Our Staff

Rabbi David Edelman, Dean ob"m

Rabbi Edelman was the leader of LYA since 1950. In addition to visiting people in the community, Rabbi Edelman visited the classroom sharing his life experiences with the students. He was truly an inspiration to us all. LYA is dedicated to continuing his mission since his passing in January 2015. May his memory be for a blessing.

Rabbi Noach Kosofsky, Director

Rabbi Kosofsky became a member of the LYA team in 1984. Rabbi Kosofsky received a B.A. in Religious Studies from Rabbinical College of America and an M.A. in Religious Studies from United Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY. Under his leadership LYA continues to grow.

E-mail: [email protected]

Stephanie Zolotor, Director of Education

Stephanie joined the LYA team in 2010. She received a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from UMass Amherst and Masters degree in Education from Smith College. Stephanie is the 2012 recipient of the Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. She is also the 2012 recipient of the National Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.  

Stephanie and her husband Andy are  the proud parents of three daughters: Jami and twins Alex and Casey. Her family loves spending time together and playing with their two dogs Maisy and Brady.  Stephanie loves walking, reading and being with her parents in Florida. She also is part of the Kehillah committee in the Special Needs Department of the Springfield JCC.

E-mail: szolotor@LYA.org 

Stephanie Windyka, Assistant Director of Education

Stephanie joined the LYA staff in the fall of 2013 after interning at LYA in the 2012-2013 school year. Stephanie joined the administrative team in summer of 2023. She holds a Bachelors Degree from Bay Path University.

I live in a quiet neighborhood in Palmer with my husband, two girls, and our two cats. We have a 3.5 year old and an almost 1 year old. In my free (and very rare) time, I love to curl up with a good book and read. 

email: [email protected]

Lilia Luzhanskiy , Early Childhood Director

Lilia joined the LYA team in August 2010. She received her degree in Early Childhood from Open University, Tel Aviv, Israel and the Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel. Lilia Luzhanskiy holds a degree of Associate in Arts from Springfield Technical Community College. 

Through my life, I lived in three different countries: Ukraine, Israel and US. I currently live in Longmeadow with my husband and two children. In my free time I enjoy reading, playing music, knitting and cooking. 

E-mail: lilia@LYA.org 

Esther Kosofsky grew up in Springfield MA and is the youngest child of Rabbi Dovid and Leah Edelman. She attended LYA as a child and is a graduate of Beth Rivkah Teachers Seminary, Brooklyn NY. She began working at school in 1984. Mrs. Kosofsky taught at LYA for over 15 years and received the Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Education in 1998. Esther Kosofsky is the author of The Secret of Carlos Romanus. She is currently the assistant to the administration and director of food services at LYA, and is very proud to be part of the LYA family.

Mrs. Kosofsky enjoys learning with teens and adults.  She is the wife of Rabbi Noach Kosofsky and loves spending time with her children and grandchildren.

E-mail: [email protected]

Office Staff

Kerith Collins, Bookkeeper

 Kerith Collins joined the LYA team in 2023 and brings with her 20+   years of office management experience, including payroll,   bookkeeping and human resources.

 I like to learn about Traditional Chinese Medicine and like finding  old and new studies involving alternative medicine.  I've   begun to trace my family history and like to grow things.

E-mail: [email protected]

Leah Arroyo. Assistant Bookkeeper

Leah Arroyo joined the LYA team in 2024. She holds a degree in math education from Humboldt State University.

I have two children who attend LYA pre-school and   they don't leave me much free time for hobbies, but I   enjoys baking whenever I have the time.
E-mail: [email protected]

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Judaic Staff

Yocheved Adelman, Kindergarten and First Grade Judaic

Yocheved has been a part of the LYA team since 1988. She received her Judaic teacher's certification from Bais Rivkah Teachers Seminary in New York, with an emphasis on Early Childhood and Elementary Education. In 1997, Yocheved was a recipient of the Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. Yocheved lectures nationally on Jewish topics.

I enjoy working with students at UMass to help enrich their Jewish experience on campus! I also love to read and to visit with my children and grandchildren around the world!

email: [email protected]

First Grade Judaic team

Chanie Cohen

Chanie Cohen joined the LYA team in 2007 teaching Hebrew School and began working in the Day School in 2020. She attended Chaya Mushka Seminary in Montreal, Canada where she earned a Teaching Certificate. Chanie Cohen is the Co-Director of Camp Gan Israel.

Spending quality time with my family is most important to me. I enjoy reading periodicals and playing all sorts of word games. 

Rabbi Mendel Barrocas, Middle School Judaic

Rabbi Barrocas joined the LYA team in 2024. He received rabbinical ordination at Rabbinical College of America and I taught at Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy since 2017.

I enjoy running youth programs and playing with my children.

Rabbi Chaim Kosofsky, Zekelman Standard Coordinator/Outreach

Rabbi Chaim has been on the LYA team since 1988.  He studied at yeshivas in Brookline, MA; Morristown, NJ; and New Haven, CT. He received his rabbinical ordination from United Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY.   Rabbi Chaim organizes community programs and makes pastoral visits to homes and offices.  He also teaches a class in Kabbala for adults and publishes a weekly Torah message.   Rabbi Chaim is the author of Much, Much, Better (Hachai, 2006).

I enjoy watching the neighborhood birds indulge themselves at my bird feeder.

Rabbi Lavy Kosofsky, Middle School Judaic

Rabbi Lavy Kosofsky joined the LYA team in the summer of 2014. He received rabbinical ordination from Central Lubavitch Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY. Rabbi Lavy teaches Talmud and Chumash and is the co-director of Ckids After School Programs, Young Jewish Professionals (YJP) and the Jewish Business Accelerator (JBA).

