Upcoming Events

• Monday, March 30 - Friday, April 10 - Passover Break

• Monday, April 13 - School Resumes

• Tuesday, April 14 - Yom Hashoah

• Tuesday, April 21 - Yom Hazikaron

• Wednesday, April 22 - Yom Ha'Atzmaut

• Thursday, April 30 - Grandparents Day 9:00 am -11:15 am - Click here to register

• Tuesday, May 5 - Lag B'Omer celebration in school

• Friday, May 15 - Last day of classes for seniors

• Thursday, May 21 - Erev Shavuot - early dismissal

• Friday, May 22 - Shavuot - no classes

• Monday, May 25 - Memorial Day, no classes

• Monday, June 1 - Monday, June 8 - Finals

• Sunday, June 7 - ICJA Graduation 1pm

• Wednesday, June 17 - Dr. Edward A. Crown Scholarship Dinner - Reception 6pm, Dinner 7pm

Wishing the entire ICJA community a happy, healthy Passover.

.חג כשר ושמח

Thursday, April 30 is Grandparents Day!

Click here to register.

Parents: we need your help. If you have not already done so, please provide your child(ren)'s grandparent(s) contact information here.

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

On Thursday evening, over 600 women and girls came together for this dazzling event.

This Thursday evening over 600 students, parents, and members of the community gathered together for ICJA Takes the Stage, commemorating the life of Batsheva Chaya Stadlan, z”l, generously sponsored by the Ralla Klepak Foundation for Education in the Performing Arts. 

The theme of this year's show was Betzelem Elokim, and the performance illustrated the fact that every single person reflects the Divine.

This week's performance was the culmination of a year of hard work and learning. Students enjoyed a Yom Iyun, learned Jewish sources about beauty, learned how to design clothes, and even attended a fun performance of Hamilton to see what a live performance can look like.

Yasher koach to all our students and staff who worked so hard to make this year's Ida Crown Takes the Stage the best one yet. Special thanks to seniors Miriam Falk, Ellie Deangeles, and Mina Brandes, who were producers; to seniors Libby Bleichman and Mia Weiss who served as the evening's fabulous MCs; and to senior Ariella Pulin, the evening's creative lead.

Thank you to Mrs. Moria Kohanchi and Mrs. Deva Zwelling for organizing so much of this event and to our Mechanchim Mrs. Lynn Kraft, Mrs. Ayala Zimmerman, and Mrs. Alise Gold for their support. Thank you to Marianne Novak and Noam Stadlan and the Ralla Klepak Foundation for Education in the Performing Arts.

Students are looking forward to time off of school and spending time with family and friends.

This week we caught up with some ICJA students and asked them what they're looking forward to over the next couple of weeks.

Pictured above: seniors Eli Fretzin, who is looking forward to seeing his grandparents, siblings, and cousins in Philadelphia, and Dani Allswang, who is looking forward to seeing his siblings and his baby nephew Akiva

Pictured above: sophomore Miriam Linzer, who is looking forward to a quiet Pesach at home after her family's plans to travel to Israel were cancelled

Pictured above: freshmen Noam Dobuler, who is looking forward to his mom's chicken soup, and Isabella Navakas, who is looking forward to eating charoset

Pictured above: junior Mashi Perkins, who is looking forward to relaxing over break - and also to eating matzah pizza, one of her favorite Pesach foods

Pictured above: juniors Livia Baronofsky, Maya Kutliroff, Bela Burstyn, and Eliana Neiger, who are all looking forward to having time off of school to enjoy with their families and friends

Pictured above: sophomore Mijael Mora, who is looking forward to his mother's special Pesach dish, Passole

Pictured above: Mrs. Alise Gold, who is looking forward to hosting her in-laws (who were meant to be in Israel for Pesach) and seniors Miriam Falk, who is looking forward to helping her mom cook and to buying lots of fruits and vegetables for Pesach, Penina Benjamin, who is looking forward to her family's large seder, and Ester Fretzin, who is looking forward to doing Zumba with her Bubbie

Pictured above: freshman Roland Rudnick, who is looking forward to eating matzah pizza, his favorite Pesach dish

Pictured above: senior Avi Rubin, who is looking forward to seeing his grandparents, his brother, and his aunt over Pesach

Freshmen enjoyed a fabulous Friday last week.

