Upcoming Events

• Thursday, November 27 - All-grade father-son learning, breakfast, and special shiur @Skokie Kollel 8:45am

• Thursday, November 27 - Friday, November 28 - Thanksgiving Break



• Wednesday, December 3 - Bulls Jewish Heritage Night - a bus will depart ICJA 4:45pm - Click here to sign up

• Sunday evening, December 14 - Monday, December 22 - Chanukah (to sign up for Chanukah Gift Gelt for ICJA teachers, click here)

• Wednesday, December 24 - Sunday, January 4 - Winter Break

• Monday, January 5 - School Resumes

Click here to view the December lunch menu.

Follow ICJA on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with school happenings.

Students volunteered at Chicago-area chesed organizations.

Last Friday morning, students got to work volunteering for chesed organizations throughout the Chicago area. Some students headed to ICJA's classrooms where they made warm blankets on behalf of the charity Gratitude Generation. Other students traveled to organizations' headquarters where they packed food, played with children, visited with the elderly, and performed other vital work - all while learning about different charities' missions and the role they play in helping our fellow Chicagoans. Participating organizations include: Yachad, The Chicago Center, Gratitude Generation, The Ark, Netivot, and Park Plaza.

Jonathan Roth, Director of Operations at The Ark was impressed with the kindness and energy of our senior boys sorting food in their warehouse and posted on Facebook: “The young men from Ida Crown are true difference-makers. If you ever feel disillusioned about the future of our society, spend some time at ICJA. The way they approach every objective with positivity, energy, and enthusiasm shows me that the future of our Jewish community is in excellent hands. Thank you, boys!”

Thank you to the students and staff who volunteered along with our students, and a special thank you to Student Activities Directors Mrs. Alissa Zeffren and R' Mordy Greenland for organizing this meaningful Chesed Day.

(Pictured here: sophomores Emily Adler and Dahlia Osgood making a warm blanket for Gratitude Generation to donate to those in need)

Students demonstrated their completed photosensitive electric night lights.

This week, students in Mr. Jonathan Keller's honors STEM-Engineering class completed their electric night light project, presenting their completed, professional-looking night lights to the class.

Each night light was programmed to be photosensitive and to respond to darkness by becoming brighter and brighter by degrees. Students programmed Arduino circuit boards, resistors, and light sensors to complete their projects. In addition to responding to light and dark, each night light had to look professional, like something one might want to buy in a store.

Each team fulfilled these demanding standards, creating visually pleasing night lights that work. Yasher koach to the entire class.

Pictured above: seniors Mia Weiss and Noam Hellman

Pictured above: senior Avi Rubin

Pictured above: seniors Macks Kroll and Boaz Stopek

Students discussed the Kli Yakar's views of Nazir.

Sophomores in Mrs. Beth Pogonitz's honors Navi class are in the middle of their unit on Nazir. When describing the promise a person makes to become a Nazir, the pasuk uses the word יפליא, which can be translated either as “he separates himself” or “he does an amazing thing” when making this promise. Students were exploring the perush of Kli Yakar who explains how both of these definitions can be understood in context, and discusses the positive and negative sides of becoming a Nazir, depending on the person’s objectives.

Pictured above: Dana Stein and Emily Adler

Pictured above: Michal Belsh consulting with Mrs. Pogonitz

Pictured above: the class reading and discussing the Kli Yakar

Seniors are writing poetic advice to fictional characters, combining knowledge of poetry and prose.

Seniors in Mrs. Marsha Arons's English class have been discussing poetry and its impact and literary devices.

This week they began writing advice in a creative persona to a character of their choice, following the template of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling.

(Pictured here: students reading inspiring poems out loud as a group to better feel the powerful emotional impact that elements such as refrains and repetition can have on listeners.)

Students discussed challenges facing today's students.

Sophomores in Rabbi Mayer Simcha Stromer's Talmud class took a break from learning Gemara on Wednesday to talk about some of the challenges facing teenagers today.

In an intense, wide-ranging conversation, students discussed the pressures to do well in school and difficulties in navigating media.

Rabbi Stromer posited that the ability to resist instant gratification and to put work into a project, waiting to see slow and steady gains, is an important midda (character trait). Students discussed the fact that when it comes to working out, there are no shortcuts: physical fitness can only be gained slowly with lots of effort. Similarly, students, discussed, gaining knowledge and becoming a better person require slow, steady effort.

Students gathered primary data.

Students in Mr. Allen Sears's AP Physics class performed experiments this week to generate data about the amount of friction force stacks of books can exert before they begin to slide.

Students then were challenged to develop equations relating the maximum static friction force opposing the normal force between the surfaces. Students later used their work to explore the relationship between normal force and maximum static friction force for different sets of materials.

Pictured above: senior Aiden Rich and juniors Caleb Novick and Raya Volkov

Pictured above: junior Hillel Lennon

Pictured above: juniors Archer Gradstein, Ariella Titievsky, and Eliana Neiger

Students shared collaborative feedback as they made predictions about the motion of multiple objects.

"Whiteboarding sessions" are an important part of Physics classes at ICJA. Teams of students share whiteboards showing their work, and the entire class collaborates in discussing the work, asking questions and offering thoughts about the way their peers solved problems and made predictions. In this way, students build a consensus as a class about new Physics insights and knowledge.

This week, AP Physics students applied Newton's 2nd Law to make quantitative predictions about the motion of an object or system of objects.

(Pictured here: juniors Mia Saltzman and Ariella Titievsky and senior Aiden Rich presenting their work, and the class discussing their findings)

Students enjoyed ice cream and pie this week.

