Upcoming Events

• Friday, January 19 - Tuesday, January 23, 2024 - Yeshiva Week Break - no school Friday, Monday, or Tuesday

• Wednesday, January 24, 2024 - Classes resume

• Friday, January 26, 2024 - End of first semester

• Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - Hillel Torah 8th Grade visit to ICJA

• Friday, February 2 - Shabbat, February 3, 2024 - Ida Club Girls' Club Shabbaton - register here

• Friday, February 9 - Shabbat, February 10, 2024 - Ida Crown Boys' Club Shabbaton - register here (To discuss financial assistance for either Shabbaton, contact Michael London.)

• Tuesday, March 12, 2024 - NHS Induction Ceremony

• Sunday, April 7, 2024 - 18 Under 18 Awards Event

Three students have received this prestigious honor for their work with the Jewish Community.

Yasher kochachen to seniors Jordana Zwelling and Emma Lookatch and junior Tali Weiss for being named 18 Under 18 by Springboard Chicago!

18 Under 18 "highlights teens who uniquely live out their values as leaders and changemakers in the community". This honor highlights Jordana's extensive work with Libenu's Lev Respite Program, Emma's participation with Keshet Peer Buddies, and Tali's work creating new teen mental health resources.

Springboard Chicago's 18 Under 18 award event is scheduled for April 7, 2024.

Pictured above: Emma Lookatch

Pictured above: junior Tali Weiss nad senior Jordana Zwelling

Charlotte's Web has received the highest honor from the National Council of Teachers of English!

ICJA's 2023 literary and artistic journal Charlotte's Web has received the designation "Excellent" once again from the National Council of Teachers of English, their highest honor.

Yasher koach too to last year's contributors, to last year's editors Charli Ernstein '23, Kayla Kupietzky '23, Michal Bechoffer '23, Dory Marshall '24, Shayna Weinstein '24, Shuli Falk '24, Jacob Friedman '24, Gabriel Klein '24, and to Mrs. Marsha Arons!

Charlotte's Web is generously supported by the Susan and Joseph Ament Fund.

Pictured above: junior Eliana Levine; Mrs. Marsha Arons; seniors Shuli Falk, Shayna Weinstein, and Dory Marshall; and junior Levy Polsky

Yasher koach to seniors Dory Marshall and Jed Marcus for making a siyum on Masechet Rosh Hashana, which they learned entirely over the past month.

Our first week back with a reunited senior class started with a siyum thanks to seniors Jed Marcus and Dory Marshall.

When the majority of the senior class departed for a month of volunteering in Israel, Jed and Dory - who were among the 16 seniors who remained in Chicago, volunteering here - began learning Masechet Rosh Hashana every night together. Their ambitious schedule of learning, devoting well over an hour each night, paid off this Monday, as Dory and Jed made a siyum for the entire senior class, followed by a gala breakfast seuda. Yasher koach.

Pictured above: Dory Marshall and Jed Marcus during their siyum

Pictured above: senior breakfast, including omlette stations

Pictured above: Jed Marcus, Dr. Revital Marcus, Mrs. Amy Marshall, and Dory Marshall

Freshmen in Mrs. Shelly Stopek's class are building their Hebrew language skills.

Students in Mrs. Shelly Stopek's 9th and 10th grade Hebrew class are working intensely, growing their skills and becoming fluent in Hebrew this year. This week, they role played, mastering different ways of greeting and addressing various types of people and groups.

Pictured above: sophomore Adin Jones

Pictured above: freshman Aryeh Lowenthal

Juniors in Mrs. Kraft's class debated to which Biblical figures Eliyahu might be compared.

Juniors in Mrs. Lynn Kraft's Navi class are learning Melachim Alef. This week, they displayed a wide familiarity with the Tanach as they discussed the prophet Eliyahu and entered into a spirited debate about parallels between the lives of Eliyahu and Moshe, Yonah, and other Biblical figures.

Pictured above: Zehava Piltz

Pictured above: Ariela Bielak

Pictured above: Nina Ripstein

Juniors in Mrs. Friedman's class created TV shows and series trailers based on the life of Shlomo Hamelech.

Juniors in Mrs. Friedman's Navi class are also learning Melachim Ales, focusing on the life of Shlomo Hamelech. This week, they began creating Netflix-style television series and trailers telling the life story of King Solomon.

Pictured above: Simona Fridberg, Lilac Marcus, Ella Kakon, and Lea Ackerman

Pictured above: Talia Linzer, Aliza Shyovitz, Daria Lennon, and Ella Perlman

Pictured above: Meital Wittlin, Allie Stein, and Eliana Levine

Students practiced carbon dating using the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Seniors in Rabbi Zev Drutman's Pre-Calculus class are learning how to calculate the age of organic matter using Carbon 14 dating. Students learned that the half-life of Carbon 14 is approximately 5,730 years and derived the exponential decay function C(t) = 100 • e -.000121t in class to show that the percentage of carbon-14 in an object is t years old.

Students then used information about the Dead Sea Scrolls to calculate the ages of some of the scrolls.

Pictured above: senior Joseph Amrami

Pictured above: senior Aviva Dallal

Pictured above: Moshe Sheruya

Students learned about "Anxiety in an Age of Antisemitism" at this week's Erika's Lighthouse event.

This week Erika's Lighthouse welcomed former ICJA social worker Shuli Tsadok LCSW, Clinical Director of Upward Community (pictured here), and Lizzie Jannsen, Clinical Intern, to speak about "Anxiety in an Age of Antisemitism." About 30 students attended their talks.