Last Friday, freshmen enjoyed a fun afternoon together at Scene75. Afterwards, they returned home and got ready for Shabbat, arriving in time for candlelighting.

Shabbat evening at ICJA was magical. Students enjoyed ruach-filled davening, a delicious Shabbat dinner with student-made challah and desserts, stirring divrei Torah, fun games, and a delicious Oneg Shabbat.

Thank you to our teachers and students who helped make this year's Freshman Fridayton so wonderful, including Student Activity Coordinators Mrs. Alissa Zeffren and Rav Mordy Greenland.

Students incorporated Pesach into classes throughout school this week.

This week, classes brought Pesach into their syllabi in both predictable and unexpected ways.

Mr. Joshua Cooper's 11th Grade American History Class discussed American history through the lens of Pesach.

In Mr. Josh Cooper's American History class, students discussed ways that elements of American history echo some of the themes in the Pesach seder such as the escape from slavery to freedom. Students then created Seder Plates with captions explaining these links.

(Pictured here: juniors Sheindy Worch and Dolly Cohen)

Rabbi Yosef Polstein's 9th and 10th Grade Boys' Talmud Classes received collected essays by their rebbe.

Students in Rabbi Yosef Polstein's 9th and 10th grade boys' Talmud classes received a gift this week: nine essays about Pesach that they can use to enrich their Pesach sedarim. After receiving their booklets, students discussed some of the concepts contained in them in class.

Rabbi Shmuel Kurtz's 12th Grade Girls' AJSP Class wrote newspaper reports from Yetziat Mitzrayim.

Seniors in Rabbi Shmuel Kurtz's AJSP class created newspapers reporting from the exodus from Egypt.

Pictured here: Esther Fretzin and Miriam Falk holding their copies of The Goshen Times, a newspaper reporting on the events.

Sophomores in Mrs. Alissa Zeffren's Jewish History class are learning about illustrated Haggadot.

Sophomores in Mrs. Alissa Zeffren's Jewish History class paused their ordinary classwork this week to delve into the world of illustrated Haggadot.

Students viewed examples of illustrated Haggadot and learned why and how artists created lavishly illustrated Haggadot and other books in the Middle Ages. Students then took turns presenting different works to their peers.

Mrs. Orit Marmel's students retold the Haggada in modern Hebrew, then created games for their peers to enjoy.

This week, students in Mrs. Orit Marmel's Hebrew classes gave presentations on different aspects of the Haggadah, retelling sections in modern Hebrew. Each student then shared an original game they made that related to the Haggadah section they'd researched.

Pictured above: freshman Eve Novick retelling the story of the four sons

Pictured above: senior boys playing a game about the song Had Gadya designed by Natan Miller

Pictured above: sophomore Elisheva Sudin discussing the three mitzvot of Pesach, matzah, and maror

Pictured above: senior Ami Gavant talking about the Maggid portion of the Haggadah

Freshmen in Mrs. Anat Tanner's class visited Keshet.

Freshmen in Mrs. Anat Tanner's 9th grade girls' Hebrew class prepared gifts of fruit this week then visited Keshet students to present them to them before Pesach.

Students then sang the song Chad Gadya for students (pictured here).

Seniors in Mrs. Noa Nussbaum's Navi class discussed the difference between Egyptian and Jewish mindsets.

Seniors in Mrs. Noa Nussbaum's Navi class - which is currently being taught by Mrs. Marissa Loebmann while Mrs. Nussbaum is on maternity leave - this week discussed differences between ways that ancient Egyptians and Jews viewed kings.

Students discussed the fact that Jews view kings as often flawed humans while ancient Egyptians considered their kings to be gods.

Mrs. Eliora Lavi's 11th grade students baked kosher l'Pesach brownies for police officers guarding our school.

Juniors in Mrs. Eliora Lavi's Hebrew class baked kosher l'Pesach brownies this week, then delivered them to the police officer who is guarding our school.

It was a fun way to practice baking for Pesach and to show our appreciation for our local police.

Students demonstrated their ability to chart different atomic structures.

Sophomores in Mr. Jonathan Keller's Chemistry class conducted experiments this week to determine the nature of electron bonds and whether various substances possessed ionic or covalent electron bonds.

