Upcoming Events

• Thursday, November 23 - Friday, November 24, 2023 - Thanksgiving Break - no classes

• Motzaei Shabbat, November 25, 2023 - ICJA Class of '11 Reunion @ICJA 8pm

• December 5, 2023 - 11th Grade Parent-Student College Information Program, 7-8:30pm, Room 401

• December 17, 2023 - January 11, 2024 - ICJA Senior Class Mission to Israel

• Thursday, December 21 - Last day of classes

• Friday, December 22, 2023 - January 2, 2024 - Winter Break - no classes

• Wednesday, January 3, 2024 - Classes resume

ICJA wishes you a happy Thanksgiving, an enjoyable holiday weekend, and a Shabbat shalom.

Please let us know if you know any families in the Chicago area where a parent left to fight in the war and could use some support from ICJA students (babysitting, playtime, homework help, etc.). Click here and complete the form; we will contact the family to see how we can help.

Students discussed prohibitions on walking in front of someone who is davening.

Freshmen in Rabbi Louis Fliegelman's Talmud class are learning Masechet Brachot.

This week, they learned about the prohibition of walking in front a person who is davening, and discussed the Gemara's real-world examples of when walking in front of a person is problematic and when it is not.

Pictured above: Masha Perkins and Zahava Volkov

Pictured above: Eliana Frankel and Iyla Friedman

Pictured above: Orli Lubin and Maya Kutliroff

Sophomores learned about the historical evolution of atomic models.

How do the Thompson Atomic Model and the Rutherford Atomic Model refine the Dalton Atomic Model? Sophomores in Mrs. Chavee Gottlieb's Chemistry class wrestled with this question and others this week as they learned aboutt the evolution of our understanding of subatomic particles.

Pictured above: Benny Kalman and Macks Kroll

Pictured above: Mrs. Chavee Gottlieb discussing John Dalton, J.J. Thompson and Ernest Rutherford

Juniors in Mrs. Marsha Arons's English class created presentations about The Bean Trees.

Juniors in Mrs. Marsha Arons's English class are reading The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. This week, they gave multimedia presentations about sub-plots contained in the novel.

Pictured above: Ezra Comrov and Jacob Friedman

Pictured above: Rachel Freed

Seniors in Mrs. Arons's Creative Writing class are creating a video for Israeli teens.

Seniors in Mrs. Marsha Arons's honors Creative Writing class embarked this week on an ambitious project: creating a video presentation to send to a high school English class at a newly-created school in Eilat for survivors of the Oct. 7 massacres. The video will show all the ways that our students support these Israeli trauma victims and will be a tribute to Israel.

To create the video, students created a storyboard narrative, conducted interviews, and took shots of the ribbons, posters, and other "I Stand with Israel" paraphernalia around town. Students also wrote poems and stories, some of which they will read for the video, and will include Hebrew and English language music and graphics. When the senior class goes to Israel, students hope to meet the students in Eilat in person.

Pictured above: Yonah Rubin, Joseph Amrami, and Taly Benzaquen

Pictured above: Noa Gavant, Ilana Schwartz, and Jordana Zwelling

Students examined the physics and symbolism in rainbows.

Seniors in Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum's Chumash class are learning about the rainbow that Hashem sent Noach as a sign. This week they discussed the physics behind rainbows in order to better understand mefarshim on the symbolism and significance of the rainbow.

Pictured above: Jakob Wortman

Pictured above: Hayden Gradstein

Pictured above: Josh Mishie

On Motzaei Shabbat, close to 70 students enjoyed ice skating and ice cream.

Motzei Shabbat, about 70 students joined Ida Crown Girls' Club (ICGC) for a fun-filled evening. Students took busses down to Maggie Daley Park, ice skated, then stopped at Rita's Ice - which was donating a portion of all revenues to Israel - on the way home.

Thank you to the ICGC board for organizing this fun event, plus Mrs. Alise Gold and Mrs. Lynn Kraft, and Mrs. Ayala Zimmerman and Mrs. Aliza Aberman who joined in the fun. ICGC is generously supported by a grant from the Walder Charitable Fund.

The Wrestling Team racked up a series of victories in their first meet of the season.

On Tuesday night, ICJA's Wrestling Team competed against Evanston Township High School, Lane Tech, and Hope Academy. 

