Deceased Information

• DECEASED

  Rabbi Arnold Goodman

  HaRav Aharon Moshe ben Aryeh Leib V’Chana

• AGE

  94

• DATE OF DEATH

  Tuesday, February 28, 2023 (Before Sunset)

• DATE OF FUNERAL

  Tuesday, February 28, 2023

• TIME OF FUNERAL

• PLACE OF FUNERAL

  Israel

• PLACE OF BURIAL

  Eretz Hachaim, Jerusalem, Israel

• SHIVA INFORMATION

  Shiva will take place at the home of

  Judy and Daniel Goodman

  
  

  Shiva gatherings will be held as follows:

  Friday, March 3 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

  
  

  Saturday, March 4: After Mincha/Ma'ariv until 9:30 p.m.

  
  

  Sunday, March 5: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon and 2:00-4:00 p.m., and 6:15 to 9:30 p.m. Minyan at 6:15 p.m

• DONATIONS

  • ❖ Jewish Theological Seminary

  • ❖ Any Jewish educational organization of your choice

• OBITUARY

  On the seventh of Adar, February 28, at the age of 94 and a half, Rabbi Arnold Goodman passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by the love of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Our father lived a life of infinite blessing and goodness.

   

  An only child, he became the ancestor of many descendants. He was the beloved husband of Rae Parnes Goodman in a love affair that lasted 70 years. He was the wise, loving father to Ari and Ciporit, Daniel and Judy, Shira and Wes; the incredibly beloved Saba (to his American grandchildren) and Grampa (to his Israeli grandchildren) to Yehuda, David and Amirit, Netanel and Laureen, Renana, Yeshayahu and Adi, Chani and Eilon, Sarah, Joseph and Sara, Hannah and Ari, Nat and Davide, Sam, and Jordana; the loving Saba Raba to his great grandchildren Yarden, Ophir, Orot, Kedem, Caleb, Pnina, Lex, Rachel and Tamar. Our father taught that if you have made it with your own family, you have made it in life; it does not matter what else you do or do not accomplish. He made it.

   

  Deeply traditional himself, for his fifty years in the American rabbinate, his mission was to create a big tent where all could participate in the Jewish project with equal dignity. He was an early, leading voice for egalitarianism, empowering women to daven, teach, chant Torah and Haftarah, and count in the minyan, before it was commonplace.  He supported LGBTQ plus years before the acronym had been created. At the age of 94, he flew to Italy to perform his first same sex marriage for his grandchildren.

   

  Our father was deeply convicted, with an incredibly strong core. One year at a family seder he observed that if he were living at the time of the Exodus, and had to leave right away, and could only take one thing with him, the one thing he would take would be his tallit and tefillin, because he could not start his day without davening. And yet, he was deeply nonjudgmental. He loved every person in his life unconditionally on their terms.

   

  The consummate family man, he served congregations in Chicago, Minneapolis and Atlanta.  He managed to be there for everybody else’s families in the best of times, the worst of times, and all times, while always being there for his own family.

   

  Somehow, while focused on the welfare of his congregational families, and his own family, he was also a leader of the Conservative movement. For decades he served the Rabbinical Assembly, which he dearly loved, becoming President. He served on the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. He was the author of The Plain Pine Box which inspired families across North America to bury their loved ones consistent with traditional Jewish practice.

   

  He lived in and loved two homes and two homelands. He loved America and spent his first 74 years in service of a more perfect union. He loved Israel and spent his last 20 years savoring the miracle that after the vulnerability of Jewish history, a reborn people lived in its reborn homeland. It was the capstone of his remarkable life that he spent his last two decades participating in that rebirth.

   

  Our father used to say decisions are not right or wrong. They are made right. He made his life a thing of truth and beauty for which his many descendants are eternally grateful.  We have the infinite blessing, and responsibility, of being his living legacy.