Students heated samples of different substances and observed them as they approached their melting points. Ionic compounds have high melting points, while covalent compounds have lower melting points.

(Pictured here: Binyamin Friedman and Zachary Kupietzky testing different substances)

This week we recognized a special teacher and student for contributions to our school.

Yasher koach to this year's Masliansky Awards. Students and staff were asked to identify people in our school community who help make ICJA warm, welcoming, open, and fun. This year's winners do so much and enrich us all with the energy they bring to our school.

Congratulations to junior Sarah Leonard, identified as a student "who brings a sense of joy to the school and whose actions encourage others to be involved in student learning and activities." Congratulations to Rabbi Shmuel Oren for going "above and beyond for our school and students."

Thank you to Susan and Ronnie Masliansky for sponsoring this annual award.

Pictured above: junior Sarah Leonard

Pictured above: Rabbi Shmuel Oren

Upperclassmen learned about fighting antisemitism.

Last Friday, former Congressman and current CEO of the American Jewish Committee, Ted Deutch, visited ICJA and spoke with upperclassmen.

Mr. Deutch spoke about the opportunities and responsibilities our students have to become community leaders, and encouraged them to consider signing up for the AJC's teen leadership program Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT).

In a wide-ranging question and answer session, students asked Mr. Deutch about antisemitism on campus and how to counter false narratives about Israel.

Freshmen boys and their relatives gathered at Bnei Ruven in West Rogers Park last Sunday.

Last Sunday, freshmen boys and their relatives gathered together at Bnei Ruven in West Rogers Park as part of our Veshinantam Levanecha program. Each Sunday, freshmen and their relatives come together at Chicago-area shuls for davening, learning, breakfast, and camaraderie.

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 popular Talmud, history, and math teacher and asked him a few questions about himself.

Math, Talmud, Modern Jewish History - Rabbi Zev Drutman is a polymath who can teach all these subjects and more. He is also the faculty advisor of ICJA's Israel Advocacy Club. This week, we caught up with Rabbi Drutman and asked him a few questions about himself.

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

I grew up in Brooklyn. Today, I live in West Rogers Park with my wife Grace. Two of our kids went to the Academy: Tami '20 and Moshe '23. Moshe and our other son Yosef both live in Israel. Tami and our other daughter Naomi live in the US.

How did you decide to become a math teacher?

In college at the University of Delaware, I majored in History with a minor in Spanish and Political Science. I had teachers there and in high school who sparked my interest. I always felt that teaching was a terrific job; when I watched Indiana Jones I thought it would be fun to be an archaeologist, but I enjoyed the scenes where he was teaching in the classroom too.

I taught Jewish subjects for a kiruv organization, Yeshivat Migdal Torah, for ten years. During that time, I got enough math credits to then enroll in National Louis University and complete a Master's degree in Math Education. I taught in some other Jewish schools in Chicago, then came to ICJA in 2016.

What do you enjoy about teaching here at ICJA?

Many things. I love that it's a very professional environment; there's a lot of support here. I feel the Math Department is a very supportive and cohesive group of people.

I like that at Ida Crown, we don't just teach a love of Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael; we also teach a love of Medinat Yisrael.

Another aspect of ICJA that I really like is that there's a very diverse group of students here, yet they all form one cohesive community.

Do you have a favorite ICJA memory?

One year at Yom HaAtzmaut, students set up a big area that looked like an El Al plane in the front of the school. Then when you walked through it, it felt like you came out into Israel on the other side. That was great.

Do you have any hobbies?

Yes, I enjoy watching baseball, and root for the Yankees. I also enjoy cooking and reading. I read all sorts of books: history, philosophy, poetry, novels.

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

After college I went backpacking around Europe with a couple of friends. We went to Pamplona and ran with the bulls there. I wouldn't recommend it: it's dangerous.

What advice do you have?

Put down your technology and pick up a book. Go to museums. Don't spend your life on your phone. Experience the world!

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 would like 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.

Parents: there are still slots to sign up to supervise lunch ball! This is a fun way to earn Give-Get. Parents are present in the gym during 5th and 6th periods while students play basketball, overseeing this fun daily event.

Volunteers earn $30 in Give-Get credit each day.

Join our Alumni Facebook Group

We are excited to announce that we have a 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.

The annual ICJA Israel Connect directory is out.

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.