Yechiel Eckstein

Yechiel Eckstein was born in 1951 in Ottawa

Eckstein was born in 1951 and grew up in Ottawa, Canada. His father, Rabbi Simon Eckstein, served as a community rabbi there. At 13 he went to New York to study at the high school of Yeshiva University.

He later studied at the Kerem B'Yavneh yeshiva and was ordained as a rabbi at Yeshiva University, where he also earned bachelor's and master's degrees. He received a doctorate in philosophy of religion from Columbia University and taught there.

He worked for the Anti-Defamation League on relations between religions. In 1976 he organized the first Evangelical and Jewish conference, and in 1977 he was sent to Chicago to gather Christian support against a neo-Nazi march in Skokie. He later taught at the Chicago Theological Seminary and the Northern Baptist Seminary.

In 1983 he founded the fellowship, which helps needy Jews, supports immigration to Israel and aids poor soldiers. Its growth came from Evangelical Christian donors, and his ties to them made him controversial among some Jews. He also recorded music as a Hasidic singer and hosted a Spanish radio program.

He became an Israeli citizen in 2002 and lived in Jerusalem with his second wife, Joelle. He died of cardiac arrest in 2019 and was buried in Beit Shemesh. His daughter Yael Eckstein then became head of the fellowship.