"October"

October!!!  The name, October, means the eighth month!  (‘octo’  is 8 in Latin) It was the 8th month until January and February were added to the months of the year. With the addition of 2 extra months, October, the 8th month, became October, the tenth month.  Now that we understand that the name of October is not what we think it is, let’s fast forward to the major observance of the month.  Of course, Halloween!!  And, how did/do we celebrate this observance?  We pretend to be someone whom we certainly are not!!!   You may be the HULK!  WONDER WOMAN! A ketchup bottle!  But, certainly NOT yourself.  And did I forget the hero of October?  Christopher Columbus!  Who is this interesting explorer?  Is he a Villain or a Hero?  You may be familiar with many tidbits of the history of the 15th century which tell the tale of a mean spirited Columbus.  Is he a Jew or an Italian Catholic? 

What about our identities.  Who are we?? If we grew up in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s in Jersey City, Clifton, Paterson, Passaic, Bayonne and now live in suburban New Jersey, or in California, or in our spiritual  Homeland, Israel---who are we????  Of course, we are forever identified with our hometown.  Our taxes may go to Wyckoff, Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Westwood, but our hearts remain in our hometowns. 
 
            This time of year, we remember the fall holidays in Paterson.  Remember trying to walk up and down E. 33rd Street on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?  The streets were packed and the outside of Temple Emanuel was a precursor of Match.com.  We stood outside of the Temple checking out the opposite sex.  Not out of disrespect but out of the sheer delight of being with other Jewish teenagers and sharing the holiday atmosphere.  I’m sure those who grew up in Passaic, Clifton, Newark, Bayonne, etc., etc. have similar stories of the glories of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in their hometowns. 

As we march into state of the art gyms in our suburban paradise, we think of our beloved “Y” in Paterson where we could socialize, learn a hobby, swim, and/or go to Saturday night dances.  And by some quirk of the teenage psyche, the girls always thought the Passaic guys were cuter than the Paterson boys, and the boys thought the Passaic girls were better looking than the Paterson girls.  That was life in our other dimension.  In those days, we were a cohesive group.  Between our synagogues, our local “YM/YWHA, our schools, we had a rich sense of who we were and we enjoyed the comfort of a viable and stable community life.
 
            Just as October is not what its name implies, we ourselves are no longer who we thought we were.  Our recollections of “those great times” are secure in our memory safe.  We return to visit the Falls and the renovations of this historic site.  We return to drive through the “old” neighborhood, but one can never return to what was!!   But we all know, that our past memories are part of who we have become.  No, we do not live in the past!  We live in the future!  But, the past created a unique bond among us. Our roots have been key to what we have become.  Enjoy these shared memories and use these memories to maintain a meaningful foundation. 

During October, the 8th month which really is the 10th month, we suburbanites will share the history of our YM/YWHA.  Oops, they are not “Y’s” any longer, they are JCC’s.   We are celebrating how important they were for the Jewish communities on October 28 at 11:00 am in our office-17-10 River Road, Fair Lawn.  Come on over and enjoy this piece of our history and meet new friends with this shared memory.  And remember, where ever you may be, you are always the kid from Paterson, the kid from Passaic, from  Clifton, from Jersey City. See you on the 28th.  
 
Miriam Gray aka Miriam Kraemer, a V.P. and member of the JHSNJ