I just saw that you had passed I did not know I could say you were a wonderful boss and a great friend I am so sorry to see this love you forever

Jennifer Carvatta

Faithful pursuer of justice, your memory remains among us as a blessing.

Dear Abbey,
 My sincere condolences on the loss of your brother.  May you and your family cherish the fondest of memories forever.

Warmly,  Ellen Glass

Eli and I were JLC Directors concurrently, I was in Philadelphia. I remember him fondly and his tireless dedication to worker rights. Didn't know the story about organizing his own employees, but I'm not surprised.  

Deepest sympathy to Eli's family and friends, may his memory be a blessing.



Dear Abbey, 

I send my condolences to you and your family. Eli was one of a kind who makes life interesting. I respected him for what he stood for and all that he did in life. May his memory be a blessing. 

Regards,
Jesse Greenberg 

Maria and I offer our condolences to Abbey and all her family, on the passing of Eli.  My memories are of very raucous Break the Fast and Passover gatherings at 1716 Washington, and I smile.  May the celebration of Eli's life now and in the years to come be filled with memories of events which make all Eli's many friends, fellow workers, and most of all his family,  smile,  over and over.
Jim Rome and Maria Pisarra

Dear Abbey and family, 
My deepest condolences on the loss of Abbey's brother Eli. May his memory be for a blessing.  I feel fortunate I got to sit next to him at the Break the  Fast and will remember his sweetness.
Judy Mandel

This is one of Eli's favorite pictures with Abbey at my bar mitzvah in November 1957.  Whenever he visited me he wanted to see it


This was Eli's favorite photo  with Abbey in November 1957 at my Bar mitzvah.  

Eli worked for the Jewish Labor Committee for nearly two decades.  He had an abiding concern for workers in Chicago, and across the United States.  Years earlier, he started Cape Shoes, back in 1999.  Angelica Santomauro, Director of the American Labor Museum / Botto House, related that Eli organized his own workers into a union and doubled or tripled their pay. The company’s 70 employees manufactured shoes and boots using only materials made in the United States. The museum, In Haledon, NJ, presented Eli with its Sol Stetin Award in 2005, which was when we first met.   

During his time with the Jewish Labor Committee, Eli walked the walk on picket lines with Hyatt hotel workers, Agriprocessors meat processing workers, University of Illinois educators, Wal-Mart workers, and others.  He represented the JLC at meetings of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. I had the good fortune to participate in a number of conferences with Eli, from a Jewish Social Justice Roundtable Network Assembly in Reiserstown, MD, to an Interfaith Worker Justice National Conference in Chicago, and worked with him during a convention of the American Federation of Teachers, also in Chicago.  

Every year, Eli reached out to rabbis in Illinois, encouraging them to speak about the rights of workers.   And last year, he worked to let people in Illinois know about the Workers Rights Amendment to the state constitution, and its significance.  He organized educational events for Chicago public school teachers at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and personally helped fund these programs. 

Eli was deeply concerned about rising antisemitism, wherever it raised its ugly head.      

He will be missed. 

May his family and all who knew him be comforted by memories and love, and may they know no more sorrow.

Arieh Lebowitz
Executive Director
Jewish Labor Committee

Mike Perry
Chair
Chicago Jewish Labor Committee


I met Eli several times on JLC worker justice-related projects. He was truly devoted to the cause, and I am so sad to hear of this loss. I regret that I cannot be there on Tuesday, but I shall remember him fondly and with deep respect. Y'hi zikhrono varukh.
-Rabbi Larry Edwards

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Eli Fishman

22 novembre 1949 – 13 janvier 2023

Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home

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