Louis Hirsch and Son, the place that I have known all my life as the portal through which the members of our congregation pass on their way to the next world, has indeed itself passed on. This ancient institution which was referred to phonetically as "heershoonzone" (accent on the first syllable) by everyone I knew, is going out of business as of September 22.
The property has been sold to a developer. I don't know the details, but it's obvious that it's worth more than what can be earned from conducting funerals. And this in a bombed out section of the Bronx like Jerome Avenue and 167th Street. In all the years of the neighborhood's downward spiral, despite the proximity of Yankee Stadium and still marvelous apartment buildings lining Jerome Avenue with their 1920's art deco style, I have not known it to improve by even one iota.
A source close to the current owners of the funeral parlor told me, maybe 15 years ago, that the revenues they earned in January of any year, covered all the expenses of the subsequent 11 months. This same source now told me that there was no money in the funeral business, and in fact, averred that just recently he had been there and that there was not even one corpse in their morgue. How far they have fallen. There used to be a full complement of bodies lying around anytime we came to be there.
The day before Hirsch and Sons was scheduled to close, unfortunately, we attended a funeral there for the mother of a dear friend. The woman had been quite old and out of her social orbit for a long time so the funeral was not very well attended. I remember other funerals where a second chapel had to be opened to accommodate a large throng that overflowed even the second chapel. I recalled the groups of people waiting at the corners of 181st Street for the bus to take them to the funeral home and the busses arriving directly in front of it to disgorge a crowd of eager mourners.
These four walls evoked many memories of our departed relatives and friends whose final leave-taking took place here. I couldn't help but speculate on the finality represented by this funeral.
May it truly be the last funeral.
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3 comments:
Great post.
But you know, when they closed the old Yankee Stadium, people were able to purchase their favorite seats to keep their memories alive.
Maybe you should ask for a pew or two from Hirsch & Sons. There's certainly nothing from the taharo room that you'd want to take home......
As a Kohein, can I get my standing spot. Memories of freezing cold mornings listening to a scratchy speaker come to me
very touching, pater
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