Upcoming Events

• Wednesday, October 2 - Friday, October 4, 2024 - Rosh Hashana break; no school (Click HERE to donate to our annual Rosh Hashana campaign.)

• Friday, October 11, 2024 - Erev Yom Kippur; no school

• Wednesday, October 16 - Friday, October 25 - Sukkot Break; no school

• Monday, October 28 - Classes Resume

Our Lady Aces Soccer Team is looking for a new Girls' Varsity Assistant Coach! 8-10 hours per week. wIf you are interested in becoming part of our amazing team, please contact ICJA Athletic Director Brittany Peters at bpeters@icja.org. Give-get is available.

Our school came together at Camp Chi this week for the best All-School Retreat ever!

This week our students and staff came together for ICJA's annual All-School retreat at beautiful Camp Chi in Lake Delton, Wisconsin.

It was a wonderful two days of learning, fun, bonding with each other and intense ruach.

Thank you to ICJA alumni Leslie '81 and Tom '81 Silverstein for sponsoring this fabulous event. Thank you Mrs. Alissa Zeffren for planning the many activities of Retreat and making sure that everything ran so smoothely. Thank you also to the many faculty and staff who took part in this event.

Retreat learning focused on The Power of Community.

This year's theme at Retreat was the Power of Community. On Wednesday, after arriving at Camp Chi students split into learning groups and learned sources from Mishna, Gemara and Midrash that helped them answer the question "How can recognizing the unique strength and contributions of every individual help us build a stronger, more unified community?"

Learning continued on Thursday, challenging students to ask themselves how they can strengthen their community.

Retreat activities included WildJet boat rides, a ropes course, sports, a water park, basketball, tennis, making friendship bracelets, and simply enjoying the beautiful weather and Camp Chi's grounds.

Retreat was jam-packed with activities. Students took trips to a challenging ropes course, a water park, and a "WildJet" boat ride. Back at camp, students enjoyed Camp Chi's gym and playing fields, and hung out talking, singing, playing games and making friendship bracelets together.

Wednesday's late night Mishmar included learning Mishnayot in memory of victims of the October 7 attack.

On Wednesday night, the atmosphere in Camp Chi was electric as our entire school came together to study Mishnayot as part of the international project of World Mizrachi to memorialize the victims of October 7th and the soldiers who have been killed. Each student received a name of one of the kedoshim and a Mishna from Masechet Rosh Hashana to study in their memory.

Students learned in diverse ways: in small chavrutot, in large groups, with teachers, and even individually. Fruit, drinks, and cholent helped make the atmosphere even more special during this meaningful and fun evening.

The theme of this year's All-School Retreat was the "Unity" in "Community".

Learning and activities during Retreat revolved around this year's Retreat theme "Unity" and "Community. Students learned Jewish texts on this theme, and also put unity into practice by making new friends and getting to know members of the ICJA community in new ways.

Pictured above: Freshmen

Pictured above: Juniors

Pictured above: Sophomores

Pictured above: Seniors

Students are creating art reflecting what they have learned about .

Sophomores in Mrs. Kochava Yitzchak's Advanced Jewish Studies Program class have been learning about some of the deeper meanings of Shabbat. This week they headed to ICJA's Art room to created unique, meaningful paintings reflecting an aspect of Shabbat that speaks to them. Students enjoyed creating beautiful art and explaining the symbolism employed in their paintings.

(Pictured above: Dalia Cohen with Mrs. Yitzchak discussing how Dalia's painting reflects the fact that Shabbat recharges and energizes us)

Pictured above: Rose Matatya with her painting which references the fact that on Shabbat we give up control over the physical world around us

Pictured above: Chavi Campbell working on her painting, reflecting the fact that after our ancestors left Egypt, they were thirsty for three days before finding water on Shabbat

Sophomores are mastering mathematical notations.

Students in Mrs. Stephanie Pederson's Concepts of Geometry class are learning how to measure, work with, and annotate rays, angles, and vectors, which are the building blocks for advanced geometric concepts.

This week, students identified and named different types of angles.

Pictured above: Oren Goizman

Pictured above: Bentzion Beiles

Students analyzed the wording of various brachot.

Why do some brachot over mitzvot employ the word "al" when commanding an action while other mitzvot use the prefix "l"?

Freshmen in Rabbi Nachman Levine's class took time out of learning Masechet Brachot this week to analyze various brachot over mitzvot and discuss the use of different wording; students concluded that "al" is used in a bracha that will be completed soon, while "l'" denotes a bracha that is ongoing.

Pictured above: Eitan Spolter

Pictured above: Yaakov Lehrfield

Pictured above: Coby Gordon

The widow of a soldier killed in Gaza spoke to ICJA students about staying positive and being grateful.

Last Friday, ICJA students heard from Hadas Lowenstern, the widow of Elisha Lowenstern, z"l, who was killed in fighting in Gaza as he rescued wounded soldiers.

In an intensely emotional speech, Mrs. Lowenstern explained that she and her six children are proud to be Israeli and proud of Elisha, and that they do not want to define themselves as victims.

Students were moved to hear that Mrs. Lowenstern considers herself the "luckiest person alive," and encouraged students to view themselves the same way. To hear Mrs. Lowenstern's inspiring talk, click here.

(Pictured here: Mrs. Lowenstern with Mrs. Alissa Zeffren and Mrs. Marissa Loebmann)

ICJA's newest club met last Friday for the first time.

Last Friday, ICJA's newest club - Parsha and Pancakes - met for the first time during breakfast. This girls' club features Friday morning pancakes plus learning about the weekly Parsha.

Senior Nava Dreyster delivered a dvar Torah about shiluach taken. Yasher koach to Nava and her co-head senior Sarah Lipton for founding this exciting new club.

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at Kehilat Chovovei Tzion.

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 at Kehilat Chovovei Tzion in Skokie.



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

This week's learning dedications include:

Monday, the 13th of Elul - Friday, the 17th of Elul, 5784, September 16 - September 20, 2024, by the Landes Family, in memory of David J. Landes, z"l, '71, to commemorate his 5th Yahrzeit on the 13th of Elul

Monday, the 13th of Elul, 5784, September 16, 2024, by Deva and Josh Zwelling, Devora and Alan Sorscher, Madison, Jacob '15, Vigo and Eli Zwelling, Lauren Sorscher '15, Ariella Zwelling '17, Jennifer Sorscher '17, Zeke Zwelling '21, Carly Sorscher '22, and Jordana Zwelling '24 in memory of Rabbi Victor Zwelling, z"l, Rav Avigdor David ben Betzalel, marking his Yahrzeit on the 13th of Elul

Thursday, the 16th Of Elul, 5784, September 19, 2024, in memory of Miriam and Milton Salesman on the occasion of their Yahrtzeits - We thank Jack and Annette Saltzman and family for establishing a scholarship in memory of their parents and grandparents

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!

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.

Please click HERE to sign up and HERE to pay for the retreat. Financial assistance is available; please contact Mr. Yona Bildner to discuss aid.

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 '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.