ICJA's COVID protocols were updated Monday, February 14, 2022) To view current school protocols - Click here.

Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet, Thursday, March 3, was Ann Rita Schwartz, z"l Chesed Day. After davening and a special breakfast, students headed out for various chesed projects.

Senior boys and girls volunteered at Cradles to Crayons, junior boys sorted books at Bernie's Book Bank, and junior girls helped sorted at the Chicago Chesed Fund.

Freshmen and Sophomores remained in school. After hearing shiur about chesed and the importance of giving by Rabbi Shmuel Oren of the Chicago Community Kollel and a panel discussion about various chesed organizations in our community, they broke into groups to assemble chesed packages for different charities to distribute.

"Chesed Day provides an opportunity for kids who don't usually do chesed to do chesed with their friends." - sophomore Sam Gorenstein

"It's a beautiful thing that our school gives us the opportunity to do this." - sophomore Maayan Dallal

"It's inspiring to learn about all these organizations in our community." - sophomore Dina Osgood

Pictured above:

Freshmen Eliya Sander, Talia Linzer, Ella Perlman, Rachel Sommer, and Tali Weiss making care packages for cancer patients for Sharsheret

Freshmen Yaakov Friedman, Yaakov Engel, Gabe Aberman, Aaron Hartman, and Elisha Shpayher assembling mishloach manot for the Ark

Sophomores Maayan Dallal and Dina Osgood packing mishloach manot for Yachad

Sophomores Hayden Gradstein, Adam Katz, Moshe Wiesenberg, Moshe Seruya, Jacob Friedman, Ari Klein, Gabriel Klein, and Sam Gorenstein packing art supplies for Chai Lifeline to distribute to children undergoing medical treatment

Pictured above:

Junior girls at the Chicago Chesed fund pantry

Juniors Ilan Blumenthal, Ben Boyarskiy, and Ori Wasserman sorting books at Bernie's Book Bank

Left: bowling and lunch at Bowlery

Students also partnered with Shalva to make posters describing signs of harmful words and behavior.

Shalva information sheets about Finding the Right Words to Say and Talking to Teens About Dating Abuse can be accessed by clicking on the titles printed in bold here.

Students learned about the valuable roles that dogs perform in צה״ל, asked questions, and took notes - all in Hebrew

On Monday, February 28, girls in Mrs. Tanner's and Mrs. Marmel's freshmen girls' Hebrew classes and in Mrs. Stopek's honors freshman girls' Hebrew class had an in-class discussion with Danielle Kulbak, a soldier in אוקץ, the Canine Unit in צה״ל.

Students learned about the different uses for dogs in צה״ל, including search and rescue, bomb sniffing, and tracking terrorists.

Above: a clip from Danielle Kulbak's presentation

Below: Sarah Lipson (left) and Hadar Simkovich (right) taking notes in Hebrew

To kick off their research project on “respecting others, respecting ourselves,” students in Mrs. Arons's sophomore honors English class met with Mrs. Michelle Friedman ('75), a former ICJA Board Chairwoman and current Chairwoman of the Board of Keshet.

Mrs. Friedman spoke about fostering a culture of inclusion and discussed her work with Keshet and her own experiences as a blind woman.

Mrs. Friedman asked the class to define ableism. Students discussed the term, and Mrs. Friedman offered a definition of her own: "Ableism is when I'm defined by what I cannot do," she explained.

"We will learn about discrimination, inclusion, accommodation, implication of bias. Students will conduct interviews and do research to learn about and how to treat people with disabilities." - Mrs. Arons

Students in Mrs. Zeffren's sophomore Jewish History class have been learning about classical responsa. This week, they presented their own creative projects illuminating the way responsa work - both in previous ages and today.

Pictured above left: Ayelet Appel, Noa Gavant, Jordana Zwelling, and Rena Neiger discussed the time frame of teshuvot (responsa) in the past versus today. They showcased a series of instant messages that they exchanged with Rabbi Stromer discussing the shaila of whether or not it was halachic for them to take a job as an Uber Eats driver. Today, unlike in past years, their questions - and Rabbi Stromer's detailed halachic discussion - are virtually instantaneous.

Pictured above right: Danielle Zaretsky, Jacob Friedman, Joey Levy, and Ben Baronofsky asked Rabbi Stromer a different shaila, whether or not its permissible to make ice on Shabbat, and discussed the issues involved in relation to other responsa as well.

Pictured below: Ari Klein, Gabriel Klein, Dory Marshall, and Josh Paskoff discussed a teshuva issued by Rav Sar Shalom ben Boaz, a Gaon who lived in the 9th Century, concerning the issues related to stealing. They then applied his reasoning to a contemporary shaila: whether it's acceptable to screenshot an NFT digital image.

