Reunions
Continued from Page 15
said Taub, 64, who turned up Hollywood music producers, a
Metropolitan Opera singer, a blues fiddler and numerous pianists.

In June 2017, 85 members of Taub’s paternal Weisberg clan gath-
ered for Shabbat dinner at the Pearlstone Center, a Jewish retreat in
the countryside outside Baltimore. They were greeted by a print-
ed-out family tree that stretched 36 feet long, “like a Torah,” Taub
laughed. “People had fun pointing out where they were on the tree.”
Over the weekend that followed, the Weisbergs held an oral
history workshop, played three-generation softball, bonded over
yoga and art, and celebrated Havdalah on the lawn. On Saturday
evening, 20 musical relatives took turns entertaining each other in
a family musicale.

“It was a magical weekend,” recalled Taub, an entomologist
who led an insect workshop for the kids. To her relief, every-
one loved the itinerary. “It was just like camp, you know? Just
wholesome fun.”
By foregoing pool costs and a venue with alcohol, the clan kept
weekend costs under $300 per person. More importantly, Taub
noted, a stand-alone reunion allowed the kind of flexibility impos-
sible at more formal occasions. “When you do a Bar Mitzvah or
a wedding, you have to cut the guest list off somewhere, and it’s
painful,” she explained. “You do all the first cousins, or no first
cousins, and then once they all have children, it gets too big.”
In contrast, anyone could join the pay-your-way reunion.

“It didn’t matter if you were six months old or 90. A reunion is
everybody,” Taub said. “That’s the beauty of it.” ❤
Hilary Danailova is a freelancer writer.

16 OCTOBER 25, 2018
The Weisberg family makes music at the reunion.

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