Mel…The Congregational Chanukah party was over during which Elliot and Missy had sculpted a bas relief of the Rabbi and presented it. With it was a card and a photograph of him with a saying…”what do you think I am , chopped
liver?” It looked too good to eat; I suggested we freeze it and bring it out on every Jewish Holiday, but on second thought the chopped liver looked too good not to eat.

El…Every year, twice a year, (Chanukah and Pesach), I make about 8 to 10 lbs. of my “grandmother’s recipe chopped chicken livers”. I then turn it over to Missy, our resident artist, to make it presentable. She’s made stars of David, menorahs, driedels, 10 commandments and I don’t know what else. Too good to eat, and yet, as Mel says “too good not to eat”.

Mel… Arlene and I have known Elliot and Missy for 6 years and over the last 6 years they have invited us to their home many, many times and we never accepted the gracious invitation. I have many quite severe allergies and Stephanee, the congregational Cantor, mentioned that they had cats and dogs. I have a bad allergy to cats and have even wound up in the emergency room after visiting someone who owned a cat, so that has kept us from ever visiting.

Mel… It was Chanukah and Christmas, and the Rothpearls graciously invited us for a Chanukah/Messiahmas, (Christmas), party. “I’d really like to go, I said. Maybe we can walk in for a minute and then eat outside on a picnic table in their yard,” as in Florida that is possible in winter. As expected the Rothpearls welcomed us under these conditions.


El …We set two tables on our outdoor, covered patio so Mel and Arlene could eat outdoors along with anyone else who wanted immediate seating “on the veranda” mit a view.

Mel…We live on the totally opposite side of town and it felt like forever to get to his house. I told Arlene the 40 mile trip to Canaan from Egypt is shorter than from our house to Elliot’s home. My wife, my bashert, rolled her eyes and ignored me. The directions are simple…”295 to 9A, you’ll get off on Butler Blvd and make a left where burned down seven eleven used to be, continue straight passed the Chinese Restaurant that’s been replaced by a Pizza Hut. etc, etc, you can’t miss it” Hmm somehow I did.

El…Oh, come on now Mel, it’s only 36 miles door to door. And, the directions were quite explicit, I think? Oh, I forgot, you didn’t take the directions.

Mel…With a few phone calls and redirects we arrived.

Mel…There were many cars in the drive way, on the front lawn and on the street. We found a space and then rang his bell. We were soon to enter “The Twilight Zone” Elliot came to the door wearing shorts, a tee shirt, a Santa hat and on his feet were one red sock and one green sock. When asked if he had the other pair in a drawer somewhere he said that Missy was wearing the other pair. I knew we couldn’t stay inside his house very long but Elliot wanted to give us the royal tour. So he took us into his dining room which was converted into a musical instrument warehouse.

EL… O.K. First off Missy and I have been wearing these mismatched socks for ages, or since we moved to Florida. In New York it wouldn’t matter because winter is winter and you don’t wear shorts for Christmas or Chanukah. Secondly, I will admit that my music room isn’t quite big enough or well organized enough, but I wouldn’t call it a warehouse. It’s amazing how you walk in and immediately start taking inventory.

Mel…You name the instrument and Elliot plays it professionally, you mention a band from the sixties and seventies and Elliot will tell you he played with them, or recorded with them. Me, I just play the kazoo and hum.

El…Mel plays guitar and has a wonderful lilting Irish tenor voice. When he sings he reminds me of Burl Ives.

Mel… He then showed me his M & M collection, I thought he was joking when he asked if I wanted to see it and thought maybe he buys bags of M and M’s and puts them in a jar, since he likes to joke around. To my surprise there was a substantial collection of toys, dispensers, coffee cups, stuffed M & M’s, etc. Somehow, sometime, somewhere someone bought him one and then people started bringing him more, I can’t figure out why. This was an eye opener until he showed me Missy’s Teddy bear collection. Now I knew what I was going to get Elliot…an M&M Tie…shh, I was thinking of getting Missy a mooning bear.

El…Someone gave the original M & M collectors dispenser back in 1989. I put him on a shelf in my recording studio, next to the pinball machine. The next year someone gave me the new collector’s dispenser. I put him next to the first one. The next time a holiday or my birthday came around somebody would add to the collection. All I had to do was to keep them full of candy and they kept on coming.

El…Missy’s teddy bears are another story. We have not had an accurate count since August, 2005, when my granddaughter Hannah stayed with us and logged the total in at 417 bears. There are at least 20 more as of this writing. When Hannah comes back we’ll know for sure.


Mel…Ellyid, I think you’re off on the count, you left a bear behind. We then entered the living room and there was this huge beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Missy is Jewish by injection but she still likes her family’s traditions. There were gifts under the tree, I looked up the chimney to see if Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Hanukkah Harry or Latke Larry got stuck, but the chimney was clear. Hmmm how do they do it? Did the Rabbi see the Tree?

Mel…There were people talking in each room one talking louder than the other; I felt at home. He then showed us the kitchen….my eyes popped out of my head as I noticed all the food on the counters…More food was present then I had at my wedding. Smoked turkey, roast turkey, lasagna, roast beef, cold cuts, rye bread, French bread, home made mustard and gravies,” bopitcha and halvah,” and then we noticed IT… a stainless steel refrigerator freezer, I’m sure it was a walk in, the biggest refrigerator freezer I’ve ever seen in a kitchen…it was the kitchen. It took up an entire eight foot wall. There was so much food on the counters there was no room to put down a glass. Of course Elliot’s first statement was “ you guys ready to eat?” Elliot, we didn’t know where to start.

El…Since I expected about 30 people I prepared for 100. Mel, you must have had a mighty small wedding, and my kitchen consists of much more than a refrigerator and a freezer.

Mel…Elliot, I meant my bris, but my memory fails me sometimes. Elliot then led us into the family room which was converted into a Dining room and there stood the table filled with exotic desserts and pies…we then entered the old porch area which was converted into a family room.

El…We call it a sunroom.

Mel…Who Ha…fancy, shmansy..o.k. sun room.

Now Elliot’s the only Jew I know who is good with his hands. I noticed how shiny the floors looked. I exclaimed to Elliot how much I liked his wooden floor… His response was he and Missy put it down themselves and it had 7 layers of polyurethane on it. Wow! We exited the house and sat at a table in the back yard, enjoying the day. Arlene came out with two dishes of food stacked to the top, a makhaya. Even my Mother who was very picky would enjoy this. As it started to get dark Elliot brought out three menorahs and called all the children outside. And so, we began to celebrate the first light of Chanukah, saying the barukhas , singing and giving Chanukah gelt to the children…What a wonderful day and a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays. Everyone should go there next year.

El..Whoah! My maximum is only about 60 people.

Mel…Elliot, knowing you, you’ll find a way…what do you think about a chopped liver statue of the Rebetzen or the Chazzan?...Ah, something to dream about.


Elliot and Missy are off to Dallas Texas, his brother in law passed away...condolences and safe travels my friend.

So from the both of us until next time….May the Schwartz be with you.

El and Mel