Meet the Members!

Interviewed by Rebecca Mayerhoff

Torat Emet:  tell us about yourself- your job, where you’re from and your child(ren) (and pets!)
The Eckmanns: We just moved here after living in Wynnewood, PA, a Philadelphia suburb for the last 23 years. We’re both originally from Riverside, CA. We lived in Chicago, where our 3 sons were born, before moving to Wynnewood. The boys are all married. Josh and his family live in Brooklyn. Uri and his family live in Bergenfield, NJ. Many people here know our middle son Yoni and his wife Michal. Yoni is rather tall and enjoys basketball, even coaching the CTA boy’s team. As empty nesters we look forward to having our 4 grandchildren visit us from the East Coast. Our 20 year old cat and our Great Dane keep the household active. We’re both engineers by training, but Lisa left engineering long ago to run a charity in Philadelphia. David was recruited to OSU to be the director of its new Center for Medical and Engineering Innovation. He’s an anesthesiologist and a biomedical engineer.

TE:  what attracted you to the Main Street synagogue?  What do you love about this community? 
The Eckmanns: We had been here before for Shabbos and Rosh Hashanah. We found the community to be warm and engaging. The Synagogue is a beautiful place for davening and we felt like we were at home right away.

TE:  what are your interests and hobbies? You can also tell us your favorite books, movies or music. 
The Eckmanns: Lisa enjoys reading, learning Chumash with her Philly chevrusas of 20 years, cooking, and Zumba. David is a vocalist and cellist who enjoys almost all types of music, especially nusach and chazzanus. He also is an amateur photographer, an aging softball enthusiast and a single malt Scotch aficionado. We both like doing jigsaw puzzles, travel, grandkids and a good wine.
 
TE: Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know
The Eckmanns: Lisa is an expert organizer. David is an Eagle Scout (so are all three of our sons).
 
TE: Your favorite Graeter's ice cream flavor :)
The Eckmanns: Lisa loves the Raspberry Chocolate Chip. David is secretly planning to get locked in Graeter’s overnight to figure it out.
 
TE: If you have a favorite quote you would like to express or thoughts to share with the community, please include that here. 
The Eckmanns: David: "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years."--Mark Twain.