Upcoming Events

• Motzaei Shabbat, November 2 - ICBC 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament - come play with your friends and rabbeim @ICJA 8:30pm (Click here to sign up)

• Monday, November 4 - ICGC and Lady Aces watch Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz @United Center

• Wednesday, November 6 - Vision and Hearing testing

• Friday, November 8 - End of First Quarter

• Sunday, November 10 - Parent Teacher Conferences

• Monday, November 11 - Teacher in-service day - No Classes

• Thursday, November 14 - Yearbook picture retakes

• Friday, November 15 - Sophomore / Junior Friday-ton

• Sunday, November 17 - Israeli University Fair

• Monday, November 18 - All-School assembly with Rabbi Leo Dee

• Wednesday, November 20 - Open House for prospective students and their families 6:45 pm (Click here to register)

• Thursday, November 21 - Chesed Day

• Thursday, November 28 - Friday, November 29 - Thanksgiving Break

Click here to view ICJA's November lunch menu schedule.

Students conducted experiments with a Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide.

Freshmen in Mr. Peter Sahyouni's Biology class have been learning about catalysts, substances which speed up chemical reactions and processes.

This week, students created catalysts by shredding potatoes and mixing them with water. Students imbued pieces of paper with the resulting catalase and introduced it to Hydrogen Peroxide, then observed the reaction as the H2O2 released H2O and O2. After conducting three experiments in a row and observing the results, students wrote up their observations in lab reports.

(Pictured above: Asher Segal, Jordan Rich, and Menachem Steinberg)

Pictured above: Emily Adler and Zachary Kupietzky

Pictured above: Avigayil Loebmann, Amalia Strosberg, and Elisheva Sudin

Pictured above: Ella Jankovits and Ronit Kinar

Students employed "Chat Stations" to discuss the Avot.

Juniors in Mrs. Lynn Kraft's AJSP class are learning about the Shemona Esrei. This week, as they discussed the prayer's blessing of the Avot, students engaged in in-depth discussions about the character, experiences, and legacy of each of the Avot.

Students employed "Chat Stations:" after breaking into small groups, students went around the room to posters which challenged them with questions about different Avot. At each station, students discussed the prompts and refined their thoughts, bringing in learning from Chumash, Talmud, peirushim and Jewish thinkers.

Pictured above: Leah Jacobs, Miriam Falk, Channie Gelerinter, and Mina Brandes

Pictured above: Caley Gordon and Yaffa Hoberman

Pictured above: Penina Benjamin and Libby Bleichman

Students discussed physical manifestations of b'nei Yisrael's relationship with Hashem in Shemot.

Sophomores in Rabbi Daniel Fox's honors Chumash class this week discussed Rashi's and other commentators' views about why the Jewish people required physical objects such as the luchot and the Mishkan. In wide-ranging convers, students explored opinions that these signified our sin in creating the golden calf, and our forgiveness for that sin.

Pictured above: Gabriel Nudman and Dov Kaiserman

Pictured above: Jacob Thomas and Megill Hameiri

Pictured above: Archer Gradstein and Ayden Starck

Seniors are learning the about Kavod Av v'Eim.

Seniors in Rabbi Shmuel Oren's Talmud class are learning Masechet Kiddushin. This week they discussed the obligation of exalted people, including a prince and a rabbi, to honor their parents under different circumstances.

Pictured above: Ami Weiss and Ami Czako

Pictured above: Avner Frazin

Pictured above: Avi Chen

Students explain some of their favorite school lunches.

This week we stopped by the Learning Commons during lunch time and asked students there about their favorite school-time lunch choices.

Pictured above: seniors Dana Kalutsky, Lea Ackerman, and Rachel Sommer who enjoy the cafeteria's delicious French fries

Pictured above: juniors Yoshi Bernstein, whose favorite school lunch is deli sandwiches he brings from home, and Ben Rosenburg, who likes bringing chicken salad from home for lunch

Pictured above: junior Yair Bell who brought takeout from Yoko for lunch this week

Pictured above: junior Miriam Falk, whose favorite lunch is yogurt with fruit and granola, which she brings from home

Pictured above: junior Jessica Michaeli, who likes the chicken Caesar's salad from Sandwich Club

Pictured above: juniors Eli Fretzin, whose favorite school lunch is the schnitzel sandwich, and Natan Miller, whose favorite is the school's sloppy Joe sandwiches

Freshmen discussed emotions and feelings - all in Hebrew.

Freshmen in Mrs. Eliora Lavi's have been learning עברית בעברית - learning how to speak Hebrew while communicating only in Hebrew in the classroom.

This week, in a fun-filled class, students discussed their feelings and emotions, discussing how they felt at the moment, as well as other emotions they might experience and why.

(Pictured above: Mrs. Lavi writing different emotions in Hebrew next to their illustrations)

Pictured above: Mijael Mora and David Carlsen

Pictured above Jonathan Hellman and Akiva Joseph

Pictured above: Shmuel Scharman and Elior Ginsberg

Chicago Bulls youth coaches joined the Lady Aces practice this week.

On Tuesday, Lady Aces who showed up for practice received a huge surprise: 5 Chicago Bulls youth coaches attended their practice too!

The Bulls have been impressed with the Lady Aces' record, especially their 10-0 conference record from last year. The coaches wanted to meet ICJA players for themselves. They ran some drills, traded swag with the players, and even said they'd like to come and watch a Lady Aces game this season.

