A One of a Kind Graduation in Massachusetts

By COLlive reporter

If you were driving down Converse Street in Longmeadow, MA on June 16, 2020 an unusual sight would have met your eyes. A horse-drawn carriage transported each graduate of Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy (LYA) to their one-of-a-kind Graduation Ceremony. The families watched from their cars in the parking lot which was transformed into a graduation forum, stage and red carpet included.

LYA administration and staff wanted to ensure that the LYA Class of 2020 had a memorable and meaningful graduation after three months of distance learning. The school was determined to provide a special and positive ceremony that would be safe for all who attended according to the current CDC guidelines.

“We understood that the graduation would be outdoors and we decided to be creative to give our graduates a unique experience. The horse and carriage was our way of honoring our graduates in a very special way,” said the principal Rabbi Noach Kosofsky.

The horse and carriage, from Mainely Drafts Horse and Carriage in Ludlow, MA was sponsored by Ascher Zimmerman Funeral Home.

“We want our students to feel that they are special, and while we did not tell the graduates what was in store for them, they trusted us to come up with a graduation that they will always remember. Today is not the end, but a stepping stone for bigger and brighter educational opportunities and personal growth,” Kosofsky added.

The graduates received their diplomas, award certificates and the book Positivity Bias as a graduation gift.

Rabbi Kosofsky, who taught the graduates a weekly Parsha class during the school year drew comparisons to their graduation from the Torah portion of the week, Parshas Shelach.

“Just as the Jewish nation travelled the desert and made in inhabitable and civilized, by the same token, the graduates are prepared to create a civilized and G-dly environment wherever they may be in the years ahead and in their future. May you all have the ability to continue to make G-dly decisions based on the foundation of the excellent Judaic and secular education you received here at LYA.”

In keeping with the tradition of past LYA graduates, the class also presented LYA with a gift. “We felt it was very important to continue that tradition despite being physically apart,” said Riki Volovik, a graduate who traveled each day over an hour to attend school from the Berkshires.

“We also want this gift to reflect the message of LYA. Being that LYA is a Chabad school, it has taught us about the Rebbe and how he cared for every individual no matter where they lived.”

“We created a gift based on the Rebbe’s 10 Mitzvah Campaign, a collage with ten individual frames. Each frame represents another one of the mitzvos of the campaign.”

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Sima Stiefel of Longmeadow, MA was the recipient of the Rabbi Dovid Edelman Award. This award is presented to a student who exemplifies the mission of LYA that was modeled by Rabbi Dovid Edelman OBM all of his life through action and speech.

The award is sponsored by his wife, Mrs. Leah Edelman who was sent with her husband by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe to run the Springfield based school in 1950.

LYA congratulates the Graduating Class of 202: Menucha Rochel Kulek, Chana Meyer, Leah Viktoriia Plieva, Yakov Schmidt, Rochel Leah Schwartz, Sima Stiefel, Rivka Volovik, Rishi Wolvovsky and Tzvi Yaffe. “May you all continue to go from Strength to Strength and continue to make LYA and your families proud,” the school wished them.

LYA is located in Longmeadow, MA a three-hour ride from New York City. LYA just completed its 75th year of providing excellence in education in Western MA. LYA offers Jewish education for Early Childhood, Elementary and Middle School as well as Chabad Hebrew School and Hachai Teen Club. In addition, LYA offers a variety of opportunities for Adult Education and many community events.

For more, visit www.LYA.org