No, we’re not flying somewhere in case you were wondering about that headline for this article. What we’re doing is taking off from publishing next week during chol ha’moed, both in New York as well as in South Florida.
From my perspective, I’m ambivalent about taking time off during the two weeks a year of chol ha’moed. You see, editing and publishing a newspaper, even a weekly, has a certain cadence and rhythm to it that makes it difficult to hit the brakes and come to a full stop.
My issue is that a publication of this magnitude cannot be accomplished without our staff, and the people who play an integral role in putting this paper out each week are not keen on working during the intermediate days of the chag. The fact of the matter is, when yom tov falls out the way it does this year, giving us almost a full week of chol ha’moed (aside from Monday), we could have gone to press on pretty much a regular schedule.
But there are several factors that weigh on me against the idea of publishing on chol ha’moed. Aside from the matter that the staff wants a break, there is also the issue of our readership being on the move and out of their usual routine to the point that our regular readers will be out of sync and possibly in locations where the paper is not even available.
And that means, with a trifecta like a three-day yom tov, any papers that are left over will most likely be ruined one way or another and have to be disposed of either during or right after yom tov.
You may know that my father was a writer and you may have noticed that he had a rather long essay that began on the front page of last week’s issue. That article was translated by Rabbi Yehuda Altein. There is also a woman in Boro Park who I met many years ago who expertly translates his articles from Yiddish into English.
My dad was also in the advertising business, and while it’s been a long time (he passed away 35 years ago), his real bread and butter came from selling ads to his clients and not necessarily from writing articles.
Of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but as it turns out, we kind of work along the same parameters. Our advertisers are key to the success of this equation. But back in the last century, during my father’s newspaper heyday, making a living in this type of business was quite different than it is today.
Another important dichotomy between then and now is the concept of working remotely, which didn’t really exist. You were either in the office doing your job or you were out, taking time off.
Today, more than half a century later, I am fond of saying that I don’t go to work anymore, but work seems to follow me wherever I go. In other words, when I carry my cell phone, my work follows me incessantly.
I don’t recall my dad ever taking time off from work on chol ha’moed. And I think this might have been the reason. My dad knew that people who were hard to reach during the regular week would most likely be home on chol ha’moed, so that was the best time to reach them. This is not really an issue today as just about everyone walks around with their cell phone either in their pocket or hanging on their belt. Back then, people had to improvise their response to unwanted calls. Today, there are a myriad of ways to avoid taking someone’s call, which is both a positive and a negative.
Back then, I remember my dad putting on his hat and winter coat with a scarf wrapped around his neck, and walking to a nearby train station to take the subway to the city where his office was located for many years. It was during those snowstorms that he would attempt to call his hard-to-reach clients who would be stuck at home and hopefully answer the phone. That was his plan and his system must have worked like a charm because I have memories of him heading to the office during snow days time and time again.
I’m satisfied with our current routine and I’m fairly certain everyone involved in the publication process feels a certain void in their professional lives during these chol ha’moed breaks, but I hope everyone enjoys the yom tov and the time off with their families.
I’m not sure about David, Sam, and Arthur, who show up at the printing plant every Thursday morning between 3 and 4 a.m. to load up the Ute trucks and begin distributing the paper to our hundreds of drop-off points. Tzvi and his team in South Florida have the papers delivered to a location in Miami at about 6 a.m., where they begin to fan out in multiple directions between Miami Beach and as far north as West Palm Beach.
This week, we are delivering about 2,000 copies of our Pesach issue to Orlando, as we have already done for quite a few years. Another important member of our team is Gabe, who does a special delivery for us at this time of year. Gabe will be delivering this issue to about a dozen hotels with Pesach programs here in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area of the Northeast.
Before the arrival of Shabbos leading into Pesach, Gabe will also make a run to hotels and other communities in the Catskills where people have set themselves up for yom tov.
Let me just add that every Thursday morning before 4 a.m., I get a text message from David that usually says, “Paper ready.” Before I even put my glasses on to read the message, I can see if there are more than two words on my WhatsApp screen, which usually means there is some kind of delay in the process. We have a great team at our print house, led by Alan and Kevin, that prioritizes getting the 5TJT out on the streets or wherever you’re going to be for Pesach nice and early.
As you can see, it’s an unusually large issue this week. That’s a tribute to our advertisers who love this paper and to our staff who make it all happen. But most of all, we salute you, our readers, for the way you always tell us how much you look forward to the next issue of the 5TJT.
Chag kasher v’sameach.
Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
