Upcoming Events

• Thursday, April 3 - Interviews for Senior Graduation Video - seniors click here to sign up if you have not yet done so

• Friday, April 4 - Shabbat Shteig for 10th - 12th grade girls during 3rd period

• Friday, April 4 - Freshman Fridayton - Click here to sign up and here to pay (To discuss financial assistance, email Mr. Yona Bildner ybildner@icja.org.)

• Tuesday, April 8 - Pre-Pesach learning with ICJA alumni

• Wednesday, April 9 - Monday, April 21 - Pesach Break

• Tuesday, April 22 - Classes resume

• Thursday, April 24 - Yom Hashoah

• Wednesday, April 30 - Yom Hazikaron

• Thursday, May 1 - Yom Ha'atzmaut (all-school chagiga all morning)



• Monday, May 5 - Grandparents Day 1-3:30pm (See brochure below - click here to register)

• Wednesday, May 14 - Torah Awards 6pm

• Wednesday, May 28 - Physics Day for juniors

• Tuesday, May 27 - Thursday, May 29 - Senior Retreat

Sophomores interviewed members of Keshet Gadol.

(Pictured here: Megill Hameiri interviewing Avi from keshet Gadol)

Sophomores in Mrs. Marsha Arons's English class are continuing their "Demystifying Disability" unit. Over the past several weeks, students have learned interviewing techniques and performed practice interviews with their classmates. Students have also heard from people with disabilities and written about what they learned.

This week, students interviewed participants in Keshet's Gadol program, asking questions about participants' disabilities, how their disabilities affect their lives, and even whether they consider themselves disabled at all. Over the next few weeks, students will perform research into disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), then write essays about this week's interviews and ways that their own thinking about disability has changed.

Pictured above: Ayden Starck interviewing Emma

Pictured above: William Moscovitch interviewing Doug

Pictured above: Jacob Thomas interviewing Chuvie

Students are adding to their World History timeline.

Each time seniors in Mrs. Rachel Polsky's AP World History class complete a unit, they create flashcards illustrating key topics and affix them to a massive timeline on their classroom wall.

This week, as students completed a unit on globalization, they created cards defining concepts such as the League of Nations, the International Monetary Fund, regional alliances, and multinational corporations.

All the while, students in this small class of just four students kept up a discussion about the key terms and concepts they've learned. (Pictured above: seniors Hadar Simkovitch, Levi Polsky, and Simcha Seruya)

Pictured above: senior Levi Polsky

Pictured above: senior Aliza Shyovitz

Pictured above: Hadar Simkovitch

Seniors are conducting independent research projects.

Seniors in Mrs. Lynn Kraft's Tanach Seminar spent this week working on independent research projects. Students are preparing material to present in unique and creative ways over the coming weeks.

Leah Rina Brochin, who is writing a children's book about the meanings and symbolism of water in Tanach, and Nava Dreytser, who is researching intermarriage in Tanach

Pictured above: Rachel Sommer, who is preparing a dvar Torah about Shir Hashirim to present to her family during Pesach, and Lilac Marcus, who is researching mentorship in Tanach

Yardana Schayer and Ariela Bielak, who are both researching different types of relationships in Tanach, and plan to present their work in the form of a letter and a talk, reopectively

Freshmen are solving polynomial equations.

This week, freshmen in Mrs. Heather Hobbie's Algebra class learned how to solve different polynomial equations.

After writing equations in standard form, with variables and constants on one side and zero on the other side of the equation, students practiced factoring and solving problems.

Pictured above: Aaron Gelb

Pictured above: Eliana Stolberg

Pictured above: Shmuel Scharman and Dana Stein

Yasher koach to Levi Polsky on winning 4th Place in this prestigious contest.

Mazal Tov to Levi Polsky for placing fourth in the 5785 Jerusalem Science Contest. He wona trip to Israel with the Jewish Science Contest this spring. Levi's award-winning project is titled Filtering Water with Carbon Nanotubes.

