Upcoming Events

• Monday, April 24 - "Academy Sports Academy," a weekly workshop for boys ages 10-17 at ICJA (see flyer below for more details) - 5:45-7:15pm

• Tuesday, April 25 - Yom HaZikaron program in school

• Tuesday, April 25 and Thursday, April 27 - Boys' Night Seder @Skokie Kollel - 8pm (This a biweekly, recurring activity when school is in session.)

• Wednesday, April 26 - Yom HaAtzma'ut in-school celebration

• Tuesday, May 2 - Grandparents Day (Click here to sign up)

• Monday, May 1 - Thursday, May 4 - Girls' Varsity soccer Chicago Prep Conference Tournament

• Thursday, May 4 - Wednesday, May 10 - Boys' Baseball Chicago Prep Conference Tournament

• Motzei Shabbat, May 6 - Motzei Shabbat, May 13 - Girls' Varsity Soccer IHSA Regionals

• Tuesday, May 9 - Lag B'Omer

• Wednesday, May 10 - Charlotte's Web Presentation - 6pm

• Thursday, May 11 - Oratory Fair - 6pm

• Friday, May 19 - Yom Yerushalayim

• Monday, May 15 - CIJE Innovation Fair @ICJA

• Sunday, May 21 - Concert for Women and Girls with Israeli Singing Sensation Inbar Tabib '95 - 7:30pm (There is no charge but registration is required - click here to register.)

• Sunday, May 21 - Tuesday, May 23 - Columbus Baseball Tournament

• Friday, May 26 - Saturday, May 27 - Shavuot Break

• Monday, May 28 - Memorial Day (no school)

• Sunday, June 4 - Graduation - 1pm

• Monday, June 12 - Edward A. Crown Scholarship Dinner - click here to register

Holocaust survivor Rebbetzin Chaya Leah Small opened a morning of activities on Yom HaShoah.

On Tuesday, Yom HaShoah, students spent much of the morning learning about the Holocaust from survivors. The day began with an all-school assembly with Rebbetzin Chaya Leah Small, who showed family photographs and talked about her life in Poland, then shared her family's experiences escaping first to Kobe, Japan, then to the Japanese-controlled city of Shanghai in China, thanks to the heroic actions of Japanese Imperial Consul Chiune Sugihara.

Rebbetzin Small told students about the Mir Yeshiva, which operated in Shanghai during the Holocaust. It occupied an old synagogue that had been built years earlier and was virtually abandoned when the refugees arrived: the synagogue contained 224 seats, the exact number of talmidim in the Mir. She also shared a moving anecdote about HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz, the mashgiach of the Mir Yeshiva: Rabbi Shmuelevitz forbade Jews from riding in rickshaws, except in cases of emergency, because the men pulling it were also created in G-d's image and were not to be treated as "animals of burden."

After Rebbetzin Small's talk, she taught junior and senior girls how to make sushi, which she learned to do as a child in Japan. The rest of the student body took turns interacting with a cutting-edge project from the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center: a hologram of a survivor which was programmed to answer questions about the survivor's experiences.

Thank you to seniors Kayla Kupietzky and Carmel Schreiber for putting together this program, and to and Mrs. Laurie Hasten and Mrs. Miki Schreiber for leading the hologram sessions.

This program was sponsored in memory of Rabbi Shlomo Hirsch Koller, hy”d and his sister Etka Koller-Cykornik, hy”d, by Sharon and Seymour Gertz and the estate of Margalit bat Rav Shilem Gertz. z”l.

Pictured above: junior Jordana Zwelling making sushi with Rebbetzin Small

Pictured above: students thanking Rebbetzin Small after her talk

Pictured above: senior boys asking questions of the interactive hologram

On Wednesday, April 19, seniors Kayla Kupietzky and Carmel Schreiber travelled to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center to talk about Yom Hashoah with students from ChicagoHope Academy.

Pictued here, Chicago Hope students asking questions of a hologram of a Holocaust survivor, which is programmed to provide real answers to students' questions.

If one kills someone indirectly, ח"ו, are they responsible for murder?

Students in Rabbi Mayer Simcha Stromer's 11th grade boys' concepts Gemara class are learning the second perek of Masechet Makkot, and engaged in a lively discussion about to what extent a person who inadvertently killed someone, חס ושלום, would be liable for punishments meted out to a killer.

Pictured above: Yehoshua Zagorin answering a question

Pictured above: Moshe Seruya and Rabbi Stromer continuing the discussion after class

Over Passover break, ICJA appeared on WGN TV to explained the holiday's meanings and customs.

On Sunday, April 2, ICJA senior Adina Margolin and juniors Noa Gavant and Ayelet Appel, as well as Mrs. Alissa Zefferen, appeared on WGN's Weekend News to explain to viewers what Passover means and some key elements of the holiday. Their 4-minute segment can be viewed as a pop-up on the WGN website here.

Yasher kochachen to these amazing students for sharing their knowledge with the entire Chicago-area community.