Students in Rabbi Kurtz's senior girls' AJSP class came together on Tuesday morning, March 1 to organize an in-school bake sale on Wednesday to raise money to help Jewish communities in Ukraine.

Girls baked different kinds of cookies and brownies while discussing the situation in Ukraine.

"We're doing it to help support the Jews in Ukraine and help give them some hope." - senior Abby Aberman (pictured)

All money raised went to the JUF's Ukraine Relief fund. Click here to learn more about the fun or to donate.

Pictured: senior Abby Aberman with cookies

AJSP seniors about to bake

Senior Sophie Fretzin with customer junior Josh Felix

Cookies for sale

Running the bake sale

Senior Leora Lakser buying items from senior Abby Aberman

On some Sunday mornings, students in Rabbi Fliegelman's freshman boys' Talmud class have the option of gathering to daven and learn together along with their relatives at local synagogues.

Last Sunday, February 27, students met at the Skokie Kollel.

They davened Shacharit, ate breakfast, and shared insights of Torah learning that they learned in their classroom.

Pictured left to right: Mr. Aaron Comrov (ICJA Class of 1994), Dr. Joel Okner (ICJA Class of 1977), Avi Okner, Rabbi Fliegelman, Jacob Friedman, his grandfather Mr. Steve Erenberg, Ami Weiss, Mr. Jonathan Weiss (ICJA Class of 1994), and Ezra Comrov

With Purim just around the corner, members of the ICGC Board met this week for a working lunch to plan the club's annual Purim celebration.

Board members have been learning how to plan and run successful meetings, and recently met with ICJA Board Immediate Past President Micki Jona Schreiber, who shared insights into how to be an effective board member.

This week, students put what they've learned to use, planning all aspects of the event, with input from Mrs. Lynn Kraft and Mrs. Alise Gold.

Board members came up with some great ideas for a fun Purim evening event, March 17th. Stay tuned to hear what they planned closer to Purim!

Students continued to rehearse this week for ICJA Takes the Stage's choir performance. Students rehearsed the song Fabulous from High School Musical.

Pictured: Talia Molotsky, ICJA Takes the Stage Director, with choir members (left to right): freshman Rivka Weinstein, junior Charli Ernstein, sophomore Gabriella Zipperstein, sophomore Noa Gavant, sophomore Ayelet Appel, and freshman Aliza Shyovitz

On Monday, February 28, Student to Student gave presentations to Naperville North High School over Zoom. Junior Adina Margolin (pictured) discussed Judaism, and answered a student's question about whether it was difficult for Jews to go without celebrating Christian holidays.

Senior Tamira Halpert (pictured) explained Shabbat and fielded questions. the Naperville North students were surprised to learn that many Jews don't use their phones or other electronic devices for 25 hours each week: Tamira discussed why she enjoys Shabbat and doesn't miss her phone then.

In lieu of mishloach manot - or in addition to other Purim gifts - consider sending a personalized ICJA Purim e-card this year.

How it works:

If you have any questions about the e-cards, please contact Academy Associates e-card coordinator Chaya Gordon-Burstyn.

I saw that people were working crazy hours. They were never home, never with their families. Also, nobody created anything. You were only as good as your last trade. Teaching is the opposite of that: you create connections and help guide people.

Between teaching and college guidance there isn't that much time left in the day. I try to make sure I get my daily Torah learning in to keep my own balance.

No - I'm an open book!!!!

Tuesday, the 28th of Adar 1, March 1, 2022, by Rosi ('69) Lennon and family, George ('76) and Julie ('76) Lennon and family, and by Lori (Lennon) ('74) and Jeff Meisel and family, in loving memory of Hal Lennon, z"l הלל בן גרשון ז׳׳ל.

Wednesday, the 29th of Adar 1, March 2, 2022, by Andy Ernstein, Ari, Jesse and Charli, in loving memory of Shelby Ernstein, z"l שלמה יונה בן ישראל אלי הכהן , ז׳׳ל, to commemorate his 10 yahrzeit.

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.

Students can submit poetry, prose, essays, photography and more. Click here to submit your work.

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

To register, click here.

Over Chanukah, ICJA gave its Class of '21 alumni a Chanukah gift: a brand-new directory that lists ICJA alumni who live in Israel and have graciously offered to open their homes to recent ICJA '21 grads who are currently spending a gap year in Israel this year.

The directory was sent out to the emails of '21 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.

Thank you to the Ralla Klepak Foundation for Education in the Performing Arts for making this production possible. For more information visit: https://yachadnewsies.brownpapertickets.com/ or contact Lori Cooper at Cooperl@ou.org.

Click here to sign up for this online class featuring ICJA Board member Liz Geifman.

Win-win! You can support Ida Crown Jewish Academy, while shopping via Smile.Amazon.com