Before I start, I want to thank Jordan Kaufman for helping workshop this speech.

So Arella, if any parts of

the speech are over the line, you know who to talk to .

You know, it’s really an honor to be speaking here at such a momentous occasion in Eric’s life. I’ve
known Eric since we were three years old. I remember him crawling on all fours, sipping from a bottle,
and putting foreign objects in his mouth. But enough about the bachelor party.

As one of Eric’s oldest friends, It’s really fantastic to see that he’s found someone who makes him as
happy as Tali. In fact, I kind of had an inkling that Tali was a keeper. You see, I visited Eric and Tali in
December of 2020 when we were both in Miami on vacation. Eric and Tali were staying with a couple of
her siblings at her parents’ place at the Fountainbleau. Eric was raving about Tali and naturally, I was
curious about how she stacked up versus the other girls he had told me about over the years. One thing
that clearly set her apart from these other girls was that Tali de nitely, certainly, 100% existed. This struck
me as a good sign. Above and beyond that, I realized I had never seen Eric so comfortable around a girl
like he seemed to be with Tali that weekend, no matter what kind of strenuous activity they were doing.
Eric, whether you were sleeping on a beach chair, hanging out in the hot tub, or eating room service on
your bed, you always seemed so comfortable, so at ease… with Tali. I could tell right then and there that
your relationship was truly something special.

You know, when we were younger, Eric and I were different in many respects. For one thing, Eric always
had a knack for sports. He excelled at tennis, golf and basketball, whether on HAFTR’s sports teams or at
summer camp. As my friends know all too well, I had no such luck. There were other important
differences. I was a goody-too-shoes, never skirting with trouble or disobeying orders. Eric had a more
casual relationship with the rules. But we were also similar, in one crucial way: Eric and I were de nitely
the two most hot-tempered kids in all of HAFTR. I have vivid memories of a 5th grade Eric bullying the
3rd graders by the basketball courts at recess, screaming “get off our courts! 5th graders only!” And on a
more personal note, I can remember a few big ghts we had at school or at play-dates, although this, too,
strengthened our friendship in the end; I like to think we developed a grudging respect for each other, like
Rocky and Ivan Drago. But Eric, as fun as ghting with each other was back then, I am a bit relieved we
don’t ght anymore; I didn’t win any of them back then, and I don’t think I would win any now.
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 Now, as he grew up, Eric always found interesting and novel ways to differentiate himself from his peers.
Eric, as a December birthday, was the last member of our grade to lein his Bar Mitzvah parshah, but the
rst one to do it with an obviously fake Israeli accent. It may also shock you to know that Eric was a
budding environmentalist and conservationist when he was a teen. He was always saying things like “my
dad is just gonna throw away that Glenlivet! We may as well use it” and “the Sephardi Minyan is just
gonna throw away that Glen dditch! We may as well use it” and even “the upstairs Minyan is just gonna
throw away their Black Label! We may as well use it”. Eric was truly committed to the cause, it was
beautiful to see.

Eric has always been con dent, sometimes to a fault. I remember, one summer I think after our freshman
year of college, Eric asked me to go with him to a party in the city one Saturday night. Sounds like fun, I
thought, but there was one problem: how were we going to get back to the Five Towns once the trains
stopped running regularly? Without a hint of irony or doubt, Eric casually responded that he was sure to
meet girls at the party, and he could smooth talk them into letting us stay at their place. I still don’t know
why I took this claim at face value, and I de nitely won’t go into the details of Eric’s execution of said
plan, but suf ce it to say that the 3AM train to Lawrence that night had two very unhappy passengers.

One other unique thing about Eric is his cringeworthy overuse of nance jargon in normal conversation.
For example, after the engagement, I remember asking Eric when the wedding would be, to which he
responded “sometime in Q1 2023”. Eric, I appreciate your restraint in not referring to the wedding as “the
IPO” or, God help us, “the merger”. You and Tali have a shared interest in business and, no doubt, that
drew you two closer. That being said, I have to point out that there must be slight differences in your daily
experiences as businesspeople. I imagine the two of you at at home, working from two different rooms.
Tali is in one room, calmly presenting an impeccable pitch deck or proposal to a board over Zoom. Eric,
meanwhile, is in the other room, drenched in sweat, screaming on a conference call with Zach Neugut and
Daron Greenblatt about a $50 bet on the Knicks game, and incorrectly using terms like “variance” and
“martingale” for no reason. But hey, marriage is all about embracing each other’s differences.

In all seriousness though, this is going to be my only chance to publicly praise you so I want to take a
second to do that. Eric, You’re a loyal friend, always a fun person to be around, and you bring a passion to
everything you do. I have no doubt that these traits will serve you well in your marriage. And as great of a
person as you are, I think you’ll agree you got lucky nabbing Tali. She’s smart, kind, and a caring person
who always puts others rst. Despite all of her success in life, she is so humble and down to earth.
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Watching you and her hang out at home or host Shabbat dinners together truly makes me so happy for
you both. I treasure our random phone conversations, our time with the Beth Shalom crew, both at
Kiddish club and upstate, even your chronic case of VIBS. Wishing you all the best, Mazel Tov.