metro
'Mr. Bar-Ilan'
Les Goldstein retires after 36 meaningful years raising
money for Israeli university with Detroit roots.
I
Don Cohen
Contributing Writer
L
"...to transform and
unite the entire Jewish
community of Detroit
through its mothers."
The Jewish Women's Renaissance
Project is partnering with Aish
Detroit to give Detroit mothers the
opportunity to reconnect in Israel.
IT'S LIKE A BIRTHRIGHT FOR MOMS.
41.
If you are a mom
with kids under 18
JOIN 100 DETROIT MOMS
December 8-17 for our
free - trip to Israel
CONTACT LISA KNOLL
Iisak@aish.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION
OR APPLY AT
www.jwrp.org
lgl
OUR
MISSION
AISH Detroit welcomes
all families, regardless of
membership or affiliation
to create a revolution of Jewish life.
By providing exciting experiences
for the Holidays, meaningful life
cycle celebrations, and Torah study
opportunities in a non-judgmental
environment we enable families to
translate Jewish learning
into Jewish living which
6
strengthens the Jewish
identity of the home and
De troit
builds community.
sh
you to The Farber Foundation
and the JFMD for their support.
32
September 25 • 2014
es Goldstein didn't realize it at
the time (How could he have?)
but taking Hebrew as his foreign
language at the University of Michigan
in the mid-1960s would be a fateful
decision that would greatly impact his
personal and professional life.
Goldstein, 66, who retires at the end
of September after raising tens of mil-
lions of dollars during his 36 years rep-
resenting Israel's Bar-Ilan University in
Michigan, speaks wistfully about it.
"When I registered at the University
of Michigan I had to take four semesters
of language," he recalls. "I had a semes-
ter of French behind me and could
either take three more or change to
something else. I chose Hebrew. It was a
very life-changing decision:'
The year was 1967, and Goldstein
remembers "the feeling of doom as
Israel's Arab neighbors bellicosely
massed on its borders, and then, all of
a sudden, six days later we are sitting in
Jerusalem. It was a very exciting time."
Following the June 1967 war,
Goldstein spent a year at Hebrew
University in Jerusalem and, after grad-
uating from the University of Michigan,
he returned to Israel in 1972 to pursue
a master's degree in psychology at Bar-
Ilan University (BIU), based in Ramat
Gan, east of Tel Aviv.
On the BIU campus, he discovered
the Borman Plaza, dedicated by Mr. and
Mrs. Abraham Borman.
"My first real job was as a stock boy at
Farmer Jack, which was then Food Fair,"
Goldstein says, explaining that he knew
the Bormans were the founders and
owners of the grocery store. He didn't
know the first dollars raised for Bar-Ilan
outside of Israel were raised in Detroit,
and that Detroit leaders spearheaded
efforts to create Israel's first Modern
Orthodox university in 1955.
"Detroit names dominated the whole
campus," Goldstein recalls. "It was like I
was at Dexter-Davison," the supermar-
ket at 10 Mile Road and Coolidge in the
heart of Oak Park's Jewish community.
"I was quite surprised, and a little
bit proud, to see a cluster of important
names," he says, rattling off other names
like Stollman, Nusbaum, Grosberg and
Kanat. "Only later did I find out the his-
tory of it:'
Not only did he become well
acquainted with Bar-Ilan from 1972–
1975, but, in 1972, he met Dora Harrar
and they got married in Haifa in 1973,
right before the October Yom Kippur
War.
After his studies, he served a year in
the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) before
bringing his bride to Detroit in 1976.
Fate Intervenes Again
As fate would have it, Bar-Ilan was
soon looking for a new Detroit direc-
tor; Goldstein got the job and hasn't
looked back. Each year, his region,
which included Cleveland and Chicago,
raised millions of dollars for BIU. He
says Detroit was the first city to reach
a million-dollar campaign, but "when
you start with Babe Ruth and Lou
Gehrig, it's not hard to produce that," he
quipped, referring to the heavy hitters
who have supported the institution.
Today, a third-generation of
Detroiters continues to provide leader-
ship and financial support with Detroit
philanthropist and businessman Alan
Zekelman of Bloomfield Hills, recently
elected as chairman of the board of
overseers of the American Friends of
Bar-Ilan.
Zekelman didn't need any prompting
to share his high regard for Goldstein.
"He was 'Mr. Bar-Ilan,- Zekelman
says. "His tenure was without precedent
as the university went from a small,
focused institution to one that covers
the entire breadth of the educational
spectrum and Israeli population. He had
to change as the university has changed.
It's hard to stay fresh over 36 years, but
he did it.
"Les was devoted, tireless and tena-
cious in promoting Bar-Ilan," he con-
tinues. "Whenever staff would come to
Detroit, they knew he would keep them
running with back-to-back meetings. He
would find his way around any obstacle
that arose, always in an appropriate,
polite and inventive manner:'
Goldstein says the two highlights of
his career have been supporting Bar-
Ilan and Israel, and being able to do it
with the caliber of people he has worked
with.
"It's been an outstanding experience
to be able to work actively at an impor-
tant Israeli institution," he says. "Other
than arms, Israel's higher education
institutions are one of its most impor-
tant assets. I've met a great number of
terrific people whom I respect both per-
sonally and professionally.
"And, when you close a major gift,
Les Goldstein
you feel great," he adds.
With Goldstein retiring, the Detroit
office is ending a two-year phase-out
that transfers responsibility to the
Chicago office.
At the same time, Goldstein is phas-
ing in his retirement. Though he says he
wants to be "completely retired" for six
months, he has plans.
He has already begun volunteering at
Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills,
helping the kids with their Hebrew.
"I enjoy it very much; the kids are
very, very bright and most of them are
angels," he says. He and Dora are travel-
ing to the Eastern Mediterranean in the
fall, which will take them to Israel where
he says he is looking forward to being "a
generic tourist:'
He wants to take classes with
the Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education, and to continue sharing what
he knows about Judaism, Jewish society
and Israel with non-Jewish audiences.
And he will continue to read Torah at
Congregation B'nai Moshe, which he has
been doing since 1981.
Of major importance is to visit with
family — "both of the kinder on the
East Coast," he says of their children and
grandchildren.
Clearing out his office has made him
a bit nostalgic.
"I'm cleaning up and I'm saying 'I was
involved in that' or 'too bad that didn't
develop,- he says.
"It's a little difficult to judge yourself,
but I know I've made a positive contri-
bution to things I care deeply about. It's
been 36 years very well spent:'
❑