A man stumbles up to the only other patron in a bar at a Caribbean get-away and asks if he could buy him a drink.

     "Of course, thanks" comes the reply.

     The man then asks, "Where are you from?"

    "I'm from New York," replied the second man.

     The man then responded:  "You don't say.  I'm from New York, too!  Let's have a 'L'Chaim' to New York!"

     Curious, he then asks:  "Where in New York?"

     "Brooklyn," comes the reply.

     "I can't believe it.  Me, too!  Let's have another 'L'Chaim' to Brooklyn."

    "Now the second man is quite intrigued, so he asks, "What high school did you attend?"

     "Stinkin' Lincoln," replies the first man. "I graduated in '95."

    "Unbelievable!!!" exclaims the second man.

     "Me, too!!"

     "That's it!  Let's have another drink!-- L'Chaim to miracles!"

     About that time, in comes one of the regulars who sits down at the bar and notices the two guys in utter joy.

    "What's up?" he asks the bartender.

    "Nothing much," replied the bartender. "The Rosenberg twins are drunk again!

     According to Wikipedia, "Jewish geography is a popular 'game' sometimes played when American Jews meet each other for the first ("ershter") time and try to identify people they know in common.  The game has become something of an informal social custom in the Jewish community, and it's often surprisingly easy for strangers who play it to discover mutual acquaintances and establish instant context and connection."

    Rabbi Allison Bergman Vann gave a sermon on March 16, 2007. 
     She said, "I  know that I am not alone in a game that is played quite often.  We call it, with a laugh:  Jewish geography.  What is Jewish geography?
When you meet someone from another part of the country--or even the world-- and say, "Hey, I know someone from Baltimore.  Do you know Shmuel Cohen?" And they say, "No, but is he related to Esther Cohen?" and you say, "I think that's his aunt!" and then the game continues. For some, it can continue for quite some time.  By the way, this game often trumps the popular game of six degrees of separation, because we can usually make the connection in about two moves, rather than six.

     Jewish geography is Am-Yisrael.  It's knowing, and being proud of, the fact that we are part of a larger community of faith...
Being Am-Yisrael--playing Jewish geography--acknowledges the connections we have."

     Whenever I give a talk at a JCC, Brandeis meeting, or a Yiddish club and mention that my grandparents, LOUIS and CLARA GOTTLIEB, lived on East 98th St. & Rutland Road, Brooklyn, someone in the audience asks, "Did your grandparents get FREE dishes at the Sutter Avenue theatre?"

     When I casually mention that I grew up in Arverne (Rockaway Beach, NY), someone asks if I remember P.S. 42, Rockaways' Playland, Mortons Army & Navy Store, and Dr. Louis Hoffner  BARBARA WOOLARD reminisces about Mary's Luncheonette, the Waffle stand on Beach 70th Street, and Kugel's Hardware Store.  MORRIS K. remembers working at Shorty's Lockers. Everyone remembers the American/Chinese restaurant, the Far Rockaway Palace, located at 1041-45 Central Avenue.

     I recently had the pleasure of reading Lisa Alcalay Klug's book, "Cool Jew - The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe."  Two pages of the book are devoted to "Jewish Geography."  It begins:

"MINNY HYAMOWITZ lives in FAR ROCKAWAY and winters in MIAMI BEACH. Her dear friend is ROCHELLE FINKELSTEIN, who is actually her third cousin once re- moved.  Their grandparents and their grandparents all came from the OLD COUNTRY."

     And so begins MY JEWISH GEOGRAPHY:

MARJORIE GOTTLIEB WOLFE grew up in ROCKAWAY BEACH, NY  She belonged to DERECH EMUNOH synagogue on Beach 67th Street.  She married HOWARD I. WOLFE at the Belle Harbor Jewish Center, just a short distance from the home of "folk humorist," SAM LEVENSON.  (He lived in NEPONSIT.)

MRS. LEVENSON used to say to her "man" (husband), "Go outside and see what Sammy's doing and tell him to stop." Composer, Richard Rodgers was born in ARVERNE, and Far Rockaway had been a summer home to SID CAESAR, ARTHUR MILLER, JUDY GARLAND, and former NYC mayor, ABE BEAME.  Opera Singer, ENRICO CARUSO, had a summer home in BAYSWATER.

