She might be your boss, your sheitelmacher, or your daughter’s teacher. At mega-family reunions people are meeting acquaintances they never knew were part of their mishpachah.
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hen a barber in Lakewood recently attended a mega-family reunion to meet distant relatives, he realized that he recognized quite a few faces. “I probably give haircuts to half the people here,” he remarked. Before they were customers, now they were cousins. “I hope they don’t all start asking for a family discount,” he joked.
Whether it’s a large-scale family reunion for 150 or 650, attendees have been surprised to meet people they never knew were part of their greater mishpachah. Teachers have bumped into students, employees have encountered bosses or coworkers, yungeleit have run into chavrusas. Some people have been introduced to a cousin or two (or three or four or more) with the exact same name. At the Schwimmer family affair, for instance, there were swarms of young Haddasahs and Esther Malkas, all named for their joint great-grandmother.
Despite the spread of generations at these events, family is family. “When everyone gets together,” says Fally Klein of the Schwimmer family, “there are certain characteristics that keep on cropping up. We all laugh at each other, ‘you’re such a Schwimmer.’$$$seperatequote$$$”
If you’ve ever planned a reunion for just your immediate family, you know how difficult it can be. Finding a date that works for everyone can take weeks, even months. Where will the reunion take place? In what city? In whose home or in what kind of venue? What food should be served (taking into account allergies, doctor-prescribed diets, and different kashrus stringencies)? What special events should be scheduled? Where will everyone stay? How will everyone get there? How do you split the costs, especially when some relatives are better off than others?
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