As the "dog days" of summer roll along, with the sweltering
heat and humidity beating down on the American landscape,
those up in the Catskill Mountains of New York are grateful
to have been spared some of the weather's wrath. Although
it's hot there too -- temperatures easily rise to the '90s
(Fahrenheit) -- the less humid air and more pleasant
landscape make it easier to handle the weather.
Most families that head to the Catskills go to bungalow
colonies. The typical colony houses anywhere from 25-40
families -- some even larger than that -- all situated near
each other and surrounded by woods and mountains.
The bungalows of yore consisted of a 1-room shack (sometimes
2) with peeling linoleum atop a rickety floor. The kitchen
had an old Frigidaire refrigerator and a small gas stove.
Air conditioned bungalows were almost unheard of -- you
could stay in the city for that matter! The children slept
on bunk beds, one on top of the other in their crowded
rooms. In spite of all these primitive conditions, not to
mention the bugs and mosquitoes to contend with, families
would come back year after year.
Today's bungalows would not qualify for that distinctive
title; a summer home better fits the bill. The modern
vacation home today comes with all the amenities one is used
to at home: a full, modern kitchen, spacious sleeping
quarters and tastefully decorated rooms. Many homes come
winterized so families can go up there during the winter
months as well. More than 1000 such homes have been built
over the past few years for people in our community.
The country population has grown to the extent that there
arose a need for a new mikveh. The existing mikvaos
were just too small to handle the large number of people.
A few askonim got together and decided to build a
beautiful mikveh, which would cater to everyone. They
bought a plot of land in Fallsburg and are in the process of
building it.
The stores in the area stock up for their kosher consumers
by providing a wide variety of kosher foods that they
wouldn't otherwise carry. Shop-Rite, the big supermarket,
stocks its shelves with all different types of food and
nosh for their summer consumers.
Wal-Mart, the huge store chain, opened a mega-store in
Monticello. They sell all items one normally finds in a
department store, plus a full-fledged supermarket. Motzei
Shabbos is a big shopping night in Wal-Mart for the Jews,
when the entire family can shop together. At first the store
was not prepared to handle the crowd; Saturday is the big
shopping day by the goyim so by the time Saturday night
comes along they only have minimal help at the cash
registers and in the aisles.
Someone went over to the store manager and told him that
he'll get a lot of Jewish business on Saturday night and
perhaps he could schedule more cashiers and floor help for
this time. The manager replied that he had run the Wal-Mart
near Lakewood and knew that motzei Shabbos is a big
shopping night for the Orthodox. He told his superiors that
they should prepare for a big crowd that night but they
didn't take his suggestion seriously. Next week, he assured
him, it will all be taken care of; they saw tonight that I
knew what I was talking about!
The Family in the Bungalow
In many cases the family stays in the "country" the entire
summer while the husband/father stays in the "city" (New
York City) during the week and only comes up on weekends
(Friday afternoon to Sunday). For those who work, it doesn't
make sense to commute more than an hour and a half every day
back and forth so they stay in the city from Sunday evening
until Thursday night or Friday afternoon.
The mothers spend the week taking care of the family and
enjoying the friendship of their summer neighbors. Indeed,
the camaraderie that develops during the summer lasts
throughout the year even when they live in different
neighborhoods or cities.
Day camps in the bungalow colony provide the children with
ample entertainment for most of the day. They spend the rest
of the day at the pool or going into the woods finding
salamanders, frogs and any other creature that makes its
home in the surrounding woods (much to the chagrin of their
parents).
Husbands in the City
The husbands stay in their nice, empty, spacious home alone
the entire week in the city. Restaurants offer "community
suppers" -- a basic supper menu every night at an affordable
price to accommodate all those who do not want to cook for
themselves.
These men are normally busy at night with family
obligations; the children aren't with them now so they have
time on their hands. Some spend the time in the bais
medrash with an extra chavrusa.
Irgun Shiurei Torah is an organization that schedules
shiurim for the general public on many different
topics in halacha and hashkofo throughout the year.
They arrange for prominent rabbonim and roshei yeshiva to
address issues and they make tapes of all the speeches.
Every weekday night during the summer -- Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday nights -- a wide array of shiurim is
delivered by noted speakers. They have three simultaneous
nightly programs: In Boro Park and Williamsburg (in Yiddish)
and in Flatbush (in English). The average attendance at all
three places altogether is 1000 people nightly -- more if
it's a good topic or a popular speaker.
A total of 24 different shiurim are given in each
location over eight weeks; that's 96 among all three places.
That's a lot of coordinating and planning.
A sample of topics include: "Modern Kashrus" by Rabbi Moshe
Heinemann ( Baltimore Vaad Hakashrus), "General Halachah"
by Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, "Menuchas Hanefesh" by Rabbi
Eliezer Ginsberg, "Positive Thinking" by Rabbi Shmuel Dishon
(Stolin), "Chizuk to Bnei Torah" by Rav Shmuel Birnbaum
(Mir). Also included are topics on the Three Weeks and Elul.
People appreciate the chizuk they get from these
speeches and buy tapes of the speeches immediately after the
lecture so they can hear it again themselves or pass it on
to a friend. Thus these speeches reverberate way beyond the
confines of the bais medrash they were delivered in.