On Wednesday, students enjoyed a delicious ice cream treat in memory of Mr. Michael Karzen, z”l, a beloved ICJA supporter and parent and grandparent of alumni Doni, Aviva ’89, Gabey ’18, Micah ’20, Joey ’22, and ICJA junior Dolly Cohen. Together they, along with Rachel Karzen, sponsored Mr. Karzen's favorite treat — chocolate ice cream — in his honor. “He made this world a sweeter place. He taught us to enjoy even the little things, like a scoop of ice cream with friends. He would be so happy to know his ICJA ‘kids’ were having a scoop today to celebrate his life, his family explained.” May his memory always be a blessing.

(Pictured here: Gabe, Aviva, Dolly, and Joey Cohen)

Also on Wednesday, during breakfast and lunch, ICJA Student Council sold pies and pie slices to raise money for Student Council.

Yasher koach to the Student Council for selling over 35 pies ahead of Thanksgiving.

(Pictured here: freshmen Student Council members and pie sale organizers Isaac Kaplowitz and Levi Weiss)

This week saw victories in Basketball and Wrestling.

This week brought a host of Aces victories. In Basketball, Boys JV & Varsity Basketball won their opening games vs. Christian Life. Girls JV & Varsity Basketball won their games versus Prosser.

The Wrestling Aces opened their season with their traditional pre-Thanksgiving quad meet at Evanston High School. Local powerhouses Lane Tech and Chicago Hope also competed. 

Junior Levi Madoff (157), Junior Gabriel Nudman (165), and Sophomore Ari Shyovitz (165) led the way with victories against ETHS. Junior Megill Hamieri (126) lost a nail biter, 14-13. Our freshman squad dominated against Evanston, winning five of seven matches. Sam Perkins (106), Netanel Rosenbaum (106), Ruvi Gurvich (113), Max Madoff (138), and Dovi Finkel (165) all pinned their opponents in impressive fashion. 

Freshmen Reuven Gurvich, Dov Finkel, Ron Lev Hamieri, Sam Perkins, and Max Madoff, sophomore Ari Shyovitz, and junior Gabriel Nudman all notched wins against Lane Tech. Sophomore Eitan Spolter (175) and Junior Caleb Novick (113) also claimed their first victories of the season. 

Hope featured a lineup littered with state-ranked wrestlers, and their quality showed against the Aces. Ari Shyovitz, Sam Perkins, and Caleb Novick scored victories for Ida Crown, but the final result heavily favored Hope. 

The Aces continue their season on Monday with their home opener against Intrinsic. 

Students enjoyed fun costumes on Wednesday.

Wednesday was Student Council's Twin Day. Students and teachers alike got creative with their "twins" as they got ready for school.

Pictured above: seniors Esther Fretzin and Mia Weiss

Pictured above: real life twins freshmen Jacob and Max Leonard

Pictured above: Mrs. Lynn Kraft, Mrs. Alise Gold, and Mrs. Ayala Zimmerman

Freshmen boys and their relatives davened at Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol Kesser Maariv last Sunday.

Last Sunday freshmen boys and their relatives gathered together at Beth Hamedrosh Hagadol Kesser Maariv for davening followed by breakfast and learning together.

This weekly program is run by award-winning Tanach teacher and freshman boys' rebbe Rabbi Louis Fliegelman.

Contact Rabbi Louis Fliegelman to learn more or to join these weekly visits.

This week we caught up with ICJA's new Hebrew and Tanach teacher and asked her a few questions about herself.

ICJA's new Hebrew and Tanach teacher, recently arrived from Israel, is already a familiar face in our school. This week we caught up with Mrs. Shira Jacobs and asked her a few questions about herself.

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

I grew up in Beit Shemesh. I'm currently living in Skokie with my husband Itai, who learns in the YU Torah Mitzion Kollel, and our children: Ro'i, who's three, and Gilad, who'd nine months old.

In Israel, I was a Mechanechet and taught Tanach and Torah She'ba'al Peh in a middle school in Jerusalem.

How did you decide to become a teacher?

I was always involved in Chinuch. I love seeing people able to fulfill themselves and succeed and learn to see new strengths that they have.

What have you enjoyed so far about ICJA?

I love the students here; the people are really special. Itai and I have found a great community here; we feel very welcomed and loved.

You are also involved with Bnei Akiva here in Skokie; please tell us about that.

Itai and I are reviving Bnei Akiva here in Skokie. Our first SNIF is planned for December 13 in the lishka!

Our goal is to have SNIF on a regular basis. We are recruiting teenagers to run the programs; anyone who wants to get involved as a madrich should get in touch with me in person or at sjacobs@icja.org. We are also working on a program for 9th and 10th grade students to prepare to become madrichim.

Do you have any hobbies?

Yes, I like art a lot. I enjoy drawing and I also used to paint.

Is there anything you'd like to share here that most people don't know about you?

Yes, my husband and I got married during Covid. Itai's parents live in South Africa and they couldn't make it to Israel for the wedding. I only met my in-laws when we'd been married for nine months and they were finally able to come 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 to pick up your updated passwords to access our online material. ICJA's subscriptions are available at icja.libguides.com/home.

Watch our new 2025-6 Prospective Student Video!

Know a student who wants to learn more about ICJA? Send them our new 2025-6 Prospective Student Video! Click on the image below to watch.

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.

Last summer, ICJA gave its Class of '25 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.

Inspiring bnei and bnot Torah to thrive in the modern world

ICJA is an affiliate of the Associated Talmud Torahs and a partner with JUF in serving our community.