Sunday was a normal spring market sales day for me with appointments and showings. As hard as I tried to make sure I would be free for the 6:30 p.m. start time of the communal gathering, I had customers getting off of a plane and coming to meet me. Not exactly a situation in which I could easily switch showing times. I rationalized that bringing new people to Teaneck, Bergenfield and New Milford was in some way helping “the cause” even if I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I made sure that my husband and our two sons would be at the rally even before the start time. “You must start walking over at 6:15,” I told them.
One of my earlier appointments in the day was with a family who has been thinking for some time about selling their home. When I walked through the door they exclaimed to me that this was it. They are selling and heading to Israel! It’s not my place to tell people what their stance on aliyah should be, but many years ago Vera and I, as agents, offered a reduced commission to those on their way to the holy land.
And then, there was the visit I had with a different family only a few days earlier. They were also getting ready to sell their home, and move to a larger house within the area. After walking me through their home we sat at the dining room table to discuss the current market value of the home. We reviewed some comparable past sales and I calculated the spectrum of where I thought we could price the house. The husband suggested that we start at the highest range. The wife who had been quiet up to this point stated the following with strong conviction:
“We love living here and we hope one day our family will be able to move to Israel but until that happens there is no other place we would rather be than the Teaneck area. The way this community continually grows spiritually and intellectually is truly admirable. But most important is the strong, core conviction I feel here. If I can’t live in Israel, let me at least be part of a community that, in its very essence, stands with great pride and actively cares about the communities in Israel as deeply as they care about their own.”
She took a breath and continued, “When I hear about people living in other parts of the country who, out of fear, feel the need to hide their Judaisim, it breaks my heart. There are the brave amongst us who will walk any path in this world and announce to everyone I am a Jew.” She continued, “I’m not sure I could be that person, but together with a community like ours behind me, I find the strength to be the best I can be. I fully understand this is why people want to live on these streets, where we have each other’s back. We don’t cancel our events for outside agitators because we are strong. Others see this, and they want to live here too! We feel good marketing our home at this price because to live in this town—it’s worth it!”
Nechama Polak is the broker of record and owner of V&N Group LLC located at 1401 Palisade Avenue in Teaneck, New Jersey. Send your thoughts and comments to [email protected] or call 201 826 8809.
