Bench Press

There are many reasons I like the block our family has lived on for many years.

I like the people. I like its central location within our neighborhood. And, I like that we have a yeshivah gedolah as our neighbor. The Torah and tefillah emanating from it gives our block the zechus of partaking in two of the world’s supporting pillars. And with one of our neighbors running an active chesed operation out of their home, we end up with all three.

There are also the smaller things that endear the block to me, like the fact that there’s no parking anytime on one side, especially since it’s a pretty well-trafficked street.

And then there’s the bench.

I’d call it a park bench, except it’s not in a park. For years now, our neighbors in the corner home at one end of our block have had this bench on their property, built by their then-teenage son Eli in a woodworking workshop at his yeshivah. Although it’s not public property per se, it’s there for anyone and everyone to use, our neighbors’ gift to the block, and the neighborhood.