I enjoy spending time with my wife and four children. Some of my hobbies include hiking, biking, and writing.

email: [email protected]

Rochel Leah Kosofsky, Middle School Judaic

Rochel Leah has been a part of the LYA team since 1988. She received her Judaic teacher's certification from Bais Rivkah Teachers Seminary in New York, with an emphasis on Early Childhood and Elementary Education. She was a recipient of the 1997 and 2008 Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. Rochel Leah was a 2008 recipient of the National Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Since 1999 I have become passionate about Israel and taking my students to the Holy Land. When I am not in the classroom, I can be found fund-raising for this amazing experience.

email: [email protected]

Rabbi Raskin, Middle School Judaic

Rabbi Raskin joined the LYA team in 2023 and has studied in Yeshiva in USA, Israel and Russia. He received his Rabbinical ordination from the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown NJ. Rabbi Raskin and his wife Chaya are the Co-Directors of Chabad in Brattleboro, VT.

I enjoy meeting Jewish people in rural Vermont, and spending time with family.

email: [email protected]

  Mrs. Mushky  Ostrozynski, Second and Fourth Grade Judaic

Mushky joined the LYA team in 2021. Mushky taught in Chicago at a Reggio Emilia preschool and at the Chicago Cheder.

email: [email protected]

Rabbi Aizik Schwei, Third Grade Judaic

Rabbi Aizik Schwei joined the LYA team in 2021. He received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Dovid Shochet, the president of the Toronto rabbinical council and has completed an advanced course in Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Schwei began teaching in 2013. He teaches a college accredited online course to teens. Rabbi Schwei lives with his family in Norwich, Connecticut and is a Rabbi and Director of Chabad of Norwich and CTeen Eastern Connecticut. 

I grew up in a small town in England. Now live with my wife and four children in Norwich, CT. 

email: [email protected]

Rabbi Yakov Wolff, Adult Education and Outreach

Rabbi Wollf has been a part of the LYA team since 1996. He received his rabbinical ordination from United Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY. Rabbi Wolff is the 2002 recipient of the Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. He is also the 2002 recipient of the National Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Since the beginning of Covid I started learning the Talmud, studying one page a day and I look forward to it as the highlight of my day.  I love videoing my grandchildren and watching them play and talking to them.

email: [email protected]

Secular Studies Staff

Emily Snow, First & Fourth Grade Secular

Emily Snow joined the LYA Team in 2015. In 2020 she moved to South Korea and taught for two years. Emily retuned to LYA in 2025. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Evangel University in Missouri as well as a Master's Degree in English as a Second Language from Elms College in Chicopee. 

I enjoy hiking, reading and writing, and crocheting. I have two cats I got while in Korea that love to "help" me crochet. 

Patrica Jones, Middle School Math and Science

Mrs. Jones joined the LYA team in 2023. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts of Amherst Summa cum Laude as well as a Masters in Applied Mathematics from Worcester State University.

I like to read, and in the summer garden, go camping, swim, and sail.  I also love to visit with family including my grandchildren.

  Lane Futrell, Kindergarten and Second Grade Secular

Lane Futrell joined the LYA staff in the summer of 2015. Mrs. Futrell received her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA. Lane holds an educator's license in Early Childhood: Students with and without Disabilities. With her background in school-based occupational therapy, she is well versed in special education laws and implementation of student IEP's.

I enjoy learning and studying and seeing my students grow and create connections. I am an organized person and I like to write out plans and strategies for my students. In my spare time I attend and create plays. I like weight lifting and decorating and arranging things.

email: [email protected]

Rosaleen Lewis, Middle School Language Arts & History, and School Media Specialist

Rosaleen Lewis joined the LYA team in 2011. She received her B.S. from Springfield College in History/Education and is pursuing her Masters degree in Library Science at Simmons College. Ms. Lewis also completed course work in Conflict Transformation. Rosaleen was the proud recipient of an award for Excellence in  teaching from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in 2019.

I was born in Newfoundland, Canada and moved to the U.S. as a teenager. In my free time I enjoy traveling both near and far. 

email: [email protected]

Keri Siwicki, Preschool and Third Grade Secular

Keri joined the LYA team in the fall of 2018. She received her BS and MEd from Westfield State University .  Keri began working in the Chicopee Public School system in 2011.

I began my career as an educator in 2011 as a Paraprofessional in Chicopee,  after working for twenty years in Human Resource.

 email: [email protected]

Specialists

Samantha Owen, PE Instructor

Samantha Owen joined the LYA team in 2022. After completing 2.5 years of university in British Columbia, Canada, she married, and decided to prioritize being a mom.  Throughout motherhood, she coached gymnastics and soccer as well as tutoring students in math and teaching piano. Now that her children are grown up, she's using some of those learned skills to teach PE to LYA students twice a week.

I was born in Lahr, Germany to Canadian parents stationed overseas.  I enjoy climbing, rappelling, hiking and mountaineering in my free time, and playing board games with my family and friends.

Pamela Kalman, Art Specialist

Pam Kalman joined the LYA team in 2021 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ithaca College where she majored in Communications and earned a minor in Art History.

I live in Longmeadow with my husband David and our adorable rescue dog. We love spending time with our two grown sons. In my spare time I enjoy making art as well as going to museums and galleries to view and experience art.

Sharon Goldman, Cook

Sharon Goldman joined the LYA team in 2024. As a native of Springfield Sharon has a background in home care. 

In my free time I enjoy reading and listening to music. 

Yocheved Gesin, Kitchen Staff

Yocheved Gesin began volunteering for the LYA lunch program in November of 2013 and in 2023 officially became part of the kitchen staff. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Managerial Finance from Simmons University. 

I love living in Longmeadow and being part of this community!