Howard Goodman, the new president of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, learned to invest big in the Jewish community from his grandmother Minnie.
When Israel was newly born, Minnie mortgaged all of the family-owned business property in Racine, Wis., and sent the cash to the Jewish state.
“My grandmother almost took the clothes off her back for Israel,” said Goodman, 61, a Danville resident. And she didn’t even tell her son she was doing it.
“My father [who ran the family business] thought he had adequate headroom to take out a mortgage,” Goodman said. “But when he tried, he found out the cupboard was bare.”
Described as a physically dominating woman with a thick Ukrainian accent, Minnie was a person who let nothing get in the way of her giving tzedakah, Goodman said.
“She understood, without anyone having to stress to her, the absolutely life-and-death struggle Israel was confronted with. In a way it was thoughtless, though it was truly heroic.”
Goodman hopes to emulate his grandmother’s passion in his new position. He took over in July, succeeding Jerry Yanowitz
“I may not have the same intensity she had, but I have a sense of the mission she had and would like to carry it out,” said Goodman, who is married with two children. He was already retired from insurance and finances businesses, before accepting his new post.
Having previously served at the federation as campaign co-chair, treasurer and vice president, Goodman now has the chance to take the reins and lead the federation into uncharted territory.
He wants to start big — by kicking off the beginning of a large campus to consolidate Oakland and Berkeley Jewish resources.
Goodman said the federation is planning to purchase a site in the Berkeley-Oakland area that will house much of the area’s Jewish organizations.
“It will be a mega-step to consolidate all of the agencies we serve,” he said. “Instead of having the Berkeley Richmond JCC and Jewish Family and Children’s Services in downtown Berkeley, and the Jewish Community Relations Council at federation headquarters [in Oakland], we’d consolidate all of them and others into a single campus.”
The project is just in its early stages. However, Goodman forecast it might come to fruition within five to 10 years. The federation has a site it is considering, but Goodman would not say where.
Many of the Jewish facilities no longer in use will either be sold or vacated, he said. However, not all current offices will be closed. Some current facilities would be kept as “satellite campuses to serve needs that can’t be consolidated,” Goodman said.
While acknowledging that the design for the project “is embryonic,” Goodman added, “it’s an idea that’s time has come. I don’t think it serves us as well as it can to have agencies dispersed. There are synergies that can be attained through consolidation.”
In addition to orchestrating the proposed campus, Goodman also wants to focus on improving the programming at the East Bay Jewish community centers and trying to raise more funds for the federation, especially from major donors.