I am obviously very out of it. When I mentioned to my kids that it was Columbus Day this past Monday I was told to bite my tongue! We are now celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day. How all of us children looked forward to October 12. We learned all about Christopher Columbus and his famous ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. As the NYC public schools always began after Labor Day, this was our first day off from school. As a result we all loved good old Christopher.

Now I am finding out that he was a mean, grumpy old man whose past is being recalled as similar to the Republican candidate for president. Oy, it can’t be true. Indigenous people is the new phrase for us all to learn. I recall when attending the Hofstra University graduation that it was mentioned in the program that Hofstra stands on land which belonged to a tribe of indigenous people. Now I am beginning to get scared that perhaps my house on New Bridge Road is on land owned by the Hopis or the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians. Oy vey, will we have to change our mailing address to read some name other than Bergenfield?

A positive would be that perhaps we could replace our mayor with a Native American tribal chief. I bet he would know how to deal with anyone who does not stop at the corner of New Bridge and Westminster when cars go by as people are waiting to cross. I counted the other day as I was waiting to cross at that infamous corner that 30 cars went by before anyone would stop. During Rosh Hashanah I watched the crossing guard try to stop the traffic as some young girls attempted to cross, and just as he told them to go he realized that the cars coming in another direction were not stopping! He screamed and they stopped walking. Maybe Chief Chutzpah Panim would do a better job. Actually, I am sure that he would.

November 11 has also gone through many name changes. It was Armistice Day, then it was Memorial Day and now so far it is called Veterans Day. The sky’s the limit. I am waiting for someone to complain that the name should be called Nonbinary Veterans Day. So far most of the regular holidays as we know them are still maintaining their name status but it won’t take long for Washington and Lincoln to lose their status for something they did wrong. And let’s face it, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are soon to be off the calendars unless they are called Non-Mother and Non-Father’s Day. Really, I don’t know what has gotten into me this evening as I know that this is not our Purim edition, but these changes are as ridiculous as they sound and probably are not as comical as they appear. In this nutty world anything goes.

Moving on to Sukkot and the joy of eating with bees and or snowflakes (which was our case in Montreal) still moves me to wonderful memories of the days in our sukkah. Our goal was making sure to invite those who did not have a sukkah in order for them to have the experience. I remember the first night of Sukkot when all of the halachot (laws) of making kiddush and a hamotzi in the sukkah are not to be played around with. In case of inclement weather one must wait before entering the sukkah with the hope that the weather would get better and we could make kiddush and a hamotzi in the sukkah.

Of course, one year on the first night of Sukkot we had invited a family that had never before eaten in a sukkah. Coming to the rabbi’s house they felt the need to wear their absolute finest clothing, which was not necessarily their warmest clothing. (Think Montreal.) Of course it was horrible weather and we were waiting for the possibility of making kiddush even if we got soaked, and then hopefully we would be able to enjoy our meal in the sukkah or if need be in the house. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable about their first experience eating in a sukkah although they did not speak those words. I could watch it on their faces as the evening progressed and we waited for the ideal time to enter the sukkah to at least make kiddush and a hamotzi. I wonder if after that evening they ever considered going back into a sukkah (probably not).

My greatest pleasure as I now spend Sukkot in a very different fashion is knowing that my grandson Tzvi and his family in Fair Lawn are using our sukkah, I wish for them to have slightly fewer guests than we did, better weather than we frequently had, and may their sukkah be filled with the same warmth radiated by their Zaidie no matter what the weather!

Nina Glick can be reached at [email protected].