Eric Jay Schechtman

Eric Jay Schechtman, 68, of Silver Spring, MD and Beachwood, Ohio passed away in Bethesda, MD just before 1 AM on May 17, 2025. He was the first of three children of Allan and Judy Schechtman, both of blessed memories. From the beginning, Eric was a child of particular sensitivity and precision who quickly learned to love Judaism, particularly at the knee of his beloved grandfather, David Schechtman, in the sanctuary of his synagogue imbued with the divine music of Cantor Saul Meisels, under the firm exactitude of Torah teacher Reverend Ben Cantor, the warm, wry guidance of Rabbi Milton Rube, and at the table of his mother.

Eric grew up in Cleveland Heights and attended Cleveland Heights High School. He remembered throughout his life the teachers who required rigor. He relished and retained his Jewish education and became an accomplished Torah reader and mentor. Once in college at Ohio State University, a cousin directed him to the College of Engineering. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. From there, he built a 45-year career as a software engineer for the Department of the Navy. His expertise, precision, and clarity won and kept the respect of his colleagues, and he traveled far, wide, and long to plan and oversee the programs he supported.

After four years in California, he moved to D.C. in 1985, where he became an integral member of a local shul and of an egalitarian minyan. In 1987, he met the love of his life, Shira, at a Jewish singles convention in Virginia Beach. Shira was completing a residency in Psychiatry in Richmond Virginia; upon completion, the couple wed in June 1989 and Shira joined Eric in Silver Spring. This began a life of many adventures traveling through Europe, Asia, Israel, and North America, all the while keeping ties with Cleveland. He saw his parents with regularity. Every year Eric returned to Cleveland to read Torah at Congregation Bethaynu, the synagogue founded by Rabbi Rube.

In 2020, Eric re-discovered B’nai Jeshurun when his parents both died during the Covid Pandemic, and he needed a synagogue to make the necessary daily prayers for them. Eric and Shira made a second home in Cleveland. Eric was known as a quiet, steady, modest man who helped fully and readily. In his retirement he served as an election judge in Silver Spring, as Zoom coordinator at B’nai Jeshurun and as co-president of the BJ Men’s Club.

Eric leaves behind his spouse of almost 36 years, Dr. Shira Rubinstein, his brother Paul (Pamela) Schechtman, his sister Susan (Scott) Cohen, nephews Benjamin and Jeremy Cohen, Aunts Gloria (John deceased) Shafran and Alberta (Joseph-deceased) Schechtman, first cousins, colleagues, and many friends of two synagogues, B’nai Jeshurun in Pepper Pike and Tifereth Israel in Washington, D.C.

May his memory be for a blessing.

Funeral Service will be Wednesday May 21, 2025 at 2pm, Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel 1985 S. Taylor Rd, Cleveland Hts., OH 44118, followed by a graveside service at Mt Olive Cemetery, 27855 Aurora Rd, Solon, Oh 44139. To view this service, please scroll down to the Services Section and click on “JOIN LIVESTREAM”.

Shiva will be observed at the home of Paul and Pam Schechtman 733 E. Main St, Ravenna, OH 44266 following the funeral until 8pm, Thursday from 1-4 and 6-8, and Friday from 1-4.

In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: American Friends of Magen David Adam @www.afmda.org, Friends of the IDF @ www.fidf.org or Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation @ www.curemeso.org