Here are the latest adventures of this mid 80s senior couple.
As you know from a recent column, we drove my wife’s 2015 Ford SUV from Lakewood down I-95 and stopped in Rocky Mount, N.C., for the first night and Savannah, Georgia, the second night. We went to shul for night and morning davening. Next to the shul is a big succah that fits in the middle of the mikveh and shul buildings.
The shul houses many of the community needs: a Jewish bookstore, a caterer who feeds sit-ins and take-outs, a large room for kiddush and simchas, a large shul for Shabbos and Yom Tov, a beis midrash for weekday davening, and plenty of room for the five-person kollel to give classes.
Another great place to consider, as housing is much cheaper than up north in the East and down I-95, is Jacksonville, at the northern end of Florida (a two-hour drive south of Savannah). It has a community a bit larger and is also worth considering for a move and visit.
After we left Jacksonville, we arrived, after four more hours of driving, at our winter dugout in West Palm Beach. After we arrived in early November, my wife’s great-granddaughter in Lakewood set her wedding date to a great Lakewood bochur for the first Wednesday in February.
As many of you know, many flights were cancelled or delayed as January wound down, and like you, I knew many people who were stranded for hours and even overnight trying to get home. Baruch Hashem, we flew to Lakewood without delay. The streets were clear for the most part but walls of snow remained neatly piled high on both sides of the street. Access to driveways seemed a bit narrower and my wife and I decided not to drive or go outside only when we had to.
The Wednesday night wedding was beautiful and I saw something that was absolutely stunning. An elderly white-bearded man, dressed in a white kittel, and wearing a large tallis and yarmulke, along with a beautiful smile came into the chassan’s room before the chuppah. He was welcomed by a steady stream of people of all ages and when it seemed he had a second, he looked into a sefer he brought.
Before I knew it, it was time to grab my cane and make my way to the chuppah. I always try for the same view, from the last row next to the aisle to see the players walking down and have an unblocked view of those under the chuppah in the distance.
The last beracha under the chuppah was given to the tzaddik wearing the tallis, but I missed the announcement of his name and was determined to find out later as no one was seated near me and besides not talking during davening, I try not to talk during the chuppah.
At the dinner, I sat with the Levin side (my wife’s relatives) and when the dancing started, I noticed the elderly tzaddik with the tallis dancing with a smile and ruach. He was dancing with men I didn’t recognize from my wife’s side, so I assumed he was from the chassan’s side (Josilowsky).
When the dancing ended and my hearing resumed, I asked someone from my wife’s side, who the elderly tzaddik wearing the tallis was. “That’s Eli Stefansky’s father,” he said. I was wowed. I listen to Reb Eli Stefansky doing the Daf Yomi on my phone. Now when Reb Eli talks about his father, I’ll have a picture of the sweet-looking tzaddik in my mind.
Shabbos in Lakewood was minus zero with the wind chill and this elderly couple couldn’t go out to shul or the sheva berachos. We made it to a Monday night sheva berachos and flew back to Florida Tuesday, hoping to stay in the warm weather for two weeks past Purim.
Then the adventure will continue, iy”H, as we drive back north and eventually to a different Pesach experience.
We’ll keep you posted.