Upcoming Events

• Friday, December 6 - Shabbat, December 7 - Senior Shabbaton

• Sunday, December 8 - ICBC "Wrap and Roll" - 9am Shacharit and breakfast @Adas Yeshurun, followed by bowling @Bowlero



• Friday, December 13 - Pep Rally, 8th Period

• Friday, December 20 - Assembly to celebrate Coach Doug Klein being inducted into the Wrestling Officials and Coaches Hall of Fame, 1st Period

• Monday, December 23 - ICJA Florida Get-Together in Aventura, FL (see flyer below - click here for more information and to register)

• Monday, December 23 - January 1 - Winter Break - no classes

• Thursday, January 2, the 8th day of Chanukah - Classes resume

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

Students began the week celebrating Rosh Chodesh Kislev.

On Monday morning, students returned to school after the Thanksgiving break and began the week with a special all-school Rosh Chodesh davening, followed by doughnuts to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Kislev.

May this be a month of health, peace, and success for all of us at ICJA and for Klal Yisrael.

Pictured above: junior Natan Rine and senior Koby Engel

Pictured above: sophomores Rose Matatya and Meira Schultz

Pictured above: freshman Sammy Bajtner

Sophomores discussed sectarianism and life in the Hellenistic Diaspora.

Sophomores in Mrs. Alissa Zeffren's class this week finished their long-running unit on sectarianism and Jewish literature in the Hellenistic Diaspora.

Students discussed the development of Diaspora communities throughout the Middle East between 152 BCE and 70 CE, the many offshoots of Judaism that developed during this period, and the development of Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha during this tumultuous period in Jewish history.

Pictured above: Aryeh Lowenthal and Ami Appel

Pictured above: Meira Schultz and Evie Weiss

Freshmen are gaining fluency and Gemara skills as they learn Masechet Brachot.

Freshmen in Rabbi Louis Fliegelman's Gemara class are learning Masechet Brachot. This week they learned the Gemara on why we say the Shema three times, not twice, a day.

Students took turns reading the text, with Rabbi Fliegelman drawing attention to difficult words and phrases in a projection of the text (pictured above). Students discussed the reasons the Gemara gives for reciting the Shema prayer during Shacharit, Maariv, and before going to bed.

Pictured above: Dahlia Osgood

Pictured above: Avigayil Loebmann confers with Rabbi Fliegelman

Pictured above: Molly Zayan

Students gained experience with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Students in Mrs. Julie Thomas's Art class experimented with a new medium this week: glow in the dark paint. After first sketching drawings onto posters, students painted over their sketches, testing the resulting colors in different lights. Check out the resulting artwork at next week's pep rally, where their work will be on display.

Pictured above: Eliana Frankel and Mia Saltzman

Pictured above: Ariana Needle and Maya Kutliroff

Pictured above: Meira Shultz and Ariella Titievsky

Students enjoyed an insightful shiur about light.

On Monday, dozens of girls attended ICGC's lunchtime Rosh Chodesh Haburah. Students enjoyed a pizza lunch while Seniors Nava Dreytser and Yardana Schayer (pictured here) led a shiur about the spiritual meaning of light and where it appears in Tanach

Thank you to all the students and our Mechanchot who put together Ida Crown Girls’ Club’s monthly Chaburot and enrich our learning and community.

Pictured above: students enjoying the shiur

Pictured above: senior Tali Weiss and juniors Devorah Kaplowitz and Yaffa Hoberman with the pizza lunch

Students and their relatives davened and learned together on Thanksgiving morning.

Last Thursday, dozens of students and their relatives woke up early for the ICBC Father-Son Thanksgiving Minyan.

Students and their families davened Shacharit together at the Skokie Kollel, then enjoyed breakfast and an inspirational shiur from Rav Zev Cohen.

Thank you to our Mechanchim for organizing this inspirational event.

(Pictured above: Rabbi Shmuel Oren speaking to the group)

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at Congregation Ezras Israel

Many Sunday mornings, ICJA's freshmen boys' rebbe, Rabbi Louis Fliegelman, arranges for students and their fathers (and grandfathers and other relatives) to meet at a different Chicago-area shul to daven Shacharit together and enjoy breakfast and learning.

Last Sunday, students davened together at Congregation Ezras Israel. Afterwards, Rabbi Yitzchak Falk explained the history of the shul, which is over 120 years old.



