Grants Announced at Miami Dinner

It was an evening of honoring the present and building for the future as Friends of Lubavitch of Florida/Lubavitch Educational Center celebrated 52 years in the State of Florida and the establishment of 153 Torah centers throughout the state.

More than 500 people gathered in the beautifully decorated Treetop Ballroom at Parrot Jungle Park in Miami as the community paid tribute to the evening’s honorees—Grand Founders Mr. Dovi Lesches and Mr. and Mrs. Chaim and Rochel Schochet, new Founders Mr. and Mrs. Adam and Jaclyn Bergman and Mr. and Mrs. Reuven and Aviva Lansburgh, and “Educator of the Year,” Rabbi Yakov Garfinkel.

Rabbi Benjy Korf, the evening’s emcee and executive director of Lubavitch Educational Center, introduced the dinner’s theme—“Returning with Joy,” as the school honored alumni who, in different capacities, have returned with joy and enthusiasm to support the institution that educated them.

After an elegant and elaborate buffet the guests were welcomed by Mr. Haim Wiener, who, together with his wife Gila, have been long-time supporters of Friends of Lubavitch of Florida. Rabbi Nochum Schapiro, a Lubavitch Educational Center alumnus who is now a member of the Klurman Mesivta teaching staff, honored the gathering with a beautiful d’var Torah. A video presentation of Lubavitch Educational Center and a brief introduction to the program honorees followed.

The festiveness of the evening was elevated by two great musical performances—the first by the Marcus brothers of the musical group “8th Day,” both of whom are LEC alumni, and the second was by LEC’s very own boys’ choir. Under the direction of alumnus and 4th grade Elementary School teacher Rabbi Yakov Garfinkel, the choir is a tradition at the annual dinner. Reuniting with the choir for a special song together was the winner of last year’s “Jewish Star” competition and former Elementary School student, Yisroel Amar.

Rabbi Abraham Korf, Regional Director of Chabad of Florida, welcomed each of the honorees and, along with Rabbi Benjy Korf, presented them with their plaques and awards. One of the new Grand Founders, Mr. Dovi Lesches, whose association with Lubavitch Educational Center is through his time spent learning in the school’s Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College, announced his intent to continue with the very generous scholarship program that he sponsored this year for qualifying students. In this gesture of gratitude to the Yeshiva, Mr. Lesches also pays tribute to his grandparents, staunch supporters of higher education, by establishing the fund in their memory. The Moshe and Chana Leah Fund will serve those students who would otherwise not have the means to attend the Rabbnical College.

Following the awards Rabbi Benjy Korf made a special announcement of a generous endowment to the General Studies department of LEC by Mr. and Mrs. David and Eda Schottenstein. In the conviction that the Rebbe’s school should not just be good, but should be great, and not only in Hebrew studies, but in general studies as well, the Schottensteins have graciously declared their intent to sponsor the latest in technology by outfitting each classroom with interactive SMART Boards. Furthermore, the Schottensteins agreed to invest in professional curriculum development, assessment and mapping, which will begin this summer. The investment will revolutionize the general studies program at LEC, placing it on a path to become an educational institution that offers the best in all areas.

This comes at a time that the school has embarked on a journey to achieve national accreditation, a project which is headed by Rabbi Aaron Balkany, curriculum consultant for Klurman High School.

As Rabbi Benjy Korf declared at the dinner, “We look forward to a bright future and give much thanks to David and Eda Schottenstein. Unfortunately they could not be present this evening, but their donation—well, well in excess of $100,000—will serve as an even greater merit for David’s grandparents, Leon and Jean Schottenstein, whose names already adorn the Lubavitch Educational Center building.”

The community was profoundly heartened and inspired by the desire of its alumni—Mr. Chaim Schochet, Mr. Dovi Lesches, Rabbi Yakov Garfinkel, Rabbi Nochum Schapiro, and Yossi and Shmueli Marcus—to “return with joy” to the educational institution, strengthening it for today’s and tomorrow’s generation of committed Jews.