Sherry and I had an incredible day in Brooklyn yesterday, but I need to start this column one day sooner, on Saturday, which was just too much fun not to mention.
First Time Dinosaur
On Saturday, Sherry, Ali and I got to join my sister and her husband, our two nieces, and our grand-nephew Yona for his first visit ever to the American Museum of Natural History. Andrea had worked there many moons ago and it was the perfect place to celebrate her birthday with her grandson. Although he is still too young to comprehend what was around him, Yona was fascinated by the birds – which amazingly, are the one descendant of dinosaurs that are still with us.
My favorite was the hall of primitive mammals, who pre-dated the rise of the dinosaurs, then co-existed with them and eventually outlasted them.
Kind of like the Dodgers vs the Blue Jays in the last game of this year’s World Series.
It’s good to be a Redhead
After an afternoon walking around the city and dinner at Playa Betty’s, Andrea, Scott, Sherry and I found a new favorite bar on the upper west side called The Scarlett Lounge to continue our birthday celebration. This tiny subterranean speakeasy was decorated in red velvet, playing old time jazz and matching perfectly with fedoraed host Rishard who made the experience special.
The Adventure Begins with a Trek to Crown Heights
It has been years since Sherry and I spent time in Brooklyn, and I do not think I ever stepped a single foot in Crown Heights, yet this, strangely, was our first destination on Sunday. We managed to squeeze our way there on metro north and two subway lines among the thousands of people headed towards the NYC marathon.
On our way we bumped into great friends and former neighbors Beth and Chris. We had been running in separate orbits and it was great to collide and catch up with them.
The Mystery of a Visit to HaSofer
As a gift for dedicating three years as the President of WJC, our synagogue presented me with a new pair of Tefillin. Commonly called phylacteries, these are the objects which contain boxes with words of the Torah and leather straps that wrap around a Jewish person’s head and arm. We read about them in the Shema “you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes.” You can imagine that these would be highly personal items and potentially convey immense meaning. For me, wearing them on weekday mornings helps to intensify and focus my prayers. Although I loved the meaning behind the gift, the new ones just did not feel right when I put them on.
Our adventure into Crown Heights was driven by the need for a visit to HaSofer, where the synagogue purchased the teffilin, to adjust them so that they would be comfortable. We had trouble locating the entrance, but were helped by a nearby stranger to identify the doorway. We pushed the buzzer and climbed the narrow stairs.
For Harry Potter fans, this place is the Jewish equivalent of Ollivander’s wand shop in Diagon Alley. The front contained thousands of ritual objects: teffilin, tallasim and mezuzot. In the back were scribes, hand printing the ancient prayers on parchment, the same way it’s been done for thousands of years. As Zalman was helping me I could almost even hear his thoughts, “the customer does not choose the tefiilin, the tefillin chooses the davener…..” With new, thinner straps and adjustments for my body size I could now feel the magic in this gift, which not only binds me closer to my faith, but also to the synagogue that I love.
Crown Heights is a Hassidic community, with the men wearing black hats and the woman wearing long dresses. Visiting felt like being in a foreign country, albeit a familiar one. After the stop we explored the area a bit, and had a nibble. I was impressed by how nice some of the housing was, the energy of the community and the happiness of the people around us. Even Zalman explained how much the neighborhood had improved and how much he was enjoying it.
Café Brume and the Pineapple Trio
Our daughter Ali has a best friend Daniella from early in her childhood, who we consider to be our third daughter. Part two of our visit to Brooklyn took us to meet her and Ali for lunch at Café Brume. Daniella described the restaurant as “Alpine Fusion” and we enjoyed an eclectic mix of high altitude European foods. We arranged to be in this place at this time because Daniella’s husband Edan and his Jazz Trio were playing.
The Pineapple Trio features Edan on alto sax, Ross on bass and Nane on keyboards, all excellent musicians, who play well together. We enjoyed meeting them and listening to two great sets while we ate our leisurely lunch. They have a very cool and fun tone, and I really enjoyed their versions of the standards with an occasional up-tempo piece mixed in. I am a fan!
A Tour of Brooklyn Heights
After lunch, Daniella gave us an exceptionally good tour of her neighborhood, Brooklyn Heights. She included stops at L’ Appartement 4F The Bakery (great cookies!), the Behr House, The Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Bridge Park with views of Manhattan, and Plymouth Church, which was a stop on the underground railroad.
We were struck by the diversity of architectural styles in this historic area, and it was remarkably quiet for being part of the city.
We even spent some time staring at the 70 year old triple cantilevered section of the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) with the Brooklyn Promenade perched on top. Tomorrow is election day and whoever is elected mayor will have an adventure of their own trying to repair this important structure.