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

Freshmen measured the effects of active transport on cells.

Freshmen in Mr. Peter Sahyouni's Biology class have been learning about the different ways that molecules can move into and out of cells such as diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and osmosis. This week, they performed an experiment to illustrate another method: active transport, in which molecules move from higher to lower concentrations across a membrane.

Students created pure water and saltwater solutions, measured the weight of carrot pieces, then soaked carrots in each solution. Afterwards students measured the carrots' weights again and observed that carrots soaked in salt water were softer and lighter than the carrots soaked in pure water.

Students then wrote up their lab reports, positing that salt had drawn water out of the carrot cells by a process of active transport.

(Pictured above: Zachary Kupietzky, Jacob Gordon, and Asher Segal)

Pictured above: Jordan Rich and Ronit Kinar

Pictured above: Ronit Kinar and Avigayil Loebmann

Pictured above: Emily Adler

Students debated thought-provoking questions about Chanukah.

This week, freshmen in Rabbi Nachman Levine's Gemara class took a break from learning Masechet Brachot to learn about Chanukah.

They learned and discussed some perplexing questions about the holiday, including: why don't we have to use olive oil to light Chanukah candles, and why don't we recall the ten miracles which Pirkei Avot describes occurring inside the Beit Hamikdash every day during Chanukah? Students engaged in a lively and spirited conversation as they learned Rambam's and other rabbeim's answers to these and other questions.

Pictured above: Mason Gorenstein taking notes

Pictured above: Jonah Krule

Pictured above: Eitan Spolter

Students acted out episodes from the life of King Shaul.

Sophomores in Mrs. Lizi Martin's Navi class are learning Sefer Shmuel Aleph. This week they illustrated what they've been learning by putting on mini-plays illustrating the early life of King Shaul.

Using creative props, insightful dialogue, and humor, students brought the events they're learning about to life in a fun way.

Pictured above: Yakira Wittlin, Ayelet Klein, Sarah Leonard, and Chavi Campbell

Pictured above: Kinneret Finegold, Ariella Titievsky, and Evie Weiss

The Aces opened their season with a victory.

On Tuesday night ICJA claimed its first victory of the season as they defeated Chicago Academy, 44-24.

Sophomore Megill Hamieri (120), Junior Adin Jones (132), Senior Avi Chen (138), Senior Aidan Zukerman (144), Senior Jacob Friedman (150), Senior Avner Frazin (157), Senior Moshe Tarshish (165), and Sophomore Ayden Starck (215) all claimed victories. Chen, Zukerman, and Friedman led the way by pinning their opponents. Sophomore Levi Madoff (150) also added a victory on the JV level. Yasher koach to a great start for the season!

(Pictured above: the team prior to the meet)

At a meet against Maine East and Mather the following day, ICJA wasn't so lucky. Though they lost the overall meet, several team members won individual matches. Against Mather, Sophomore Caleb Novick (106), Sophomore Megill Hamieri (113), Senior Avi Chen (138), Senior Aidan Zukerman (144), and Senior Moshe Tarshish (165) all won their matches. Novick was particularly impressive, notching his first varsity win with a technical fall, 16-0. Mather won the match, 42-27.

In the match against host Maine East, Hamieri, Zukerman, and Tarshish each won their second match of the evening. Joining them in the victory column were Junior Adin Jones (132) and Senior Avner Frazin (157). Maine East won, 42-29.

The Aces continue their season next Thursday when they journey to Westmont High School. 

Pictured above: sophomore Megill Hameiri on Tuesday night

Pictured above: senior Jacob Friedman on Tuesday night

Pictured above: sophomore Levi Madoff on Tuesday night

The Lady Aces triumphed over CICS Northtown Academy.

Yasher kochachen to the Lady Aces for this week's victory. On Wednesday night, the Aces beat CICS Northtown Academy 47-16.

(Pictured here: seniors Ella Perlman and Daria Lennon during the game)

ICJA is looking for a girls' assistant soccer coach.

ICJA is looking for a girls' varsity soccer assistant coach for the Spring season. This is 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.

This week's learning dedications include:

Tuesday, the 2nd of Kislev, 5785, December 3, 2024, by the ICJA staff, in memory of Sheila Brown, z"l, beloved mother of ICJA staff member, Carol Nylund, in commemoration of her 4th yahrzeit.

