Come with the wandering Sisters to discover “villages” in cities on three different continents

DO you live “in town” or “out of town”? For that matter, what makes something “in” or “out”? Is Baltimore, a three-hour ride from the center of the universe (calm down, we’re just kidding), “out” or “in”? What about L.A., Houston, Vegas? Where does Yerushalayim fit into this town paradigm?

And what, exactly, is a “town”?

It’s an amorphous, changeable concept, this in-and-out idea. When we were young, would you believe both Lakewood and Monsey were considered “out of town”? (And no, dinosaurs weren’t roaming the earth, and we didn’t have long, convivial chats with Avraham Avinu....)

Whether you live “in” or “out,” there’s one thing we’ll bet you’d say: I don’t live in a village.

Or do you?

Come with the wandering Sisters to discover “villages” in cities on three different continents. We’ll offer you a warm welcome, a cup of steaming coffee, and some insights into how you can live in a village, no matter where your home happens to be.

Marcia recounts...

A Tale of Two Villages

The condo kind of fell into my lap...

January 2020

 I’m in South Florida for my grandson’s bar mitzvah. Sheldon a”h hasn’t even been gone for a year, and I feel his absence acutely. I decide to take an extra week of vacation from work. I ask a friend who’s “snowbirding” in Century Village if I can stay with her, just to see what all the talk’s about.

And wow… pools, pools everywhere! I drive around from pool to pool until I find an empty one where I can swim peacefully and contemplate the universe. I’m usually a lone swimmer — a “lapper, not a yapper,” in Stark Sister lingo — but, just to be sociable, I let my friend persuade me to join her at a water aerobics class. I’m in a huge pool surrounded by dozens of women, mostly in schvimkleids. The minute I mention I’m checking out the Village, shouts come from all directions:

“Shprintza Schwartz is about to put her condo on the market.”

“Goldeleh Goldberg is about to move.”

Before I know it, I’m checking out an apartment. It’s lovely. But, as I explain to the owner, it hasn’t even been a year yet. I’m not ready to make any major life decisions. “Talk to me in June,” I say. “If it’s still on the market, I might have a better idea of whether to take such a major step.”