Menachem Goodman was descended from a long line of rabbis whose dearest goal was a personal and spiritual perfection they knew they would never reach. From the day of Menachem’s birth, his family planned that he too would become a rabbi, immersed in religious scholarship, ethical debates, and spiritual growth. But when Menachem was a young man in 1890, the “enlightenment” was overturning tradition in the Jewish villages of Eastern Europe. It was exhilarating to be freed from the obligation to attend meticulously to the religious commandments. Menachem also loved to read secular books, and he decided that becoming a rabbi was not in his essential nature.
Menachem then quit his yeshivah studies and immigrated to America. He worked many odd jobs in New York, along with other immigrants who couldn’t always pronounce Menachem and nicknamed him Good—which stuck. After some time, Good established himself in the dry-cleaning business. Good’s Dry Cleaners became known throughout several neighborhoods for the meticulousness with which stains were removed, rips were mended, and dresses, shirts, and pants were pressed.
Good married Liza, and they had five sons. Good’s dearest goal for all of his sons was for them to study in a university and earn a PhD. He imagined himself as the proud father of a PhD in History; a PhD in Literature; a PhD in Exotic Languages, and so on. But when his sons became young men, they were captivated by the entrepreneurial spirit in America. It was exhilarating for them to be freed from the confines of school, and they realized they could be successful without spending years attending meticulously to thousands of footnotes. They decided that PhDs were not for them. Instead, Good’s sons expanded Good’s Dry Cleaners into multiple neighborhoods in New York.
Although he wasn’t a rabbi, Good had a great deal of patience and an intuitive wisdom. Many people in the neighborhood, as well as his own extended family, flocked to him for advice on personal, business, and even spiritual matters. He was disappointed in his own sons so he could sympathize with anguished parents; he had struggled to establish his dry cleaning business, so he tried to help other immigrants with advice and whatever money he could spare.
As he aged, Good became physically weaker but still had enormous influence on his family, friends, and business associates. Even after he retired from the dry cleaning business, he took great pleasure in meticulously ironing his little granddaughter’s dresses so that the skirts stood out in the style of that time. Due to her grandfather’s efforts, her collars always lay perfectly flat.
Copyright © Leora Freedman 2016
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