After repeated requests to serve as Shabbos goy, Danny Woodruff started to wonder: Why not make a business out of it?
Former President Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence, Missouri, and lived next door to an Orthodox family, the Viners. Abe Viner and a young Harry Truman were good friends, and years later, Abe’s sister Sarah recalled Harry coming over to their home on Shabbos and carrying out chores that the Viners were restricted from.
(That Jewish connection may have been Truman’s first, but it certainly wasn’t his last — or most significant. Eddie Jacobson, a Jew originally from New York, was Harry Truman’s closest friend, having served together with him in the US Army before they opened a doomed haberdashery store together.
When Truman succeeded FDR as president of the United States, the Zionists mounted an intense campaign to get Truman to meet with Haim Weizmann, whom they were convinced would be able to persuade the president to recognize the State of Israel. When Truman grew irritated with the incessant pressure, he instructed his staff not to let any more Zionist lobbyists in. Despairing, the Zionists turned to Jacobson to prevail on his old pal. The President couldn’t refuse his friend and ended up meeting with Weizmann.)
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi waxed poetic about how she was introduced to the Israeli-American relationship, telling the audience at an AIPAC Conference that her father, former United States Representative Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., was a “Shabbat goy as a teenager,” though she didn’t divulge details regarding who had employed his services.
Create a free account to keep reading.
