For years, Morty Goldberg spent his Saturdays golfing. But when his wife died, he regularly began attending Saturday morning services so that he could say kaddish for her.
Once the period had passed, the ritual chair asked Morty if he
would like an aliyah the following Saturday. Morty said he’d be honored.
But when folding up his tallis after the service, he realized if he was going
to have an aliyah, he really should have his tallis cleaned.
So on his way to work Monday morning, he figured he’d stop at Cohen’s
Dry Cleaning and drop off the tallis. He pulls into the parking lot and
proceeds to blanche when he sees the sign on the door: Achmed’s Dry
Cleaning.
He goes in and asks the owner, “What happened to Cohen?”
“Sir,” said Achmed, “Mr. Cohen has retired. I spent many years working
for him, and I bought out his business. And I am proud to say that many
of his best customers still use my services.”
Morty shows him that tallis and asks if he can have it clean by Fridy.
“Friday is my sabbath,” explained Achmed. “But I can have it ready
for you Thursday.”
Even better, Morty thinks, so he leaves the tallis with Achmed.
Thursday he comes to pick it up, and sure enough, it’s ready and
hanging on a hanger in side a protective plastic overcover. “How
much do I owe you?” he asks.
“$49.95 plus tax,” Achmed answers.
“$49.95!” screams Morty. “Cohen never charged me more than
five bucks to clean my tallis.”
“Yes, Mr. Goldberg,” said Achmed, “but Mr. Cohen never got all
the knots out…”