64 | SEPTEMBER 19 • 2019

Soul
of blessed memory

ALAN MUSKOVITZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
L

eslie Michael Goldstein
of West Bloomfield,
Detroit/Midwest
director of development for
Israel’
s Bar-Ilan University
(BIU) for 36 years until his
retirement in 2014, passed
away at his home Sept. 6,
2019, at age 71. Goldstein
had valiantly and quietly
battled cancer over the last
six years.
Goldstein was born
in Detroit to Alfred and
Elizabeth Goldstein. He was
a graduate of Berkley High
School and graduated from
University of Michigan in
1970.
Goldstein spent his junior
year at Hebrew University
in Jerusalem, where he fell
in love with the State of
Israel. He made aliyah in the
summer of 1970 and began
studies at BIU.
His love for Israel also led
him to the love of his life,
Dora (Harrar), his bride for
46 years. The two met in
1972 while they worked at
a social welfare agency near
Haifa. They married 13
months later.
After completing his
studies, Goldstein served a
year in the Israel Defense
Forces. Les and Dora
returned to Detroit in 1976,
where they would raise their
family and where Bar-Ilan
would impact Goldstein’
s life
even further.
“As fate would have it,
Bar-Ilan was soon looking
for a new Detroit director
— Goldstein got the job
and hasn’
t looked back,”
according to a JN article
honoring Goldstein when
he retired. (“Mr. Bar-Ilan,”

Sept. 25, 2014)
He would go on to raise
millions of dollars over the
course of his career and
took great pride that Detroit
was the first to achieve a $1
million campaign for BIU.
“When you start with Babe
Ruth and Lou Gehrig, it’
s
not hard to produce that,”
he quipped in the JN story,
referring to the “heavy
hitters who have supported
the institution,” including
the Stollman, Nusbaum,
Grosberg, Kanat and
Zekelman families, to name
a few.
Goldstein’
s family
marveled that, even
after his retirement, he
continued to maintain
personal relationships
with all the Bar-Ilan staff
and contributors. It was
commonplace for him to
attend their communal
events, shivahs and simchahs
because, while he loved
his work, he loved the
relationships even more.
“Les was a dedicated
Jewish communal
professional whose love of
Israel and Jewish education
blended seamlessly as the
daily face for Bar-Ilan
University in Detroit and
much of the Midwest,” said
Jewish News Publisher and
Executive Editor Arthur
Horwitz.
“Les Goldstein’
s decades
of service assure his name
will share an enduring
connection with Bar-Ilan,
now one of Israel’
s leading
universities.”
Goldstein maintained
a low profile about his
health battles. “He never

complained or wanted to
be pitied,” said wife, Dora.
Mark, one of Goldstein’
s two
younger brothers, added:
“He always deflected the
conversation about how
he was doing to how you
were doing.” That carried
over to his two adoring
granddaughters, Sophia
Goldstein and Sylvie Lang,
for whom, even during his
biggest health challenges,
Saba Les always had time for
extra bedtime stories.
In his remarks at the
funeral, brother Paul
underscored Goldstein’
s love
of family. “He could never
seem to get enough of us. In
the end, we were all he ever
wanted and all he ever asked
for from life.”
Added son Dan Goldstein,
“He was home for dinner
every night after work, no
matter how busy he was.
And he was always at the
breakfast table before school
the next day, trying to make
conversation, even if we just
grunted in return. I don’
t
know of another father who
simply loved being Dad as
much as ours.”
Daughter Michelle Lang
described how her father’
s
tireless generosity for
community impacted her.
“At a young age, I would tag
along to volunteer at Jewish
Federation phonathons, at
the Yad Ezra food bank,
and in preparing meals for
the homeless on Christmas
Day. I did something
similar last Christmas at
home in Washington, D.C.,
and I felt close to my dad,
remembering how we used
to do it together.”

There will be a huge
void at Congregation B’
nai
Moshe during the High
Holidays, where Goldstein,
an accomplished Torah
reader, was given the honor
of reading the parshah every
Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. “One of the last
things he said to me,” said
Dora, “was he wouldn’
t be
able to read Torah anymore.”
Goldstein was the beloved
husband of Dora Goldstein;
dear father of Dan (Lisa)
Goldstein and Michelle
Lang; beloved brother of
Paul (Helene) Goldstein and
Mark Goldstein (Kiko Yago);
and loving grandfather of
Sophia Goldstein and Sylvie
Lang.
Contributions in
Goldstein’
s memory may be
sent to the American Cancer
Society, Congregation
B’
nai Moshe or Bar-Ilan
University.
Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel. Interment was at
Adat Shalom Memorial Park
in Livonia.

Goldstein

Les Goldstein’s Love of Family,
Community, Israel