Joel Fleishman, a scholar and mentor to philanthropists whose impact extended to various areas of Jewish life — from making Torah accessible in several languages to serving as a “pioneer and visionary” for Jewish students at Duke University for more than five decades —  died on Monday. He was 90.  

“Joel Fleishman was the most humble person I have ever met,” Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz, president of ArtScroll and Mesorah Heritage Foundation, told eJewishPhilanthropy. Thirty-five years ago, when Mesorah Publications faced a financial setback, Fleishman stepped in and founded the board of trustees of the Mesorah Heritage Foundation, Zlotowitz said.    

“It’s because of him that Torah learning is accessible to Jews of all backgrounds across the world. Not only did he come up with the idea [for Mesorah Heritage Foundation], but he made sure to get the right people to set it up and he saw it through, staying on the board as a main trustee,” Zlotowitz said. 

The press has since published hundreds of Torah translations in Hebrew, English, French, Spanish and Russian “all because of Joel’s vision,” he continued. 

A lifelong North Carolinian, originally from Fayetteville, Fleishman served as a faculty member at Duke University for more than 53 years, where he was a professor of law and public policy. 

“Joel Fleishman was a remarkable leader, person and scholar who played a prominent role in Duke University’s growth and development,” Duke University President Vincent Price said in a statement. “For more than half a century, Joel was a valued colleague, mentor and friend to thousands of members of the Duke community. As we mourn his passing, we also honor his profound impact here at Duke and far beyond.”

Fleishman’s Duke legacy extended beyond the classroom, and was especially prevalent at the university’s Chabad, which in 2021 was renamed the Fleishman House, in honor of Fleishman’s efforts to host Jewish students during the holidays and Shabbat dinners.

“Joel was a pioneer and visionary for Jewish students and faculty at Duke for over 50 years,” Rabbi Nossen Felig, who leads Duke Chabad, told eJP. “His wisdom, charisma, love and deep commitment to strengthening Judaism at Duke impacted generations of Jewish Blue Devils.  Thousands of people considered him their mentor, confidante and friend.” 

“He was the vision and inspiration behind the Fleishman House — a vibrant home for hundreds  of Jewish students, providing a Jewish home away from home for them,” Felig said, recalling that Fleishman would work “tirelessly” to ensure that the highest standard of kosher food would be available to accommodate Jewish students. 

“His indefatigable efforts bore incredible results,” Felig said, pointing to the Yalla kosher food truck, which serves hundreds of kosher meals on campus each day.  

For Fleishman’s 90th birthday last April, his namesake center surprised him by dedicating a Torah in his honor.

Education was a central aspect of Fleishman’s life — he held three degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: an A.B. in history; an M.A. in drama and a J.D.; and a master of laws degree from Yale University. Shaping the next generation of Jewish minds was especially important to Fleishman who was a founding trustee of the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, N.C., and served as trustee of Brandeis University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and the American Friends of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

He was a founding board member of the Partnership for Public Service, whose president and CEO, Max Stier, credited Fleishman’s “energy, enthusiasm and leadership” with creating “a lasting foundation for our organization’s success.”

Fleishman was also a former chairman of the visiting committee of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and chairman of the board of trustees of the Urban Institute; additionally, Fleishman was a member of the board of directors of the Ralph Lauren Corporation.

Yossi Prager, the executive director for North America of The AVI CHAI Foundation, told eJP that he looked to Fleishman as “a leading, if not the leading, scholar of the American charitable foundation.”

“He was also a successful foundation president and a mentor to many foundation professionals,” Prager said, noting that Fleishman’s report on the AVI CHAI Foundation “contained recommendations that became our map to AVI CHAI’s successful final decade.” 

“In the process, Joel and I became good friends, which puts me among maybe a thousand others to whom Joel was dedicated with abundant generosity.” 

Prager continued: “An observant Jew, Fleishman both studied and embodied Torah, and wore his Judaism with great pride. Even at 90, he was wise beyond his years.” 

Another of Fleishman’s mentees was Sophia Chitlik Abram, a Durham-based philanthropist who founded The Narrow Bridge Fund together with her husband. Chitlik Abram recalled that while dating her now-husband, she knew he was “the right guy” when he introduced her to Fleishman, whom he met through his father. 

“I was introduced to Joel in the concept essentially of family,” Chitlik Abram said. After moving to North Carolina, they became “closer and closer” through Shabbat meals consisting of “brisket and brainstorming sessions of philanthropy,” she remembered. 

“I came from the nonprofit world and we had so much in common. When I started as a young philanthropist, Joel was the only person over age 45 to take me seriously. He took me seriously from the moment that he met me.” 

“Every challenge or idea I brought to him, his response was always ‘yes, and’ long before that became the cool thing,” Chitlik Abram told eJP. “He taught me and coached me but always took me seriously.”  

Her favorite brainstorming sessions with Fleishman came years later, though. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, just six months after her son, Oren, was born, Chitlik Abram noticed that Fleishman was having some mobility challenges. “It was clear to me that he needed to be walking more,” she said.

Eager to leave the house once it was declared safe to do so, Chitlik Abram would put on a mask, put Oren in his stroller and the three would go on weekly walks — which ended up continuing for two and a half years, even as Oren learned to walk on his own. 

“Joel called it fast walking. There was nothing fast about it,” she laughed.  

“We’d talk about philanthropy seminars he was organizing at Duke, his meetings for the week, what was happening in Israel or in U.S. politics. That weekly walk was a mentoring session. I have those walks, and the wisdom and knowledge that came with them, stored up in me.”