The Aces racked up victories as the Cross Country season concluded.

14 Varsity Runners participated in the Cross Country Regional Race on Wednesday, October 23 at Lake Forest Academy. 

The 5K course was a great challenge and fantastic way to end the season, and featured strong performances overall. Yasher kochachen to the Lady Aces who won 3rd Place.

More victories came with the conclusion of the season. Girls won First Place at Conference and seven runners were named All Conference Runners. Girls won Second Place at the New Jersey Yeshiva Meet, and ICJA had 7 "Tough Mudder" race finishers.

Yasher koach to runners on their end of year awards:

MVP Awards went to junior Ellie DeAngelis and seniors Dana Kalutsky, Ami Czako, and Levi Polsky

Most Improved Awards went to junior Zachary Fogel and sophomores Mashie Perkins, Mia Saltzman, and Ariella Titievsky.

Most Attendance Awards went to sophomore Mashie Perkins, senior Levi Polsky, and freshman Menachem Steinberg.

Best Rookie Award went to sophomore Iyla Friedman.

Best Freshman Awards went to Amalia Strosberg and Menachem Steinberg.

Students engaged in a design challenge.

Students in Mr. Allen Sears's Physics class took part in a design challenge this week, testing different ways of problem solving. After dividing into groups and being given sticks of dried pasta and a marshmallow, students experiment with different methods of building tall towers with a marshmallow perched on top.

Afterwards, students compared their methods of problem solving, including theorizing the entire structure on paper and employing trial and error, and discussed which was most effective and why.

Pictured above: juniors Mina Brandes, Adin Jones, and Michael Matveyev

Pictured above: junior Avi Rubin and seniors Moshe Nedwin and Ami Czako

Pictured above: juniors Channie Gelerinter, Ezra Mauer, and Aaron Katz

Students are acting out Oedipus and Antigone.

"A play is not meant to be read; it's meant to be acted." - Mrs. Arons

Sophomores in Mrs. Marsha Arons's honors English class read Sophocles's play Oedipus and Antigone. This week they began acting it out in class, complete with props and stage directions and encouragement from Mrs. Arons.

(Pictured above: Kira Wittlin playing Ismene, Antigone's sister, with Mrs. Arons)

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at a Vatikin minyan at the beach.

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, students davened together Vatikin in a beautiful outdoor minyan at the beach.



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

Pictured above: students and relatives daavening

Pictured above: the sun ris just as the group recited Shemona Esrei

Pictured above: freshmen Emmett Gelman and Akiva Mishkin

ICJA is looking for a girls' basketball and girls soccer coach.

ICJA is looking for a girl's JV basketball head coach. The season runs from November 3 thru mid-February. It's a three day per week commitment. You can find the schedule on the ICJA website. Please reach out to athletic director Brittany Peters at bpeters@icja.org with any interest. 

We are also in need of a girls' varsity soccer head coach for the spring season. This is also a 3 day per week commitment. The season runs from the beginning of March thru mid-May. Anyone interested can also reach out to athletic director Brittany Peters at bpeters@icja.org.

Give-Get is available.

Student Council is planning School Spirit Week.

Student Council met this week, and discussed School Spirit Week and a pep rally, scheduled for December 13.

Thank you to our class representatives, and to Mr. Joshua Cooper for working hard to make sure ICJA is filled with ruach and lots of fun student events!

ICJA students presented to hundreds of students over the past two weeks

While we were all relaxing over Sukkot break, Student to Student presenters took time out to give presentations about Judaism and what it's like to be a Jewish teen today to over 400 Wheaton Warrenville South High School Students.

On Thursday this week, ICJA students presented again, to three comparative religions classes at Naperville Central and Naperville North High Schools, where they taught peers about Jewish life.

Pictured above: seniors Ella Kakon, Toby Burstyn, Simona Fridberg, Ella Perlman, and Ariela Bielak in Naperville this week)

This week we caught up with ICJA's new math tutor and asked him a few questions about himself.

Mr. David Abrevaya is ICJA's new math tutor. He is available to help all students with math homework and test prep Monday-Friday during 6th, 7th, and 8th periods in the Math Commons.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

I grew up in Bat Yam in Israel and also lived in Haifa for a while.

My wife Renata and our two kids and I moved to West Rogers Park four months ago. Before that, we were living in Louisville, Kentucky.

How are you enjoying Chicago?

I like it! I love living in a large city. I also grew up near the beach, and I'm enjoying the beaches here.

Where did you go to school?

I attended the Technion in Israel and majored in aerospace engineering.

Why did you go into education?

I taught in Israel, both in the military and as a math tutor. I like the interaction with the students. I enjoy helping people overcome their obstacles in school with math, and I like to share my knowledge.

Do you have any hobbies?

Yes - I enjoy playing guitar. Back in Israel I played guitar in a heavy metal band. I also enjoy playing soccer and basketball.

(Pictured above: freshman Chana Krupel consulting with Mr. Abrevaya; Pictured below: Mr. Abrevaya's whiteboard in the Math Science Commons)

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!

Watch this moving video documenting some of the volunteer activities our seniors participated in during their month-long Mission to Israel!

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.

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.

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 15, 2025. FOR ESSAY/ARTWORK RULES AND GUIDELINES, visit www.att.org → For Students or call ATT at 773-973-2828 

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.