Students learned about differences between healthy stress and unhealthy stress and anxiety, gained tools to discern when they are experiencing unhealthy stress, and learned some strategies for overcoming anxiety.

Suggestions included: limiting social media; becoming self-aware of how social media increases anxiety; channeling strong emotions and adrenaline into constructive activities; building strong relationships with others; and seeking out therapy when necessary.

Thank you to Erika's Lighthouse's board members, freshman Sarah Leonard and sophomore Yaffa Hoberman, for arranging this crucial event.

Who is able to lead the Shema for a minyan?

Freshmen and sophomores in Rabbi Daniel Fox's accelerated Talmud class are learning Masechet Megilla. This week, they headed to the Beit Midrash to learn b'chevruta about who is allowed to lead the Shema prayer for a minyan.

Pictured above: sophomore Michael Matveyev and freshman Yedidya Bechhofer

Pictured above: freshman Jacob Thomas and sophomore Yehuda Goldstein

Pictured above: freshman Oren Goizman consulting with Rabbi Fox

Students debated key tenets of Imperialism.

Would developing nations be better off controlled by richer developed countries? What is the principal value of our nation? Does the US have the right to send forces to another nations territory to protect American interests?

As they prepare to begin their unit on American imperialism at the turn of the 20th Century, juniors in Mr. Joshua Cooper's class discussed these and other questions.

Pictured above: the class deep in conversation

Pictured above: Sheindel Beiles, Leah Rina Brochin, Tali Weiss, and Meital Wittlin

Pictured above: Daria Lennon, Lea Ackerman, Lilac Marcus, and Toby Burstyn

Students created an online Hebrew-language quiz and contest encouraging people to make their homes more energy efficient.

This week, new posters have appeared around school, advertising an ambitious online contest and quiz about energy efficiency that was created by freshmen in Ms. Eliora Lavi's Hebrew class.

Scan the QR code on the posters around school, especially located on recycling containers, to go to an online Hebrew-language quiz about energy efficiency. Then send a picture of yourself recycling a plastic bottle to hebrew9recycling@gmail.com for the chance to win a prize!

Pictured above: Yair Elbaz, Ms. Lavi, Caleb Novick, Levi Madoff, Matar Chill, Hillel Lennon, and William Moscovitch

This week saw Aces victories in Basketball and Wrestling.

Basketball:

Yasher koach to Aces basketball for their 78-17 victory over Bader Hillel at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee last Thursday night.

Yasher kochachen to Lady Aces: senior Ilana Schwartz for being named to the National Girls All-Star Basketball team of the FIDF Invitational scheduled for March 30th at Montclair University in NJ, and to senior Rena Neiger, who received an honorable mention.

Wrestling:

On Tuesday this week, Hammond Baptist journeyed to compete at ICJA. Freshman Megill Hamieri (106) claimed two victories. Senior Benny Lowenthal (138), Junior Moshe Tarshish (157), Junior Jacob E. Friedman (144), Junior Aidan Zukerman (144), Freshman Levi Madoff (132), Sophomore Boaz Stopek (132), and Macks Kroll (165) all won their matches. For Stopek and Kroll, the wins were their first career victories. 

On Wednesday, ICJA traveled to Deerfield H.S. to face their always tough squad. Several wrestlers competed against opponents ranked among the best in the state. Senior Millo Benmelech (175) led the way with a pair of victories. Senior Ari Klein (126), Junior Avi Chen (132), Junior Avner Frazin, and Senior Dory Marshall (190) also notched wins in what was a successful evening of competition. 

The season continued on Thursday as ICJA hosted Aurora Central Catholic and Walther Christian. Next week, the team will have Senior Night next Wednesday, 24 January, as Northridge Prep and Golder Prep. The following evening, the Aces close out the regular season on the road against New Trier. 

Pictured above: junior Moshe Tarshish after competing against Hammond Baptist

Pictured above: junior Avi Chen competing against Deerfield HS

Freshmen shared their secrets for staying warm in below-zero temperatures.

With below-zero temperatures all week long, students have had to come up with creative ways for staying warm. This week we asked some freshmen for their secrets to being toasty when the temperature plummets.

Pictured above: Kinneret Finegold, who recently moved to Chicago from Canada, and noted "We have Sukkos like this" in Canada: "Stay indoors when it's cold out, always be prepared, and wear lots of layers."

Pictured above: Bela Burstyn: "Wear a coat!"

Pictured above: Gabriel Schreiber: "Use hand warmers and extra layers of socks," and Archer Gradstein: "wear earmuffs when the weather gets cold."

Pictured above: Maayan Engel: "drink lots of hot chocolate!" and Raya Volkov: "wear lots of layers and a hat!"

Yasher koach to Charlotte's Web for once again receiving an Excellent designation!

Thursday, the 8th of Shevat, 5784, January 18, by Howie Perlstein in loving memory of Jacob Alexander  יענקל בן יונה הלוי ז״ל in commemoration of his Yahrtzeit which is observed on ח׳ שבט

Thursday, the 8th of Shevat, 5784, January 18, 2024, by the Landes family in loving memory of Rabbi Menahem B. Sacks, z"l, grandfather, great grandfather

and great-great grandfather - the Academy is his enduring legacy

Friday, the 2nd of Shevat, 5784, January 12, 2024, by the Fridberg family in loving memory of Ella Bruk z"l, Ayola bat Aaron, grandmother of Gina (Art) Fridberg, and great-grandmother of Simona ('25), Talia and Ronen Fridberg

If you would like 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 "Connect with ICJA," our newest video

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

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.

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 '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.