In the video just posted on the famed German-Jewish painter of the 19th century, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, we focused on some of the themes in his works. There is a lot of juxtaposing the ancient with the modern; apt for the 19th century. In the blog post here by a Lit. Professor at Touro, we read of some of these themes in the Shabbos-Ruhe depiction of a lazy Shabbos afternoon.

How lucky we were in Washington Heights to have a park to sit in on long Shabbos afternoons, and all we had to do was climb a mountain to get there!

Recently on a FB group of Yekkes around the world someone wrote, “From its location (at 155th Street and Riverside Drive) this may be what a long gone friend of my parents wittily called the “Kölner Bank.” But he wasn’t referring to a Bank of Cologne. He meant it was the park bench favored by the immigrants from there.” Riverside drive was the Shabbos-Ruhe for many German Jews in the southern region of the neighborhood once.

Enjoy this nice recording from an old choir practice once here