On Monday, students heard from a friend of the Dee family, and wrote supportive letters to teens in Efrat.

On Monday morning, students participated in an all-school Zoom presentation with former Chicagoan and current Efrat resident Aviyah (Rosenwasser) Atkin (pictured here, with her son), who has known the Dee family ever since she made aliyah. She spoke with our students about the tragic murder of Maia, Rina, and Lucy Dee, and also about the extraordinary emunah (faith) of Rabbi Leo Dee.

Aviyah shared how this tragedy has brought people together, and used the phrase that Israel is experiencing PTSG - post-traumatic stress growth. And she also explained how the teens of Efrat were coping with the loss.

Aviyah also shared seven lessons that Rabbi Dee has been teaching which he calls "Lucy Dee's Blessing":

1. Forgive: When you hold a grudge, it only hurts you.

2. Apologize: Even if it's not your fault, and if that's all it takes...

3. Don't get upset for too long: If in 5 years it's not going to be a big deal, then it does not deserve more than 5 minutes of your time now.

4. Be passionate about what you do: If you're not, then change what you do.

5. You don't have to be the best: You have to give it your best.

6. Explore: Grow older (if you are so fortunate) but never grow up. There should always be a wonder in everything.

7. Love all of your children equally: Love is not a zero-sum game - the more you share, the more you have.

Following the assembly, our students wrote letters of support to the teens of Efrat. One teen - Yair Dimri, who lived in Skokie when his parents worked as shlichim at Hillel Torah - already wrote back to our students, thanking them for their letter.

Students read and discussed a personal essay by acclaimed Israeli food writer Gil Chovev.

Senior girls in Mrs. Orit Marmel's Hebrew class have been reading a touching Hebrew language essay by Israeli food writer Gil Chovev in which he reminisces about the only dish that his mother cooked that he truly enjoyed: cheese balls. Students then disussed the essay and the memories Chovev conveys - all in Hebrew, of course.

Pictured above: Audrey Perlman

Pictured above: Tehila Weiner

Pictured above: Danielle Cohen and Emma Felix

Some freshman boys and their fathers davened at Park Plaza last Sunday.

Last Sunday, freshman boys and their fathers resumed their weekly practice of davening with different kehillot each Sunday morning. Students and family gathered at Park Plaza, where they enjoyed davening then breakfast and learning with Rabbi Louis Fliegelman, freshman boys' daavening leader.

Pictured above: Rabbi Louis Fliegelman, Dr. Mike Gelb, Elie Gelb, Rabbi Eitan Allen, Boaz Stopek with his brother and father Mr. Jonathan Stopek, Mr. Lev Katz, Aaron Katz, Jesse Goldberg and the Hon. Mitchell Goldberg

Students rehearsed scenes from Julius Caesar.

Students in Mrs. Marsha Arons's junior honors English class read Julius Caesar; this week, they prepared to act out key scenes of the play with their classmates.

Pictured above: Evan Comrov reading a speech

Pictured above: Aviva Dallal, Yaakov Holman, Ari Klein, Leah Zelden, Gabe Klein, and Milo Benmelech

Pictured above: Moshe Wiesenberg and Uriel Kolom

Students took advantage of the Spring weather as they learned Sefer Shmuel Aleph.

Students in Mrs. Olivia Friedman's sophomore girls' Navi (Prophets) class are learning Sefer Shmuel Aleph.

On Thursday this week, they enjoyed the warm Spring weather while they discussed the Torah's description of Hashem's spirit transferring from Shaul to David, leaving King Shaul bereft and terrified of an evil spirit.

(Pictured here: Simcha Seruya, Rachel Sommer, Dana Kalutsky, Sarah Levitt, Yardana Schayer, Kaela Nagel, and Mrs. Olivia Friedman)

The entire ICJA community celebrated recipients of Torah Awards on Thursday evening.

On Thursday evening, parents and students gathered to celebrate ICJA's annual Torah Awards, honoring students who distinguished themselves in three categories: Torah Excellence, Middot Tovot (positive character traits), and Chesed (helping others). Yasher koach to the recipients and their families.

Pictured above: Torah Excellence Award recipients

Pictured above: senior Charlie Singer with his parents Mrs. Rebecca and Dr. Steve Singer, after winning a Chesed Award

Pictured above: Middot Tovot Award recipients

Pictured above: freshman Akiva Wolkenfeld with his mother Mrs. Sarah Wolkenfeld, after winning a Torah Excellence Award

Pictured above: Chesed Award recipients

Pictured above: freshman Max Gorenstein with his mother, ICJA Registrar Mrs. Rebecca Gorenstein, after winning a Middot Tovot Award

Students modelled cell cycling using beads.

This week, freshmen in Ms. Ruth Gleicher's Biology class discussed the cell cycle, the growth and development of actively dividing cells. To illustrate this process, students built cell models with differently colored beads, each representing a chromosome.

