to keep moving…”That’s what you need!” “That’s what you need!” he exclaimed.
Then Shmuel started bending his stiff right leg… straight and bent… straight and bent… straight and bent… In sync with the music with a big smile on his face. And Lenny, with a look of joy on his face, kept encouraging him to move… “Keep at it! Keep at it!”
What happened to Shmuel’s pain? His concern that he could not move. It all evaporated with the disco.
I told Lenny that he was a physical therapist and he laughed heartily, happy that he could make a positive difference in Shmuel’s and other people’s lives.
I videotaped a segment of Shmuel’s dance and WhatsApped it to his sister in Israel.
She had been so worried about her brother, and how he was coping with the pain. She had her own coping to do, running into air raid shelters at the sound of the near constant sirens in the Holy Land.
But when she received that video of her brother smiling, dancing and moving his pained leg effortlessly, she was overjoyed.
Disco might not be the first choice for an Orthodox Jewish Senior Home. But when used judiciously and therapeutically, it could be just what the doctor ordered.