Real Music & Real Estate . . .

Yiddishe Cup’s bandleader, Bert Stratton, is Klezmer Guy.
 

He knows about the band biz and – check this out – the real estate biz, too.
 

You may not care about the real estate biz. Hey, you may not care about the band biz. (See you.)
 

This is a blog with a gamy twist. It features tenants with snakes and skunks, and musicians with smoked fish in their pockets.
 

Stratton has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post.


 
 

TO LIFE, MARRIAGE AND WINE

by Bert Stratton

 
I had an op-ed, “To Life, Marriage and Wine,” in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. Here’s the essay:

I convinced my wife to go to synagogue, which is a hard sell. My come-on was the wine. The first Saturday of the month, our synagogue passes out free bottles of Israeli kosher wine to married couples celebrating anniversaries that month.

Two friends recently called to say they were separating from their spouses. I look for reinforcement for the institution of marriage wherever I can find it. Alice and I stood on the bimah (altar) with eight other couples while congregants sang along to “Siman Tov and Mazel Tov” (good luck and congratulations). Rabbi Joshua Skoff announced the winner in the anniversary derby, a couple celebrating 55 years of matrimony.

Everybody read from the supplementary prayer booklet: “These couples have come to the synagogue to give thanks for the institution of marriage and for their mutual love and devotion.”

Bert and Alice, Oct. 22, 1978. Columbus, Ohio

One married man had a gray ponytail. There was an accountant in a suit and an obstetrician in a red pantsuit. The Torah portion was from Genesis. The rabbi noted that because Adam and Eve sinned, we are all going to die, which makes things interesting because if we lived forever we’d never get around to doing anything: “Why would you diet if you can put it off for 500 years?”

Our marriage-boosting interlude ended with: “May it be God’s will that these married couples continue to live to a ripe old age together in happiness, lightening each other’s burdens, and reaping a harvest of joy from the seeds of love they have sown in the hearts of their family.”

To life. And free wine.

8 comments

1 Hal Samberg { 10.22.25 at 12:21 am }

Bert, how much does the WSJ pay you for a piece like that? Gotta be at least $200, right?

2 Mark Schilling { 10.22.25 at 9:12 am }

As I posted elsewhere, congrats and Mazel Tov from the guy who still has his Best Man tee.

3 Ken Goldberg { 10.22.25 at 9:16 am }

Kosher wine, too.

4 David Korn { 10.22.25 at 10:49 am }

Great picture –of great folks, too! I was there, and it was a blast.

5 marc { 10.22.25 at 2:05 pm }

September was 51 years for me. But no free wine.

6 Goldberg Kenneth { 10.22.25 at 2:55 pm }

Marc – ‘Gotta belong to Park Synagogue and show up….

7 Dan K { 10.22.25 at 9:17 pm }

Mazal tov Bert & Alice!! Sue & I just celebrated our 19th anniversary today, the same date as yours. I recall when we bumped into you one shabbes morn at Park [1 or 2 years ago], when wedding anniversaries were being noted & blessed. Wishing you both continued health & adventures together! Hopefully one of your eynikhlakh will provide you with your own family klezmer fiddler! — best, dan k

8 Ken Goldberg { 10.23.25 at 1:48 pm }

Bert – A SUIT!

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