Touching Gift to Bas Mitzvah Girl

By COLlive reporter

Preparations for the Bas Mitzva celebration for Chaya Boyarsky, daughter of the Shluchim in Ottawa, Canada, had one thing clear from the onset: There would be no classmates table.

Although Chaya is a very popular girl with many friends with whom she socializes each day, her parents Rabbi Chaim and Yocheved Boyarsky thought that not a single one would attend her special celebration.

The reason being that Chaya is a 6th-grade student in the Nigri International Shluchim Online School, the virtual educational institution established by the Shluchim Office back in 2005.

Chaya Boyarsky is one of the school’s 900 students, but with classmates spanning the width and breadth of the continent, she is physically far from her friends.

Or so she thought.

Three Online School classmates, Rochel Goldman (Florida), Shaina Pelman (Guatemala) and Mirel Rubashkin (Florida) decided to give Chaya a priceless Bas Mitzva gift; to celebrate together with friends.

The three classmates planned a trip with all the details and hopped on a plane in time for the party.

It was such a beautiful experience, it was true friendship shining brightly,” Rabbi Boyarski commented. “The girls arrived on Thursday and spent five days together with us,” he said, “bonding and strengthening their friendship.”

Over Shabbos, they had the opportunity to hear from each other about their life as Shluchim and the challenges they face. Sunday was the actual Bas Mitzva celebration and the rest of the time they had a chance to visit the city, see a museum and just have a great time.

On Monday, it was time to say goodbye and the scene at the airport was quite an emotional one. The girls embraced each other with teary eyes and pledged to keep the connection ever stronger.

They left behind a very grateful family and a girl who would remember her Bas Mitzva day very differently than most others her age.

“I owe the Online School a massive thank you for all they have done for my children,” the father said. “This just serves to strengthen my great appreciation for all they do, they have brought the children a Koch in so many areas and raised them to a high level. My thanks is beyond words.”

Rabbi Gedalya Shemtov, Executive Director of The Shluchim Office, was ecstatic when he learned of Chaya’s special Bas Mitzvah. “We are witnessing the fulfillment of the Rebbe’s Brochos with a real sense of Chassidim Ein Mishpocho,” he said.

Although some people were initially skeptical and wondered what kind of friends these children would have, “Time has shown that with hard work and dedicated staff we can give these children more than just an excellent education; we can give them real friends.”

The Online School may very well be a virtual classroom, but the friendships are very real indeed.