Senior Millo Benmelech (190) led ICJA's varsity team and pinned his opponent mid-way through the second period. Senior Gabe Klein (132) scored an escape with less than 10 seconds left to win his match 9-8. Juniors Avner Frazin (132) and Avi Chen (138) dominated their matches before earning pins. Freshman Yitzi Ebert (138) won his first ever match with a 2nd period fall.

Senior Ari Klein (126) won the first bout of the match against Lane Tech (pictured above) with a second period pin. Senior Gabe Klein followed with a first period pin. Senior Benny Lowenthal (138) completed the winning streak with a first period fall of his own. Freshman Levi Madoff (132) earned his own first victory with a decisive pin.  

Competing against Hope in the night cap, freshman Megill Hamieri (106) wrested in the varsity slot and won his first win with a 9-3 decision. Senior Jacob Friedman (150) notched a pair of wins by pins, one against Hope's varsity wrestler and one against their JV competitor.  

The Aces continue their season after Thanksgiving against Maine East.

Yasher koach to the Aces for three victories this week.

This week saw four home basketball games and three victories.

On Tuesday night, the Varsity Aces beat Roosevelt High School of Chicago, 73-19. JV Aces won against Roosevelt 51-13.

Wednesday night, the JV Lady Aces scored a resounding against Lycee Francais, winning 40-28. Later on in the night, the Varsity Lady Aces played HRK (pictured here), losing 64-40.

Yasher koach to all our players and to the enthusiastic crowds who cheered them on.

Pictured above: junior Yossi Burstyn playing on the varsity team as ICJA beat Roosevelt

Pictured above: sophomore Ben Rosenburg playing on the boys' JV team as they beat Roosevelt

ICJA students and their fathers davened at Sephardic Congregation last Sunday morning - and met Mrs. Kochava Yitzhak's husband, Rabbi Hillel Yitzhak.

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

Last Sunday, some members of the ICJA family, including students, fathers, and other relatives, davened at Sephardic Congregation on Howard, then shared breakfast, divrei Torah, and conversation with each other, and with Rabbi Hillel Yitzhak, who is Tanach and Oral Law teacher Mrs. Kochava Yitzhak.

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

Foreign policy expert Mr. Richard Goldberg '01 gave a security briefing to our SOP Members.

Last Motzaei Shabbat, over 70 Society of Patrons (SOP) members came together at ICJA for an Israeli-themed dinner and a penetrating talk by Mr. Richard Goldberg '01 about the many security challenges facing Israel right now (pictured).

Mr. Goldberg, a former member of the White House's National Security Council, came to ICJA last month when he discussed Israel's security situation with our juniors and seniors. This week, he shared his insights with some parents and other donors.

Thank you to our SOP members, Director of Institutional Advancement Ms. Deva Zwelling, Ms. Ilana Levy, and other ICJA staff for making this event such a success. For more information about joining the SOP, please email Ms. Zwelling at dzwelling@icja.org.

Pictured above: Mr. Jon and Mrs. Miriam Friedman

Pictured above: Dr. Guy and Dr. Amy Kaissar

Pictured above: Mr. Ami and Mrs. Aviva Robinson

Watch our brand new 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.

Thank you to all those who donated to our Rosh Hashana Appeal. 5784 is off to a great start for Ida Crown and we are so grateful for our generous community members who support our Annual Scholarship Fund.

We are still hoping to achieve 100% parent involvement; if you have not already donated, please use the link below to give. Your contribution helps ensure no child is denied a Jewish education due to lack of funds.

Calling all 3^rd – 12^th grade students attending an ATT school! It’s time for the Pogrund Family Essay and Judaic Artwork contests! Demonstrate your writing and/or art skills as you explore a Judaic topic. Winners receive a $50.00 check. Deadline for art/essay submission is Wednesday, January 17, 2024. FOR ESSAY/ARTWORK RULES AND GUIDELINES, visit www.att.org → For Students or call ATT at 773-973-2828.

Raising children in today’s world! Looking for guidance? Attend the ATT’s 37th Annual Rabbi Isaac Mayefsky Memorial Parenting Lecture on Motzei Shabbos, December 2, 2023, 8:00 pm at the ATT, ICJA Entrance, 8233 Central Park Avenue, Skokie, featuring Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, a well-known speaker, author, researcher, and popular teacher with a global following. He will explore the topic Keeping Our Children Close in a Chaotic World. Admission is free. For more information, call the ATT at 773-973-2828 or visit www.att.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.