The JSC is an international competition with over 100 participants who study a college-level science topic and compete with a series of exams and research. Walder Science sponsors JSC in partnership with the LEV Academic Organization – Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev for Men and Machon Tal for Women) in Yerushalayim. Levi will be featured at the annual JSC Culminating Celebration on Monday, March 24, 6:30-7:45pm at Walder Science, 3050 W. Touhy Ave. Chicago. (See flyer below for more information.)

For more information or to sign up for next year's JSC, click here.

Juniors are planning visual representations of the Ten Commandments.

Juniors in Mrs. Kochava Yitzhak's AJSP class are learning about Jewish views, including commentaries and Midrashim, about the עשרת הדברות, the Ten Commandments.

This week students traveled to the Art Room to plan and begin creating visual representations of what they've learned. Each student chose a mitzvah which speaks to them, and began strategizing how they would depict it in all its nuance and complexity.

Pictured above: Esti Mora and Hadassah Belsky

Pictured above: Jayden Perlman consulting with Mrs. Yitzhak

Pictured above: Alyssa Blumberg consulting with Mrs. Yitzhak

The Aces are squaring off against Yeshiva League teams in YU's annual tournament.

(Pictured here: the Aces Playing Hillel Yeshiva of New Jersey)

School was notably quiet this week as the Aces and supporters traveled to New York for Yeshiva University's Sarachek Basketball Tournament. ICJA squared off against 19 other Jewish schools from across the country.

Two generations of ICJA at Sarachek this year.

Coach Dr. Jon Rich ‘95 played in Sarachek in 1995; this week his son, junior Aiden Rich, played in his first Sarachek.

“Incredibly, 30 years later (wow) I have the privilege of not only returning to coach my alma mater at this tournament, but my very own son is a junior on our team. The fact that something like this can even happen is pretty darn special and a testament to Yeshiva University’s incredible legacy in many notable areas, including investing in Jewish high school students from across North America. While I hope my son enjoys his experience on the court, even more so I look forward to him immersing himself in the entire extended weekend of networking and meeting students from other schools, experiencing a special Shabbos in the hotel, and feeling the electric energy of Yeshiva University.” - Coach Rich

Read more about Coach Rich's reminiscences of Sarachek here.

Students acted out Hebrew language skits.

Freshmen in Mrs. Eliora Lavi's Hebrew class have been writing Hebrew-language skits incorporating vocabulary words about buying and selling.

This week, students performed their completed skits, acting out scenarios where customers enter a phone store, ask questions about buying a new phone, then make a decision and purchase it. It was a fun way to use new vocabulary words and gain fluency in speaking and listening to Hebrew.

Pictured above: Dovid Carlsen, Akiva Joseph, and Shmuel Scharman

Pictured above: Aaron Gelb, Yaakov Lehrfield, and Bennett Kroll

Pictured above: Mijael Pliego, Akiva Mishkin, Yoni Hellman, and Menachem Dukes

Freshmen are delving into Sefer Shemot.

Freshmen in Rabbi Michael Myers' honors Chumash class this week engaged in careful reading of Parshat Bo, in which Hashem commands bnei Yisrael to slaughter and eat sheep and to smear the animals' blood on their doorframes.

Students discussed the language of these commandments, debating their purpose and imagining what our ancestors went through during this time.

Pictured above: Menachem Steinberg

Pictured above: Zachary Kupietzky

Pictured above: Asher Segal

Students shared presentations about Masechet Taanit.

(Pictured here: Devorah Kaplowitz)

Juniors in Mrs. Lizi Martin's honors Talmud class are learning Masechet Taanit. This week they took turns educating their peers about different parts of the Masechet that pertain to rain.

Each student took a different daf (page) to research. After learning the page with Rashi and other perushim, students created presentations describing the Talmud's arguments, explaining some different perushim, discussing machlokets (disagreements) in the text, and presenting different quotes and ideas from the daf. Students described what they felt was applicable in their daf to their lives today, created artwork reflecting what they learned, and discussed questions they have about the text.

Students took notes and discussed each classmates' daf, deepening their understanding of Masechet Taanit and Gemara learning in general.

Rabbi Matanky spent much of this week supporting Jews in Ethiopia.

ICJA Dean Rabbi Leonard Matanky spent much of this week in Ethiopia, part of a mission of rabbis organized by the Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry (SSEJ).

