Upcoming Events

• Wednesday, April 9 - Monday, April 21 - Pesach Break

• Tuesday, April 22 - Classes resume

• Thursday, April 24 - Yom Hashoah

• Wednesday, April 30 - Yom Hazikaron

• Thursday, May 1 - Yom Ha'atzmaut (all-school chagiga all morning)



• Monday, May 5 - Grandparents Day 1-3:30pm (See brochure below - click here to register)

• Wednesday, May 14 - Torah Awards 6pm

• Wednesday, May 28 - Physics Day for juniors

• Tuesday, May 27 - Thursday, May 29 - Senior Retreat

• Sunday, June 1 - Tuesday, June 3 - Shavuot Break

• Wednesday, June 4 - Study Day (no classes)

• Thursday, June 5 - Wednesday, June 11 - Finals Period

• Sunday, June 8 - Class of 5785 / 2025 Graduation 1pm

• Tuesday, June 17 - Dr. Edward A. Crown Annual Scholarship Dinner honoring Ald. Debra Silverstein (Crown Service Award), Daniel Harris (Crown Leadership Award), and Rabbi Yishai Broner (Educator of the Year) - Click here to register and/or buy an ad (See brochure below: 70% Give-Get credit for all reservations and ads received by May 10; 50% after that date)

Wishing all members of the ICJA Family a happy, healthy, and kosher Pesach!

!חג כשר ושמח

We asked students to share what they're looking forward to this Pesach.

(Pictured here: junior Josh Miller, who is looking forward to being with family and is planning to share divrei Torah he's learned from his ICJA at his family's Seder)

This week we asked students to share a few ways they're inspired to connect with Pesach, and what they're looking forward to over the chag.

Ariella Bielak (not pictured) is looking forward to implementing learning she gained in Mrs. Noa Nussbaum's class about viewing chametz not just as physical bread, but also as representing negative traits in ourselves, and "Getting rid of the chametz" in her spiritual life as well as in her home.

Pictured above: junior Libby Bleichman, who is looking forward to seeing her family over Pesach

Pictured above: junior Aaron Katz, who is looking forward to being in Israel with his family and seeing his older brother who's learning there

Pictured above: senior Yitzchak Bock, who is looking forward to going back home to Las Vegas and being with his seven siblings over chag

Pictured above: sophomores Orli Lubin, who is looking forward to all the fun activities her family does during Maggid at the Seder, Orli Appel, who is looking forward to traveling to Israel to see her sister who's learning there and discussing Pesach with her, and Mia Saltzman, who is looking forward to sharing divrei Torah she's written in school with her family

Pictured above: sophomores Ilya Friedman, who's looking forward to connecting with Eretz Yisrael over Pesach, and Maya Kutliroff, who is looking forward to seeing her older siblings

Pictured above: junior Yehuda Goldstein, who notes that "every year I gain another level of maturity and understanding of Pesach" and is looking forward to "not just retelling the story, but (exploring) new ways of connecting with G-d" during the chag

Students enjoyed an inspirational pre-Shabbat Shtieg in school last Friday.

Last Friday, sophomore, junior, and senior girls enjoyed a fun and inspirational pre-Shabbat Shtieg.

Juniors Rivky Belsh and Yaffa Hoberman (pictured here) gave a dvar Torah about Parshat Vayikra and senior Rachel Sommer gave a dvar Torah about Shir haShirim. Students enjoyed delicious cholent, music, dancing and games.

Pictured above: sophomores Maayan Engel and Eliana Neiger

Pictured above: seniors Nina Ripstein and Ariela Bielak

Pictured above: seniors Lea Ackerman, Lilac Marcus, Dana Kalutsky, and Maytal Needle

Freshmen enjoyed a fun and inspiring Fridayton last week.

Last Friday's freshmen Fridayton was an incredible success! After davening in school, students boarded buses to Scene 75, where they enjoyed a fun day of rides and games.

After returning to school, freshmen went home to prepare for Shabbat, then came together at school for a beautiful Shabbat evening of davening, learning, singing, and camaraderie. Students davened Mincha, then participated in a stirring candle lighting, dvar Torah, Kabbalat Shabbat, and Maariv. After dinner and another dvar Torah, freshmen divided into groups for learning sessions, then gathered together once more for a tisch, Oneg Shabbat, more divrei Torah, singing, and even a fun trivia game.

Thank you to all the students and teachers who worked together to make this freshman Fridayton a moving and inspirational event. (Pictured below: students - and Mr. Sahyouni, who snapped these photos - enjoying Scene 75)

The entire freshman class has created a unique new Haggadah.

Yasher koach to the entire freshman class for creating an incredibly insightful original Haggadah this year.

The ICJA Freshmen Haggadah 5785 includes the complete text of the Haggadah along with divrei Torah from each member of the freshman class. Students' comments incorporate insights from Meforshim, Rishonim, Acharonim, and modern rabbeim and scholars, as well as students' original thoughts and wisdom.

This is a huge achievement and will help enrich the Pesach Seders of the entire freshman class. Thank you to Mrs. Lynn Kraft for organizing this new Haggadah.

The Freshman Haggadah can be viewed here.

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at Kehilas Meor Yisroel on Touhy.

Many Sunday mornings, ICJA's freshmen boys' rebbe, Rabbi Louis Fliegelman, arranges for students and their fathers (and grandfathers and other relatives) to meet at a different Chicago-area shul to daven Shacharit together and enjoy breakfast and learning.

Last Sunday, students and their relatives davened and learned together at Kehilas Meor Yisroel.



For more information about the Veshinantam Leva necha program, email Rabbi Louis Fliegelman at lfliegelman@icja.org.

Freshmen boys welcomed fathers to daven with them during the week at school.

Freshman boys' parents and other relatives are always invited to join us for Shacharit during the week, as well. This week, fathers came to ICJA to daven with their sons in the freshman boys' minyan.

Pictured above: Mr. Joshua Shpayher with his son Caleb, and the freshmen boys' minyan

Watch "Oh the Places You'll Go," our video for prospective students - and share it with people you know who'd like to learn more about ICJA!

Watch this moving video documenting some of the volunteer activities last year's seniors participated in during their month-long Mission to Israel 2023-4!

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.

Review ICJA on Niche.com and enter a sweepstakes.

Help let people know how fabulous ICJA is! Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or alumnus/alumna, the popular school ranking website Niche.com wants to hear from you. Plus, every person who reviews ICJA (or any other school) is automatically entered into a monthly $1,000 sweepstakes by Niche.com. For more information and to leave a review, click here.

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.

Click here or on the brochure above to register and/or buy an ad for the Dr. Edward A. Crown Annual Scholarship Dinner honoring Ald. Debra Silverstein (Crown Service Award), Daniel Harris (Crown Leadership Award), and Rabbi Yishai Broner (Educator of the Year)

70% Give-Get credit for all reservations and ads received by May 10; 50% after that date

Join our New Alumni Facebook Group

We are excited to announce that we have a new private Facebook group called “ICJA Official Alumni Page.” It is a space for alumni from all graduating years to join. We will periodically post alumni reunions, events, fundraising opportunities, information about ICJA today, and news.

We are proud to have some families with us for four generations. If you are an alum, please join the group HERE and be sure to share the link with your family, friends, and fellow graduates. You can also share this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/UeTsqg16DDx4JHGK/?mibextid=hubsqH. Thanks for staying connected to ICJA!

Please reach out to Ilana Levy at ilevy@icja.org if you have any questions about this new effort.

Last summer, ICJA gave its Class of '24 alumni the third 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.

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.