English in New York
Bayla Brown
My 1st journey to America…..my 1st trip on a plane!!!! was 43 years ago. I was a young girl of 19 who had been married for 4 months. We were going for the whole of Tishrei, to be with the Rebbe. We arrived late in the middle of the night and were waiting for our luggage. The last case on the carousel was totally collapsed with all the clothes hanging out…of course, that was mine!!! By the time we had spoken to the airport official who gave us a voucher for a new case, another hour had passed. My welcome to America was complete. As we finally made our way out the door of the Airport, the first thing I heard was the beeping of cars, that’s a sound that we hardly ever heard in England, the first thing I noticed was the size of the cars, to me they all looked enormous. A good friend of my husband’s collected us and took us to the house where we were staying (some other friends of my husband). We had to be really quiet as the whole family was sleeping but the beds had been made and the room was ready for us.
In the morning we were greeted very warmly by our hostess, who was charmed by my accent. “Accent?” I said. “I don’t have an accent – surely it’s you with the accent!!?” We had a good laugh and the ice was broken.
My husband went off to daven Shacharis, I met the children of the house and we had breakfast together – some strange sugary cereal and pancakes covered in a sticky syrup (otherwise known as Aunt Jemima Maple Syrup)– more sugar than I would consume in a week back in the UK. After unpacking and getting settled it was time to brave the streets.
As we walked along the main shopping street people would come up and greet my husband, they would chat for a few minutes and then we would carry on our way. At the beginning I’d ask him “who was that?” and he would reply “I know the face, but the name??????” Even all those years ago he was terrible at remembering names.
I had never before seen so many people rushing to and fro. The shops or stores were all busy and in the green-grocers there were familiar looking vegetables, but with strange names. The noise level was incredible. As you may have gathered, Americans are a lot louder than the English people I was used to.
The variety of kosher products was a real eye-opener and I started shopping in earnest – sweets or as I learned candies, biscuits,cookies, hechshered tuna – all stuff that was unobtainable in Manchester at the time.
Lunchtime arrived and we went to a local restaurant. Our 1st time there. We each ordered a chicken salad. When the plates arrived, there was HALF a chicken on each plate! After that experience we would order 1 portion and an extra plate please. The waiter (server) came around offering Seltzer. “What is that?” I asked my husband. Turns out it is just regular Soda/Sparkling Water.
Rosh Hashono and Yom Kippur by The Rebbe were just awe-inspiring. My 1st time being in a shul with thousands of people singing in harmony and then perfect silence when listening to The Rebbe.
During Chol Hamoed Succos we took the subway to Manhattan. That was another adventure. I had never before travelled below ground, especially in a crowded dirty metal tube. Arriving in Manhattan with the tall buildings and crowds of people was quite daunting for me. We went up the Empire State Building. Wow what a view! We could see the whole of Manhattan, part of Brooklyn, New Jersey and the Hudson River. Macy’s and Century 21 opened my eyes to a shoppers paradise, treasures at great prices never seen in Manchester. The fact that we could be shopping “in Town” within walking distance of a fully kosher restaurant – Kosher Delight (with a Succah) – amazed me.
The time came to return home to Manchester. We packed up all our bargains in an extra suitcase, (BH no weight limits then!!!) said goodbye to all the friends we had made and departed.
Landing back in Manchester Life seemed so quiet!!!!
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Chani Schreibhandhttps://theupliftmagazine.com/author/chani-schreibhand/