A person who heard Rabbi Dishon's speech about seeing the
positive side in everyday life and thanking Hashem for it,
sent the tape to a friend of his who was in Czechoslovakia
on business and who was having a hard time there. None of
the business deals he was working on were going through.
After listening to Rabbi Dishon's speech, he felt charged
with a new, positive attitude about how to perceive things
in one's life.
A woman heard Rabbi Ginsberg talk about menuchas
hanefesh. Two days later she called the Rav to personally
thank him for his divrei chizuk. She had just found
out that her son-in-law was afflicted with a type of cancer
and she does not know how she would have coped with the
crushing news and all its implications without previously
hearing his speech!
Thursday in Sloatsburg
Thursday night many people head up to the mountains to
reunite with their families after a four-day absence. Since
many people leave in the late afternoon and don't have the
opportunity to daven mincha before they head out, they
have a problem about where and when to daven. They
might get to the bungalow colony after sunset. People would
pull off to the side of the road to daven. One popular
place was at the Harriman toll plaza, when one exits the New
York State Thruway for Route 17, which is about half way on
the trip. The cars would pull off to the side of the road
right after paying the toll and daven.
The State Police noticed the amount of cars pulling off the
road and felt that they were creating a real safety hazard.
Drivers would cut across a couple of lanes just to get to
the right side of the road. Furthermore, when traveling with
families, the fathers would get out of the car to daven
Shemoneh Esrei, while their children would inevitably
scamper out of the car, onto the highway, in the face of
oncoming high-speed traffic!
They approached Rabbi Chaim Boruch (Edgar) Gluck, the noted
Brooklyn askan who serves as Assistant Superintendent
to the New York State Police, to help them out with this
problem. He suggested they designate an open area on the
side of the road that isn't used as a prayer area, so the
cars would be totally off the road. They decided this would
the most practical alternative to resolve the issue.
He initially consulted with his rov, HaRav Moshe Bick
zt'l as to the halachic issues involved. HaRav Bick
encouraged him to go ahead with it.
After trying out a few sites the State Police decided that
the Sloatsburg Rest Area, which is situated on the Thruway a
few miles before the toll plaza, offered the best site. The
Rest Area was undergoing extensive renovations at the time
so they put in the plans a special area outside with a sign
reading "Mincha Area." The Thruway was threatened with a
lawsuit from the AJC and the ACLU who protested the sign
because it promotes one religious group over another on
public property, so the sign was changed to the non-
denominational "Prayer Area" even though the area is used
only by Orthodox Jews.
This rest area is the first convenient place on the Thruway
once you leave New York City to stop for gas and food, and
it is visited by many travelers every day. After the
renovations it looks more like a shopping mall than a rest
area, with a wide array of food stores and a multi-level
garage. It also has a few kosher vending machines. It may be
the biggest highway rest area in the world.
Originally the "Mincha Area" was in use from 7:00 Thursday
night until 8:30 P.M. The Sate Police sat there to make sure
things ran smoothly. Now it has evolved into a full-time
operation with minyanim going continuously from 7:00
through 11:00 P.M.! Rabbi Gluck stopped by with his wife a
few weeks ago on his way up to the mountains and counted
2000 people there in just one hour!
They have an area on the opposite side of the road, the one
going towards the city, for use on Sunday evening. Both
areas are now also used during the week as well, not just on
their originally designated nights.
During bein hashemoshos (which is a lot longer in
America than in Eretz Yisroel), some Chassidim are still
davening mincha while others standing next to them are
davening ma'ariv!
When there is a taanis on Thursday, someone comes
along with a sefer Torah so those who daven
there can hear krias haTorah. Today one can find
schnorrers making the round among the minyanim
with one enterprising person offering fresh kugel
with the proceeds going to tzedokoh to nourish the
weary travelers. Yes, it has the feel of a real beis
medrash.
Rabbi Gluck mentioned that he has received phone calls from
people across the country -- even from Eretz Yisroel -- as to
how to set up such a place in their area.
Summer Safety
As a member of the State Police, Rabbi Gluck is very
concerned about those who don't have much driving experience
who take to the country roads without driving properly. He
has seen too many unfortunate incidents during his tenure
where people drove around curves at dangerously high speeds
with life-ending results. He and other Hatzolah members
prevailed upon the roshei yeshiva to issue a letter stating
that no one under the age of 21 should drive in the
mountains.
He also mentioned that people drive with unauthorized
emergency lights, thinking they could speed, but thereby
endangering other drivers. Hatzolah gets a lot of
unwarranted criticism from this because the Police think
that since all Jews look alike, it must be a Hatzolah
member. This guilt by association gives them unnecessary
headaches and impedes on their ability to service those who
unfortunately really need their services.
It All Comes To An End
Soon it is time to go home for the winter. The days get
shorter, the nights get nippier, which hints that the summer
is coming to an end. The stores are already advertising the
"back to school" sales, which mean that September is just
around the corner. Time to pack up the car and go home. Yet
the people leave with a storehouse full of pleasant memories
to keep them going through the winter, when it will be time
to make plans for next summer.
