School News

We usually think influence moves in one direction: teachers teach and students follow. But every once in a while something different happens. A student becomes a teacher, and the direction of influence quietly shifts. Hear the incredible stories of LEC fourth grade teacher Mr. Yakov Zabryn and student Eldad Shay, who were each inspired to grow in their Yiddishkeit by their fellow students and teachers and now share it with others. Produced and directed by Rabbi Yakov GarfinkelCinematography by Dov …

Hundreds of happy students and supporters of Mesivta Lubavitch Miami gathered earlier this month to cut the ribbon on the yeshiva’s brand new, 3-acre, $10 million campus! Centrally located in Miami Gardens, just minutes away from Lubavitch Educational Center’s boys and girls schools, the new facility will provide much-needed space for the rapidly growing Mesivta to thrive.  “Our mesivta has seen tremendous growth since LEC first purchased the property five years ago,” says Rabbi Motti Schurder, menahel. “This year we …

The staff and students of Miami’s Lubavitch Educational Center welcomed Rishon Letziyon Rabbi David Yosef, Israel’s Sefardic Chief Rabbi, who made a special visit to the boys schools. “At this critical time for our brethren in Eretz Yisroel, we were honored to be joined by the Chief Rabbi as we davened and gave tzedakah in their merit,” says LEC Head of School Rabbi Benjy Korf.  Accompanied by Rabbi Yossi Zavdi and Rabbi Mendy Cass of LEC, Rabbi Chay Amar of …

To the thwack of a bouncing ball and the cheers of hundreds of young students, a brand-new, high-end basketball court was inaugurated at Miami’s Lubavitch Educational Center boys schools! No more cracked concrete and just a couple of nets—the durable polypropylene flooring with crisp white demarcations and four sturdy hoops are getting kids on the court and adding a new dimension to their gym time. “This court will help our boys come back to the classroom energized and focused, ready …

When Rabbi Yisroel Arye Gootblatt’s father passed away earlier this year, the longtime mechanech at LEC wanted to do something special in his memory.  “My father, Mr. Leonard (Eliezer, or Lazer) Gootblatt, a”h, had a passion for music and used it as a powerful tool of connection,” says Rabbi Gootblatt. “He had a special way of being genuinely curious about others—especially young people.” Music. Youth. Rabbi Gootblatt knew just the thing. And so was born Lazer’s Music Lounge at Klurman …

Friday was supposed to be an ordinary day at Miami’s Lubavitch Educational Center for Yaakov Anderson. The usual davening, classes, and mac and cheese lunch. Why should it be any different? He knew his classmates wouldn’t have known that it had just been his birthday. They certainly wouldn’t have guessed it was his thirteenth, his bar mitzvah. Sure, it had been a special day for him personally, but without a grand bar mitzvah party to invite his friends to, he …

It was hard to tell who was more enthusiastic at the third annual Hachanasa L’Cheder – Arainfirnish ceremony at Miami’s Lubavitch Educational Center—the 47 boys, grinning as they licked honey off their Alef-Beis charts, their beaming fathers on whose laps they were sitting, or their mothers and grandparents glowing with nachas as they took in the adorable scene. “My son didn’t stop smiling the entire time,” says Mrs. Mindy Wolff, whose 4-year-old son Gavi participated. “It was just so beautiful.” …

Florida Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds visited Lubavitch Educational Center on Monday and met with fifty rabbis, community activists, and representatives of the South Florida Jewish community and its local Jewish schools.  The congressman was joined by his wife, Erika Donalds, who works for the US Secretary of Education, Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, and community activist Barbara Feingold. “As the largest Jewish school in the US outside New York, Congressman Donalds’s visit here is a powerful affirmation of …

Saul Dreier never got to finish his education in Krakow, Poland before the Nazis dragged him off to concentration camps. The sole survivor of his family, he rebuilt his life in Florida and even founded the Holocaust Survivor Band. But his Jewish education remained cut short. Saul’s stolen youth can never be returned. But a few years ago, the students of Miami’s Lubavitch Educational Center gave him a little back when they bestowed upon him the title of Honorary Student …