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Hallmark hasn’t approached the market of the Jewish Valentine’s Day of Tu B’Av as of yet. No hearts and xoxo cards or even a Hallmark channel Saturday night movie about the day of love that follows a fast day, in that peculiar order. Did you even attempt to bring home a dozen long-stem red roses with a box of chocolates? Okay, you are forgiven for this go around, but for next year, let’s explore this day of “amore” a little bit more.

Having grown up in Kew Gardens Hills, my summers were planned around weekend getaways to “the mountains.” Before Vacation Village and other summer communities there was a magical place called the Borsht Belt. Dancing in the Pink Elephant Lounge, golfing on the Monster, laughing with Jackie Mason, or ordering 10 side dishes with your two mains were celebrated activities within the area known as the Catskills. If you have ever participated in Simon Says or collected a fistful of photo visors, you know exactly what I’m referring to.

The Concord Hotel was Grossingers’ more glamorous younger sister. It was designed by the renowned architect Morris Lapidus, primarily known for his Neo-baroque “Miami Modern” hotels such as Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau and Eden Roc. His work has since come to define that era’s (‘50s and ‘60s) resort-style hotel. Nestled in Kiamesha Lake, New York, the Concord was the largest resort in the region. The resort encompassed over 2,000 acres with approximately 1,500 guest rooms and a 3,000-seat dining room. It was more lavish in decor and activities than any other Catskills hotel during that time.

At the Sunday family barbecue, I was complaining that my whole body ached from the intense Pilates class I took that morning. My husband’s older son, a Torah scholar and law student, quickly commented that Pilates sounds a lot like the beds of Sodom. Frankly, I had no idea what he was talking about while he quoted the source in the Gemara, but anyone who takes real Pilates knows that the “reformer” bed-like apparatus is very serious on the body – with the sole function of stretching, toning, and strengthening the body with straps, coils, bars, and balls.

The excitement around Grossinger’s was the idea that you could be in a glamorous hotel adorned with photos of famous guests such as Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Onassis, President John F. Kennedy, and Joan Rivers while dining on flanken with a side of chopped liver and another side of kishka. The beautiful resort was the ideal world where you were able to ski, golf, and swim without compromising your religious practices. While eating lox and bagels at the Sunday breakfast extravaganza you were assured that the mashgiach was watching the food preparations in the massive kitchen.

The A-list celebrity jeweler Lorraine Schwartz designed the ayin hara tennis bracelet with perfectly matched diamonds and blue sapphires to display in the windows of The Palace Hotel in St. Moritz and Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Her pieces can be seen on the wrists of Blake Lively, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Heidi Klum, and Madonna. Outside of the Middle Eastern countries, evil-eye jewelry has been quite fashionable for at least 20 years. The Kabbalah Centers sell these types of spiritual adornments, including the famous “red string,” to their thousands of followers. One can’t go to the Kotel (Western Wall) without being approached by numerous merchants who want to entice your spiritual awareness with special red strings. I googled “evil eye jewelry” and explored the hundreds of sites selling everything from amulets to ankle bracelets, toe rings to diamond rings, all boasting a metaphysical meaning to their making. The evil eye crosses over every religion and offers an overall protection against negative energy. The red string is a personal boundary that keeps the positive forces in and the opposite out! Personally, I do remember the delightful store on Main Street in Kew Gardens Hills called PEREG. Tucked away between the scented spice barrels, assorted dried couscous mixes, and etrog jelly there was a mysterious shelf of evil remedies such as preserved fish eyes and other “Shakespearian” ingredients. This reminded me of the witch’s potion from childhood fables.