MARJORIE (aka "MALKA") now lives in SYOSSET, NY.  Her dearest friend, SYLVIA, lives in a gated S. Florida development named, "JOURNEY'S END."  When SYLVIA fled from NYC, she first considered living at KINGS POINT, a sprawling development in Delray Beach.  She also checked out Century Village in WPB.  After all, RED BUTTONS said, "...so come on down.  Spend three sun-filled days and two fun-filled nights as our guest. And then, when you buy, $400 in travel expenses will be repaid to you at closing."

SYLVIA'S sister, ESTELLE, lives in a develop- ment named VALENCIA RESERVE.  Or is it VALENCIA SHORE, VALENCIA LAKES, or VALENCIA POINTE  "Ver vaist?"  (Who knows?)

Turns out, ESTELLE has an 8-year-old "eynikl" (grandchild), MAX, who has been diagnosed with ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD).  She disagrees with his "dokter" and thinks it's a waste of money to put MAX on drugs. "He'll outgrow it," she says.  She told the MAH JONGG group that "in her day, they simply called it SHPILKES."

MAX has a sister named MADISON EMILY GOLDBERG.  ESTELLE tactlessly asked what was wrong with names like ADELE, YETTA, RUCHEL and IDA.  MAX reminded ESTELLE that the 47 million-year-old skeleton which was recently unveiled, has been dubbed "IDA."

ESTELLE'S friend, a member of "Is It Hot or Is It Just Me Red Hat Society," knows a Jewish couple who met on the Internet; they named their first son, YAACOV YAHOO.

YAACOV YAHOO is being raised by two SHNORERS--JESSE and EDITH.  EDITH flaunts her frugality.  She doesn't dry clean her dresses; that costs over $8 in MANHATTAN  She simply donates the dress to the SALVATION ARMY.  They launder it, dry clean it, and she buys it back for TWO BUCKS!

JESSE is friends of Aaron Lansky of the National Yiddish Book Center in AMHERST. Rumor has it that many copies of "MOTHER GOOSEBERG'S BOOK OF JEWISH NURSERY RHYMES" are being sold in the Center's bookstore.  One first-grader, RACHEL, will share the rhyme titled, "IPISH PISHER YIDDISH MOE."  It goes:

   Ipish pisher Yiddish MOE    Caught a cold on shabbes--woe!    Sniffled through the service--oh!    His - mother - told - him    Eat - chicken - soup    And - he - said - no!

MINNA, a senior citizen, has been known to say "Facebook, shmacebook." She's friends of MARILYN and MEL CARROLL, who have created a new senior networking site, "GENKVETCH."  It's in honor of the genera- tion that "KVETCHES."

MINNA has a "fraynd" named SHIRLEY, who got "DER GET" (the divorce), and made a big party at BENVENUTA in BOYNTON BEACH, FL.  DIVORCE PARTIES are all the rage  Why there's even a "vebzaytl" (website) called "TOOKEVERYTHING.COM."

The party was catered by the STAGE DELI. They flew in all the food.  Guests enjoyed the ADAM SANDLER TRIPLE DECKER:  Nova Scotia Salmon, Sturgeon, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion.  Others enjoyed the DOLLY PARTON: TWIN ROLLS of Corned Beef and Pastrami. From the Fountain:  New York Egg Cream.

At BENVENUTA, MINNA met LAUREN S., past president of CHAI RIDERS, a motorcycle club whose motto is "Live to ride, ride to eat."

LAUREN frequently shopped at SUPERSOL. Here she met BRUCE, a Five Towns "mensch" who admits to being a member of the "Clean Plate Club."  He asks LAUREN to a B-A-R-K Mitzvah for KASHA, his Jack Russell terrier.  KASHA learned his "ARF TORAH" well  As they say, "MUZZLE- TOV!"

-----------------------------------------

MARJORIE WOLFE loves to play Jewish geography. 
She always follows "di eytse" (the advice) of H. Jackson Brown, Jr.:
"When meeting someone you don't know
well, extend your hand ("hant") and give
your name ("nomen")  Never assume they
remember you even if you've met them before."

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