Pictured above: Macks Kroll and Ezra Mauer

Pictured abbove: Michael Matveyev and Boaz Stopek

Pictured above: Esti Mora and Yaffa Hoberman

Pictured above: Aaron Katz and Benny Kalman

Pictured above: Dina Gottlieb and Leah Jacobs

This week we caught up with Talmud and Tanach teacher and Mechanech Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum, and asked him a few questions about himself.

Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum is a beloved teacher and Mechanech in our school; he can often be found after teaching, hanging out in the Commons, shmoozing and learning and beating students at chess. This week we caught up with him and asked him a few questions about himself.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Riverdale, New York; we went to Young Israel of Riverdale. I'm one of six. My father is a doctor. Three of my grandparents were Holocaust survivors.

I went to MTA for high school. After that, I learned at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh, then went to YU and completed a BA in Philosophy. I received smicha from REITS at YU.

Please tell us a bit about your family now.

I met my wife Aliza when we were set up by friends. We lived in Washington Heights for a while, then I joined the YU Torah Mitzion Kollel and we moved to Chicago. I began teaching at Ida Crown nine years ago.

My kids are Ezra, 12; Devora, 10; Mordechai, 7; Shifra, 4; and Efraim, 10 mos.

What do you enjoy about teaching at ICJA?

I love teaching at Ida Crown Jewish Academy. I really like the culture of the student body, the love of Torah, the love of chess among the students. I like working with Rabbi Matanky. There's a great camaraderie among the rabbeim. It's very rewarding being with students as a Mechanech.

Can you describe a favorite ICJA memory?

You might think it would be trouncing students in chess, but actually it's beating them in the faculty-senior basketball game on Shushan Purim every year!

Do you have any hobbies?

I enjoy playing chess; I enjoy learning Torah. I spend a lot of time playing games with my kids.

What advice do you have for ICJA students?

Consider that the future of the Jewish people is in Israel; make all your life decisions with that in mind.

This week's sponsors include:

Wednesday, the 28th of Nisan, 5783, April 19, 2023, by Anonymous, in merit of a refuah shleima for Tzvi ben Chana

For more information or to sponsor a day of learning, please contact our Director of Development, Deva Zwelling, at (773) 973-1450 ext. 115, or dzwelling@icja.org.

Watch this year's Open House video

for prospective students - and share it with people you know who'd like to learn more about ICJA!

Founded in 1942, ICJA is 80 years old this year. Please enjoy this 80th Anniversary Video which looks back on eight decades of excellence, close bonds, and memories.

Watch Rabbi Berel Wein's '50 inspiring remarks at the ICJA Israel Reunion, Jerusalem, November 2022!

Watch highlights of our inspiring Israel Reunion, Jerusalem, November 2022!

Be sure to pick up your updated ICJA Learning Commons passwords to access books and journals online!

In addition to many thousands of physical books and journals, ICJA's Learning Commons contains tens of thousands of online books, journal articles and other resources, including subscriptions to newspapers such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and more.  Students are able to access these resources through our portal.

Please stop by our librarian Mrs. Steinberg's desk in the Learning Commons or email her at  librarian@icja.org her to pick up your updated passwords to access our online material. ICJA's subscriptions are available at icja.libguides.com/home.

Do you have school-related news you'd like to see in this newsletter? Let us know!

If you have exciting ICJA-related news to share about classes, sports, clubs, or other projects, please tell us! Send news items and/or photos to Dr. Yvette Miller, Director of Communications at ymiller@icja.org. Your items can enhance our newsletter and ICJA's social media presence.

Student Internship Opportunities

The YU Torah Mitzion Kollel is looking to hire 2 interns: one to help with program logistics and general office work and one for technology.

Program Logistics Intern

Responsibilities include: grocery shopping for events, ordering food for events, and stuffing envelopes for mailings. The work will be on an as needed basis, generally requiring no more than 2 hours on any given week.

Intern will report directly to the Director of Operations, who will meet with the intern periodically to explain assignments.  

Intern must have access to a vehicle.

Technology intern

Responsibilities include: Editing Audio and video clips, uploading media to Youtube and Podcasts, possibly some data entry. This position will include approximately 1 hour of tasks per week.

Intern will report directly to the Director of Operations, who will meet with the intern periodically to explain assignments.  

Familiarity with any form of editing software a plus but not required.

For more information or to apply, please contact Tracy Schultz, Director of Operations, admin@torahchicago.org

Last summer, ICJA gave its Class of '22 alumni the second edition of our directory listing ICJA alumni who live in Israel and have graciously offered to open their homes to recent ICJA grads who are currently spending a gap year in Israel.

Thank you to the many alumni who have reached out to us, offering to host.

The directory was sent out to the emails of '22 grads that we have on file. If you have any questions or would like to update our contact information to help recent ICJA grads obtain a copy, please contact Dr. Yvette Miller, ICJA Director of Communications, at ymiller@icja.org.

We are still taking submissions from alumni who are willing to host, to include in future copies of this directory. Please contact Dr. Miller to be included.