It’s now exactly 24 hours since I first landed in New Jersey. In that time, I attended a Bat Mitzvah, a Vort and a Shiva.
I’m now in Newark waiting to go home. My flight’s boarding in five minutes.
The fun part was that I had to go straight from my Modern Orthodox cousin’s Bat Mitzvah at Roemer in Teaneck to my Chasidic BIL’s vort in Jackson (which is right next to Lakewood). So I had to figure out an outfit that I could Chassidish-ify.
Behold, it’s me at the Bat Mitzvah (which featured Shimi Adar, whose energy is amazing). Light up scrunchy, body glitter and all. (I really wanted to put the body glitter on my face like so, but I figured my Chasidic relatives would not appreciate my showing up to the vort like that.)
A quick outfit change later and I’m off to a vort. (Had to switch the color lipstick, the head-covering, and the shoes.)
(Amazing relatives detoured to Teaneck from Monsey, picked me up, and we went on a car ride that took about two hours on the way there - we picked up another relative in Lakewood-, and two hours back. The Bobover Rebbe’s Yiddish talks were full blast in the front seat while I chatted with my female relatives in the backseat. Lots of topics- COVID, secular education, Down Syndrome and children with special needs, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe’s advice to parents regarding babies with Down Syndrome, real estate, hishtadlus vs. bitachon [in this context, this refers to putting in effort into making an income vs. believing God will provide]- definitely memorable.)
It was really nice to meet my future SIL in person, and she was shocked I showed up, so that was great. (On a side note, Stern’s baked goods, which they served at the vort, are delicious! I’m a fan.)
After the vort, I came back and spent time with one of my closest friends- whose father sadly passed away. Today I had the opportunity to pay a shiva call, look at photos of his father and hear his reflections and stories. It was an important and meaningful opportunity for me to be there at the right time.
The whirlwind and packed nature of this trip reminds me of my college days, and that makes me happy.
Oif simchos.