Page 21 - Boca Club News - October '24

Boca Club News, Page 21
Essays on Life:

New Clothes for the New Year

By Sonia E. Ravech. Sonia is outfits were Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur, the start of scarves, bows, even costume jewelry. Along the back wall
a native of Massachusetts and the Jewish New Year. were shelves lined with boxes of sleepwear, petticoats, and
a resident of Broken Sound for As a child I didn’t care about the significance of the undies. The clothing was separated by size.
more than 30 years. She is the holiest days in the Jewish calendar. All that mattered to me Mama sorted through the myriad of dresses, some with
mother of four, grandmother of was that I got new clothes. Throughout the year I had to smocked bodices, others with plaid or gaily printed skirts,
seven and great-grandmother of be content to wear altered hand-me-downs, but the High and others decorated with lace, bows and fancy embroidery,
four. She has been the facilitator Holy Days was a time when everyone was expected to all in a kaleidoscope of colors. Whenever she came upon a
of the Broken Sound Memoir attend synagogue services dressed in their finest. style she liked she studied the price tag to be sure the cost
Writers’ Workshop for the past Prior to the holidays, as soon as the Fall fashions arrived was within her budget. If so, she handed her selection to
seven years. in the stores, my younger sister and I accompanied Mama Mrs. Hillson who hung it up in the dressing room.
When I was young, Easter Sunday was the holiday on along Blue Hill Avenue to Mrs. Hillson’s children’s shop. After Mama chose several outfits for us to try on we
which little Christian girls got to dress up in their finest My excitement began as soon as I saw the assortment entered the dressing room where there was a full-length
outfits: frilly dresses, patent leather Mary Jane shoes, white of outfits displayed in the storefront windows. Inside the mirror. At home we only had mirrors on the bathroom
gloves and perky bonnets adorned with flowers. For Jewish shop were racks of clothing along the walls. In the center medicine cabinet and above our bedroom bureaus allowing
girls the holidays on which they got to show off their new of the room was a large showcase filled with socks, gloves, us to view ourselves from our shoulders to our heads.
In that dressing room, however, we could admire our
reflections from the top of our heads all the way to the tips
of our toes. Mama made her decision as to which outfits to
NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS purchase and Mrs. Hillson took the selected items to her
desk where she drafted a sales slip. Mama counted out the
necessary amount of money for a deposit. Mrs. Hillson
recorded her payment, wrote our names on the back of
Boca Raton Concierge Medicine Doctor the white price tags attached to the clothes and took our
purchases to the storage room at the rear of the shop. Every
week Mama returned to the shop to make an additional
Board Certified in payment.
Finally, the day came when Mrs. Hillson wrote “paid
Internal Medicine in full” across Mama’s receipt. Mrs. Hillson wrapped each
with Added Qualifications in outfit in tissue paper and placed it in a large cardboard box
which she tied with twine. She attached a handle to the twine
Geriatrics (2002). and Mama proudly carried the box from the shop. Once
home we again tried on our new clothes and Mama pinned
Steven E. Reznick, MD, FACP the hems, the sleeves and cuffs. Each night, after supper,
she sat at the kitchen table lovingly sewing each outfit by
Voted a “Best Doctor” hand to ensure us a perfect fit.
A week before the holidays we returned with Mama to
by his peers. Blue Hill Avenue to visit the Stride Rite shoe store. Shoes
were always purchased as close to the holidays as possible
Call to request a complimentary meeting so our feet wouldn’t grow before we needed to wear them.

with Dr. Reznick. Shoes needed to last the entire year. As a child my feet
turned inward, requiring me to wear corrective shoes. How
I wished I could have been allowed to have a pair of the
shiny patent leather styles on display. I had to be content
561.368.0191 with laced-up oxfords.
On Rosh Hoshanah morning the family arose early.
My sister and I sat patiently as Mama brushed and braided
7280 W. Palmetto Park Road | 205N our hair. Afterwards I slipped into my new clothes, laced
Boca Raton, FL 33433 up my new shoes and, when the rest of the family was
www.bocaconciergedoc.com ready, walked proudly with my parents and siblings to the
synagogue. After greeting family members and friends,
Daddy took my brother by the hand and led him into the
sanctuary. My sister and I followed Mama upstairs to the
women’s section in the balcony.
After services our family walked to Mattapan to visit
Are You Ready Hurricane? with Bubie, our aunts, uncles and cousins. Each of our
relatives “oohed and aahed” and told us how beautiful our
new outfits were.
Once home we immediately changed into play clothes.
For The Next Storm? Mama carefully hung our new clothes on hangers and
covered them with a sheet to keep them clean until we wore
them again. These outfits were saved to be worn only on
No Air Conditioning? special occasions. When we outgrew them they were passed
No Refrigeration? down to younger cousins or friends. I wasn’t disappointed
when Mama gave away my outfit, because I knew I could
FREE 10% OFF look forward to the cycle being repeated.
To quote Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, “Judaism consists

7 Year Warranty of many traditions.” The yearly shopping excursion for new
on Select Air Cooled Of A Service Call* clothes to celebrate the start of the New Year was a tradition
Standby Generators* in my family which I still recall with fondness.
$ 350 $ 1,000

One-Time OFF
Maintenance* Install*
*Must show coupons. Call for details.
561.774.7714

2271 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33409

GeneratorSupercenterofThePalmBeaches.com
Licensed Electrical Contractor #EC 13010145
*Terms and Conditions: Offer only valid on purchases until 06/03/24, and when the Generac home standby generator is purchased directly from Generator Supercenter of
the Palm Beaches. Refurbished products are excluded from this promotion. This promotion is valid for all air cooled home standby generators in stock. Call for availability.
Generator must be installed and activated in order for the warranty to be applied. Generator Supercenter of the Palm Beaches reserves the right to rescind or change this
offer at any time. For questions related to eligibility, please call Generator Supercenter of the Palm Beaches.