14 | DECEMBER 12 • 2024 J
N

A

n old issue of the Jewish News holds 
a special spot in the hearts of one 
Chicago couple. It’s not a particular 
article or wedding or death announcement that’s 
so sentimental; it’s a Cap & Gown issue, with one 
then-unknown graduate circled.
Harry Ellman, who at the time wanted his then 
26-year-old son Jeff Ellman to marry someone 
Jewish, turned to a memorable picture in the 
Jewish News. One grad’s accomplishments and 
Jewish background particularly appealed to him. 
“You should marry someone like this,” Harry 
famously said as he circled the picture of the 
random girl, Elyse Fleischman.
“My parents were keen on me marrying a Jewish 
girl to raise a family with … and they were spot 
on; they nailed it!” Jeff laughed.
Five years after that Cap and Gown issue, that’s 
exactly whom Jeff did marry!
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves … Actually, 
Jeff and Elyse had already met. God had set the 
wheels in motion years earlier.
In 2000, Jeff had visited Israel — for the first 
and only time so far. When he visited the Western 
Wall, he prayed to one day meet and marry a great 
Jewish girl. The next day, he climbed Masada 

and saw a friend who was a counselor on a team 
mission, leading a bunch of girls.
One of those girls was Elyse, who would years 
later become his wife. Talk about a prayer being 
answered — even if it didn’t come to fruition for 
another decade.
“I literally met the girl who’d become my wife 
the very next day after I put my prayer on a note 
and placed it in the Western Wall,” Jeff marveled. 
“If I could rewind my life and look at that moment 
… it’s crazy!”
Eight years later, the time was right. Elyse had 
also moved to Chicago; they were set up by a 
mutual friend, Jeremey Dunn. Jeff wasn’t interested 
at first. He thought Elyse was too young for him, 
but Jeremey insisted.
“She’s very mature for 22, is someone you will 
like a lot and she loves sports …” 
Of course, Jeremey was right.
Nine months later, the couple flew to Aruba, 
and to the backdrop of a picturesque sunset on the 
beach, Jeff proposed.
“Our story is about how two people are meant 
to be together; it’s crazy how many things we had 
in common … It’s amazing,” said Jeff. “We’d traced 
similar paths in life, kept crossing paths, but were 

always in different stages.” 
Jeff and Elyse had even attended the same camp 
as teens, Camp Walden, but he’d taught basketball 
and she was a camper so they didn’t know each 
other. 
In 2009, the couple married in the Ritz-Carlton 
Dearborn, now The Henry.
Jeff’s an entrepreneur; he started his first college 
recruiting company in Detroit and now owns two 
software companies in Chicago, UrbanBound 
and Hireology. Elyse attended Michigan and is a 
sales director at a litigation software technology 
company.
Today the couple have three sons — Brody, 11, 
Connor, 9, and Brooks, 2 — and reside in Chicago 
although with two sets of grand and great-
grandparents scattered in the West Bloomfield and 
Bloomfield Hills area, they have reason to visit 
Michigan often.
“My parents still laugh about how we got 
together,” Jeff shared. “My dad takes credit for 
setting us up even though he really didn’t — he 
just circled a picture in the Jewish News!” 

If you’d like to share your ‘meet-cute’ story, email 

burstynwithjoy@hotmail.com.

L TO R: Elyse Fleischman and Jeff Ellman when dating. The Ellman family: Jeff and Elyse and their three sons: Brody, Brooks and Connor. Elyse and Jeff on their wedding day.
Circled Photo from JN’s Cap & Gown

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY
HOW WE MET