Rabbi Matanky met with members of the Jewish community in the cities of Gondar and Addis Ababa, where SSEJ operates Jewish schools, runs shuls, provides communal celebrations, and helps support thousands of Ethiopian Jews who are dire need of emergency food and medical care. Just $500 can feed a child in Gondar for an entire year. The same amount can provide a pair of tefillin for a community of more than 12,000 Jews, who currently share fewer than 50 pairs.

To learn more about the Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry, click here.

Wrestlers were honored this week.

On Tuesday evening, the Wrestling Team had its annual awards presentation last night. Yasher koach to the entire team on this year's record-breaking season.

Senior Aidan Zukerman received the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award, as well as the Coach Klein Achievement Award.

Senior Avi Chen received the Most Improved Wrestler Award.

Junior Adin Jones received the Most Dedicated Wrestler Award.

Sophomore Levi Madoff received the David H. Kandelman a”h Award for the most distinguished tournament performance. 

Pictured above: Coach David Ferraro, Coach Bill Porter, seniors Aidan Zukerman, Jacob Friedman, Avi Chen, and Moshe Tarshish, Coach Klein, and Avner Frazin

ICJA's newest club began this week.

ICJA’s newest student-led club began this week: the Mahjong Club. Students enjoyed a fun game during their free period and play to play weekly.

Students who want to join the club can get in touch with sophomore Aryeh Lowenthal, juniors Ben Rosenburg or Gabe Boshes, or freshman Avi Friedman (all pictured below) for more details.

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at Ohel Tefillah on Touhy.

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 and their relatives davened and learned together at Ohel Tefillah. After davening, ICJA alumnus Adam Gorenstein '15 spoke to students about the shul and about why there are so many shuls in West Rogers Park.



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

Freshmen boys welcomed fathers to daven with them during the week at school.

Freshman boys' parents and other relatives are always invited to join us for Shacharit during the week, as well. This week, fathers came to ICJA to daven with their sons in the freshman boys' minyan.

Pictured above: Mr. Noah Mishkin with his son Akiva and the freshmen boys' minyan

Pictured above: Mr. Scott Burgher with his son Yis and the freshmen boys' minyan

This week we caught up with ICJA's maintenance worker.

Mr. Kazimierz Najdala helps ensure that ICJA is neat, clean, and well run. From plowing snow in the winter to setting up and taking down seats for Mincha each day, Mr. Najdala's work is indispensable to our school. This week we caught up with Mr. Najdala and asked him a few questions about himself.

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

I grew up in Tarnow in eastern Poland. That town is infamous because it's where the first transport of Jews to Auschwitz was sent from. My parents told me about terrible things that happened there that the Nazis did.

I moved to the US on September 7, 1984 - I remember the date exactly because I was so happy to put both my feet on the ground in this country!

Today, I live in Harwood Heights with my wife Maria and our dog Lily. We're a big dog family; all my kids have dogs too. Lily is a mix; we got her from a shelter.

We have three kids. Our oldest daughter Iwona is a Chicago police officer. She and her husband have three children: Giovani, Joe, and Angelina. Our middle child is a boy, Kris; he works for the Cobra Construction Company. Our youngest child is Joanna; she lives in Lake Bluff and works in automotive insurance.

What do you love about working here at ICJA?

I like working with people. I also enjoy the fact that here I do a little bit of everything.

This is my "retirement job." I spent 17 years working for Helene Curtis, which was a company that made shampoo and other products. When they shut their plant here in Chicago I became a truck driver and did that for thirteen years. Then I retired, but I didn't want to just sit around all day so now I am working here.

Do you have any hobies?

Yes, I'm very interested in cars and enjoy going to car shows. I also enjoy playing chess and playing volleyball.

Do you have any advice for students?

Yes - listen to your parents! They're the ones who have your best interest at heart! Also, hold on to your friendships as much as you can.

(Pictured above: Mr. Najdala with his youngest grandchildren Joe and Angelina)

Watch "Oh the Places You'll Go," our 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.

Click here to sign up for the Freshman Fridayton. To discuss assistance with payment, email Yona Bildner.

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.