Holidays

With Labor Day on Monday, and the Jewish New Year coming up, I thought it was a good time to write about the holidays, and primarily, the end-of-the-year holidays and how many of us celebrated them in Rochdale.

I don't remember much about how we celebrated Labor Day--we spent the Jewish New Year holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in synagogue--but Christmas and Hanukkah-or the way many of us spelled it back then, Chanukah--were another story.

It was a joyous time in Rochdale during these two holidays, because Jews and Christians alike could put out their greatest finery to celebrate these two wonderful occasions.

Christians decorated their houses with trees and other holiday ornaments, including stockings. Windows were absolutely gleaming with tinsel, and many doors had holiday wreaths on them.

If they had terraces, tinsel and holiday lights hung from them in proud display.

Jews celebrated by posting menorahs in their windows, but the world was becoming more modern, and although there were a lack of Chanukah ornaments back then, the world had come out with electric menorahs, which shone so brightly and were safer than regular menorahs.

My family had one of these, and our menorah was placed in my parents' room's window to show that we were celebrating the holiday.

And out that window was one of the most memorable sites I can ever remember from Rochdale.

I would look out that window straight across the Building 7--we were in Building 9--and the array of holiday ornaments was astounding.

It was a virtual light show as so many people put up Christmas lights and menorahs in their homes. You could look up and down that building, and seemingly every apartment had something up at that time.

I always thought that that display of holiday cheer was, every year, the defining time of Rochdale, proving that yes, even with great odds stacked against us, we could live together in the proverbial "peace and harmony."

I really, really wish I would have taken a photo of that scene, but I never did.

If I had that photo, I know I would show people what happened during the holidays there, and I would prove to them just how special it really was.

We are still several months away from the end-of-the-year holidays, but we can all bring that "holiday cheer" to the Reunion.

I guess that date for all of us will be something of a holiday, and I wish you all peace and harmony for that day and forever beyond that.