WATCH: Student Reunites With Teacher Who Changed Her Life

Alumni of Lubavitch Educational Center Salute Mrs. Shevi Sossonko

Raizy Gersh Iskowitz now lives in Israel, but she flew to her once-hometown of Miami, Florida just to say thank you to her former teacher.

“I joined Landow Yeshiva, now Lubavitch Educational Center, from public school at the end of 1995,” she remembers in a video shown at LEC’s Gala Dinner in February. Iskowitz says her home life was chaotic and unstable, her and her siblings ending up in various foster homes.

Raizy was struggling, but one teacher noticed and took action. Now the principal of the Girls Middle School, Mrs. Shevi Sossonko lent not just an ear and a heart but even offered her  home to the troubled girl. 

Now happily married and living a full life, Iskowitz returned to Miami to thank her teacher in an emotional surprise reunion at the LEC Dinner. 

“If it wasn’t for Morah Shevi, I don’t think I would be here today,” says Iskowitz. “She really saved my life.”

Produced by Rabbi Yakov Garfinkel
Video by Dov Gurewitz
Produced for the LEC Gala Dinner, February 25, 2025

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