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.

This week we feature our school's namesake, Mrs. Ida Crown, z"l.

Our school carries an important legacy: we are named after Mrs. Ida Crown, z"l, an enterprising, brave woman who helped build the Jewish community here in Chicago and was a beacon of Orthodox Jewish life.

Ida grew up in Russia and moved to America all alone.

Ida Crown, née Gordon, was born in 1872 in the Pale of Settlement, the areas of the Russian Empire where Jews were allowed to live.

Life was terribly difficult in Russia. Jews had few rights and lived in fear of pogroms. While she was still a teenager, Ida left her family in Russia behind and sailed to New York. She lived with relatives in the small upstate town of Troy, New York.

Ida met Arie, her future husband, while she was still a teen.

In Troy, Ida met another Jew from the Pale of Settlement who shared her strong religious feelings. Arie Crown was twelve years older than Ida and working as a peddler in Troy. They fell in love, but Arie was determined to build a new life in the American West.

Arie bought a wagon and horses and travelled to St. Louis, where there was more opportunity. He and Ida wrote to each other and Arie visited Troy for the Yomim Noraim to spend time with her. They decided to get married and discussed where to live. Arie had heard that the city of Chicago was booming, and he told Ida he wanted to explore life there.

Arie moved to Chicago. He took a job in a factory and soon received several promotions. Finally feeling secure, he travelled back to New York and brought Ida to Chicago with him; they married in 1892.

Ida built a strong Jewish family in Chicago.

Ida and Arie settled on the North Side in a small house and had seven children: Sol, Irving, Henry, Herman, Jacob, Edward, and Florence. Ida's children recalled how difficult life was: Henry described how the family had to buy ice to refrigerate their food and how they received the day's portion of milk from a milkman each morning.

The family was poor and didn't always have enough to eat. Despite this, Ida's children later reminisced about the beautiful Shabbat meals she always used to cook. Her home was always open to visitors, and often fellow Jews from Europe would come for meals and to stay.

At a time when many American Jews were assimilated, Ida Crown never wavered in her Orthodox Jewish life, keeping kosher and remaining Shomer Shabbat throughout her long life, even when it was difficult to do so. Her children remembered that Ida always ensured that Shabbat as a special time in their family.

Ida also stressed that her children prioritize schoolwork: each evening after dinner, the kids would clear the dinner dishes then do their homework at the family's cramped kitchen table.

Ida Crown was an early entrepreneur.

Even though it wasn't usual for women to work outside the home in the early 1900s, Ida built a small store on the ground floor of the family's house and sold dry goods. She worked hard to master the English language and became a leading figure in the Chicago Jewish community. She and Arie became known as people who would always help their fellow Jews.

While their children were still young, the Crowns' house was devastated by a fire that destroyed much of their block. All their possessions were lost. The family moved to a smaller house nearby, and Ida once again built a small dry goods store on the lower level to help with the family's finances.

Ida Crown's Legacy

Ida Crown died in 1956. Eight years later, the Chicago Jewish Academy was renamed Ida Crown Jewish Academy, reflecting the support that Ida's and Arie's children and grandchildren have given to our school and to Jewish education in Chicago.

Watch "Oh the Places You'll Go," 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 last year's seniors participated in during their month-long Mission to Israel 2023-4!

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.

Dear NILI Community,

I am excited to announce the launch of the NILI Teens Leadership Fellows Program, a unique opportunity for high school girls to grow as leaders within the Jewish community. This program is designed to inspire and empower young women to discover their individual strengths, passions, and goals while building leadership skills to make a meaningful impact.

Program Highlights

• Fellows Application Now Open: All high school age girls are welcome to apply. 
• Selection Process: The inaugural cohort of Leadership Fellows will be selected by a NILI committee.
• Monthly Leadership Sessions: Fellows will meet once a month to learn together, develop leadership skills, hear from guest speakers, and create impact projects in the community.
• Certificate of Completion: In June, we will honor the cohort’s achievements with a special certificate celebration.

First Meeting: Sunday, December 1st

Application Deadline: November 20th

To apply, please click the button below.

I encourage all high school girls who are interested in this leadership opportunity to apply! 

Sincerely,

Alissa Zeffren

NILI Director 

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.