14 Facts About Yechiel Eckstein

Yechiel Eckstein was an Israeli American rabbi who founded International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 1983 and led it for many years.

Yechiel Eckstein was awarded Hadassah's first Man of Distinction in 2010, and the Raoul Wallenberg Award in 2014.

Yechiel Eckstein was listed in the "Jerusalem Post's Top 50 Most Influential Jews" of 2014 and 2015.

In 1952, when he was just a year old, Yechiel Eckstein moved with his family to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as his father accepted a newly created rabbinic post as the Chief Rabbi of Ottawa, where he was raised, as his father oversaw four synagogues, two which eventually merged to form Congregation Beth Shalom.

Yechiel Eckstein was a graduate of Yeshiva University High School for Boys.

Yechiel Eckstein served as a faculty member at Columbia University, the Chicago Theological Seminary and the Northern Baptist Seminary.

When Yechiel Eckstein started the Fellowship, he had no salary, no medical benefits and a pregnant wife.

Yechiel Eckstein was one of the highest paid nonprofit leaders in the world, receiving a $824,000 salary in 2007.

Yechiel Eckstein was known for private donations to the Israeli military, through the US-American lobby group "Friends of the IDF".

Yechiel Eckstein held dual citizenship in the US and Israel, having become an Israeli citizen in 2002.

Yechiel Eckstein had three daughters with his first wife, Bonnie Siegman; the couple subsequently divorced.

Yechiel Eckstein was a member of Kol Salonika, The Y'DID Singers and The Rabbis' Sons.

Yechiel Eckstein died on February 6,2019, after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Yechiel Eckstein was listed in the "Jerusalem Post's Top 50 Most Influential Jews" of 2014 and 2015.