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10. Religion
- Temple University Press
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10 Reugion B efore Joey Adams's mother would rent at Mrs. Boxer's kuchalein in the 1920s, she insisted that the place be strictly kosher. The (Jarmeka))assured her, "We have two stoves-one for dairy and one for meat, and even our iceboxes are kosher."l These concerns weakened as New York's Jews acculturated. By the time traditional bungalow colonies were in their heyday, 1940-1965, the vast majority of American Jews were essentially secular. They were more likely to be cultural or gastronomic Jews than observant ones. Even among the hotels, only a few were religiously observant-and these were clearly talked about as being bizarre.2 "The Pioneer Country" in Fallsburg emerged as a very orthodox hotel after World War II, and I remember my father and some tenants talking about this strange place where they put a chain across the driveway on Saturday. Were there ultraorthodox bungalow colonies? Possibly, but I didn't hear ofthem until the late 1950s. Now, in the 1990s, the orthodox form is dominant; I discuss this variant in "An Age of Change," Chapter 14. My time spent around large bungalow colonies indicated to me that they were usually very secular. The occasional orthodox or even observant tenants kept quiet about their practices and kept to themselves. As I indicated earlier, the weekend, especially Friday night and Saturday, was dedicated to fun. Those who were religiously observant simply faded into the background. Colonies ."I"1 BORSCHT BELT BUNGALOWS that had luncheonettes or fountains usually sold trej; and on-site stores often sold nonkosher foods as well. Many households did keep kosher, but it was not a prevalent concern. In my years ofworking in and directing day camps, I never encountered any parental concern about religious observation. For example, to the question, "Was the ice cream the kids had for snack kosher?" I have no answer now. We simply were not concerned about the issue. It never came up. At Richman's, our religious history is something I know intimately, and here) witnessed many changes over a period offorty-some years. Grandma and my mother kept a kosher home and Grandpa was a leader of Woodbourne's Jewish community and the long-time president of Congregation B'nai Israel, an orthodox congregation. Like many facets ofGrandpa, his religious practices were unique. When he was in Woodbourne, he went to synagogue every Saturday , a practice he maintained (with my mother's nagging in his later years) until he was in his early nineties. In the winter, he spent his Saturdays with his cronies, eating, drinking, and playing cards at a Turkish bath, or as he would say, "ein bord." Religion was a summer thing for him. Occasionally, a halfhearted suggestion was made to Seymour and me that we should be quieter on Shabbos) but there was never any real follow-through. No one else in the family regularly went to religious services, and Father was actively indifferent about going to shul (synagogue). He worshiped at the card table from nine in the morning on. Grandpa, to my knowledge, never ate chazar (pig) or seafood (pork of the sea), but he had no qualms about eating trefoutside the family circle. I remember, however, the outrage when we went to New Jersey to visit relatives in the late 1940s and were served nonkosher steaks by cousin Sadie. Grandpa didn't say anything there, but for months thereafter the insult was a recurrent topic of conversation. Grandpa had no compunction about riding on the Sabbath or turning on the lights. As a matter offact, after he came home from shulon Saturday, he would have his lunch, take his customary nap, get up, shave again (he was meticulous), and emerge in his usual country attire ofshorts-no shirt. When it was cool, he put a kerchief around his neck! While we always had a traditional Friday evening menu of chicken soup, gefilte fish, and roast chicken, we never observed any ritual with it. The same was true of Saturday. None of the rest of us changed out of our casual clothes. There are all levels ofobservance ofthe injunction against work on the Sabbath . Our long-time tenants the Dubofskys were orthodox. Mister Dubofsky said his prayers every morning and put on his tejillin) or phylacteries. He wore [3.145.23.123] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:17 GMT) a yarmulke when he prayed and ate, but not at other times. On occasion, he would join...