Lani Serota and David Mayman

Dave and Lani met at a Break Fast at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in 1996. Both were raised in proudly Jewish and ardently Zionist families: Lani in the large and active Toronto Jewish community, Dave as the youngest son of the only Jewish family in Pinawa, Manitoba. At their second meeting, they shared their experiences on March of Living (1990 and 1992) and agreed they would send their children to Jewish day school. Innocent, young, Canadian medical students that they were, they had no idea they would one day live in New York City and that their daughter Sloane would attend Heschel for Pre-K. They were attracted to Heschel’s pluralistic approach to Jewish education and practice, the apples and honey artwork on the walls, and the general heimishe feeling in the old 89th St building. The Hogwarts-like mysterious double staircase was the icing on the Heschel cake. Their younger daughter Tanys started at Heschel in Kindergarten the year that Early Childhood moved to 30 West End Avenue. Heschel very quickly became more than just a school – the Serota-Maymans consider the community their NYC family.

Both alumni of the University of Western Ontario and Queen’s University Medical school, David studied orthopedic surgery and Lani family medicine/primary care. David then completed fellowships in Sports Medicine at Harvard University/MGH and Arthroplasty at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where is he now an attending Orthopedic Surgeon, Chief of the Surgical Arthritis Service, Allan Inglis Chair in Surgical Arthritis, and Pavilion 6 Fantasy Football League Champion 2019 and 2022. He is a member of the Hip and Knee Societies, industry consultant for instrument design and emerging health technologies, and active in research and education. In March 2020, David was named Chief Medical Officer of NYPH at HSS, as the orthopedic hospital pivoted to meet the needs of the city’s over-flowing general hospitals though the worst of the first wave. Lani completed fellowships in Women’s Health at Queen’s University and Osteoporosis/Metabolic Bone Disease at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Now on staff in the Department of Metabolic Bone Disease at HSS, her duties outside of her clinical practice include teaching physicians-to-be at every level of training, physician mentorship, research, and community outreach and education. Dave and Lani share an office and snack drawer at HSS.

Lani has enjoyed volunteering in numerous roles at Heschel: class parent, Heschelwear, PA secretary, hesed committee, benefit committee, Purim Pandemomium food vendor, Holocaust Commemoration Committee, Israel trip airport bus chaperone, Middle School Moving Up Ceremony party planning committee, High School buddy co-coordinator, guest lecturer at High School clubs, or anywhere a warm body is need or wanted. She also played Dina in the Aryot play to some acclaim. She was sworn in as an American citizen by Judge Jesse Furman during a 4th grade field trip. Since March 2020, along with his intrepid medical partner Dr. Lori Zbar, David has served on Heschel’s COVID Advisory Committee. This is David’s first year on the Board of Trustees. Their daughters will one day graduate from Heschel, but to Dave and Lani, Heschel is like The Hotel California, “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.”