My wife and I have been well entrenched in Century Village in West Palm Beach since early November. The number of Shabbos minyanim has ballooned to eleven. There are two shuls with three-times-daily minyanim, offering daily Daf Yomi and there are nine apartments, greatly appreciated by us with walking problems, offering Shabbos minyanim.
There are people who should be walking to shul, as they aren’t walking with canes or rollators like this old guy. And they take up space in apartment minyanim that have limited space. Finding a place to sit is harder than finding a place to park in New York.
I’ve always flown to Florida, but this time we drove down taking I-95 south from Lakewood. We used my wife’s 2015 Ford and planned two night stayovers and about a six-hour additional drive the third day to get to West Palm. Here’s how this almost-mid-eighties couple charted the trip.
We left Lakewood on a Sunday, spent less than eight hours on the road, and checked in to a nice, large motel, part of a group of three different companies in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Monday, we drove six hours and reached Savannah, Georgia. You must visit that city, with its great, friendly, small community.
Everything revolves around the large B’nai Brith Jacob shul, which houses a beautiful, large sanctuary that can seat about 2,000, but only needs a tenth of that for Shabbos. Daily, the shul uses a very heimishe beis medrash. There are two daily morning minyanim and one for Mincha and Ma’ariv. My wife was able to experience the minyanim in a separate room with a separate entrance as part of the daily davening if any ladies want to attend.
The spiritual leader of the shul is Rabbi Avigdor Slatus. The Brooklyn-born, biblical-looking man with a beautiful white beard, attended Brooklyn College and was ordained at Mirrer Yeshivah, and has led the shul since 1981. Married to a Chicagoan, he impressed me when I was lucky enough to hear him speak between Mincha and Ma’ariv.
The small kollel of five young couples is also impressive and came from places such as Chicago, St. Louis, Monsey, Savannah, Dallas, and Silver Spring. There is a lot of learning there and a Torah Umesorah Day School through the eighth grade. The shul’s daily attendees include all ages.
Every person is important and welcoming. It’s a great place to be a big fish in a small pond. The shul also has a great caterer, and you can eat in a big social hall or takeout.
The shul, at 5444 Abercorn Street (phone 912-354-7721), has several hotels within walking distance. We wanted to stay at the closest, but we didn’t like the looks of the building and its inhabitants. I’d recommend any of the hotels a little farther.
Savannah is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive west to Atlanta. But we continued south on I-95 Monday morning and reached Jacksonville in two hours, which is also a small community but bigger than Savannah. The beautiful city at the northern part of Florida also boasts a kollel and a nice kosher restaurant in two locations.
It was another four hours of driving from Jacksonville to West Palm Beach, but driving was certainly worth the time to experience Savannah and Jacksonville, where you can play a big part in a small community.