Last Friday, May 20, 2022, Rabbi Schachter, the noted Talmudic scholar, Nathan and Vivian Fink Distinguished Professorial Chair in Talmud at YU, and Rosh Kollel in RIETS' Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel (Institute for Advanced Research in Rabbinics) came to ICJA to speak to students.

His topic was the difference between love of Hashem and fear of Hashem, and its implications in how we behave today and in the time of Mashiach. After his talk, Rav Schachter took questions from students. ICJA students were able to ask both halachic and philosophical questions. In answer to a question from junior Jakob Wortman, about what made Rav Schachter want to continue learning Torah, Rav Schachter replied "because the more I understood, the more learning Torah became exciting, and I wanted to do exciting things!"

In addition to the freshman, sophomores and juniors, several seniors came back to school - even though their classes are done for the year - to hear Rav Schachter's talk.

From Monday, May 23 through Wednesday, May 25, ICJA seniors enjoyed a fabulous Senior Retreat filled with fun activities, outings, games, opportunities to hang out and bond, Torah learning, davening, singing and a bonfire night.

After davening and eating breakfast on Monday, students and some staff members headed to JCC Camp Chi in Wisconsin, stopping on the way in Mirror State Park for kayaking. Students enjoyed outings to Kalahari and Tom's Foolery, an evening of escape rooms, a kickball tournament, and visits to a bowling alley and arcade.

Thank you to Mrs. Alissa Zeffren and Rabbi Yoni Fox for arranging this amazing retreat, as well as to Rabbi Leonard Matanky and Dr. Gavi Brown for taking part in the fun.

Pictured above: Gavriel Engel, Gabriel Burstyn, Will Blumberg and Eliezer Zagorin

Pictured above: Rabbi Matanky, Will Blumberg, Matthew Schreiber, Gavriel Engel, Sophie Fretzin, Ylie Starck, Noam Weissman, Aytan Czako, Jonathan Thomas and Hannah Stein

Pictured above: seniors enjoying bowling

Pictured above: Hannah Rothner, Yolie Starck, Gavriel Engel, Kayla Well and Sophie Fretzin

Pictured above: enjoying a bonfire and kumzitz together

Pictured above: Yolie Starck and Sophie Fretzin

Pictured above: Eliyahu Malkin, Ariel Kahnrose, Ezra Jacobs and Jonathan Okner

Pictured above: the winning kickball team - Rabbi Matanky, Yonatan Arnet, Noam Braun, Jonathan Thomas, Joseph Cohen, Gabriel Burstyn, Avi Seruya, Dini Robinson, Talia Jacobs, Tovi Litwack and Yolie Starck

Last Friday, May 20, 2022, Mrs. Kraft’s junior girls’ Honors Chumash class took advantage of the beautiful weather, learning b’chavruta outside.

The class is nearly finished learning Sefer Devarim. The fresh air made getting to the end of the sefer more fun and energized the whole class.

On Wednesday, May 25, 2022, ICJA juniors headed to Great America for "Physics Day," when students perform physics experiments at the amusement park.

After donning special vests containing measuring equipment, students rode roller coasters then calculated acceleration and height. Students got to use barometers, gyroscopes and other equipment while having a great time.

Now that they're back in school, students will analyze the data they collected and will be presenting their conclusions in class.

Pictured above: Josh Felix, Kenny Shapiro, Menachem Reed, Hersch Linzer, Adam Schwartz and Daniel Carl with Rabbi Stromer

Pictured above: Andrew Bersson, Noah Fensterheim, Chaya Laber, Dena Simon-Hakalir, Rachel Adar, Nechama Tarshish and Shaina Tarshish

Pictured above: Adina Margolin wearing the special vest and measuring equipment that students used at the park

Pictured above: measuring physical forces on one of the rides

(Photos courtesy of junior Noah Fensterheim)

Students in Mr. Keller's Advanced Geometry class this week learned about power theorems: theorems that can be used to solve various geometry problems involving circles. Students practiced using the chord-chord power theorem, the tangent-secant power theorem and the secant-secant power theorem.

Pictured above: sophomore Josh Paskoff and freshman Yossi Burstyn

Pictured above: freshman Aliza Shyovitz

Pictured above: sophomore Jordana Zwelling

Pictured above: sophomore Aryeh Neiger

On Sunday, May 22, Student to Student (STS) celebrated the end of another successful year in which they gave over 60 presentations in 14 public and parochial high schools in the Chicagoland area and Wisconsin, reaching 2,000 students.

Follow Student to Student Chicago on Facebook here. To sign up to be a presenter next year, click here.

Pictured above: seniors Hannah Stein and Tamira Halpert

Pictured above: Ms. Sheri Goldstein leading a workshop on public speaking

Last Sunday, May 22, 2022, students met at Congregation Khal Chasidim.

Pictured above: Rabbi Efraim A.Twerski, freshman Ezra Comrov with his father Mr. Aaron Comrov, freshman Jacob Friedman with his grandfather Mr. Steve Erenberg, and Rabbi Louis Fliegelman

Since 2006, ICJA Physics teacher Mr. Allen Sears has led groups of students as they conduct high-energy physics research in conjunction with Quarknet, a collaboration between the National Institute of Science, Fermilab and the University of Notre Dame. This year, four ICJA students have chosen to be a part of these extracurricular experiments. (It's not too late to join: please see Mr. Sears.)

This week, students worked on setting up a muon detector at ICJA pointed 60-degrees above the horizon and facing south. The moon will pass through this region of the sky each day as students record data. 

Pictured above: juniors Gideon Miller, Ori Wasserman and Noah Fensterheim working on the muon detector

Pictured above: juniors Gideon Miller, Ori Wasserman and Noah Fensterheim with the completed project

This week, some members of ICJA's Israel Advocacy Club met with Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) for breakfast. Students were able to question Rep. Steil about the American-Israel relationship and discuss issues with him.

Pictured above (left to right): sophomore Benjamin Baronofsky, juniors Kayla and Joshua Kupietzky, Rep. Steil, sophomores Jordana Zwelling, Ayelet Appel and Noa Gavant, and junior Hadassah Bernstein

From time to time, Rabbi Yochanan and Yona Postner, directors of Skokie CTeen, come to ICJA with sweet treats during lunchtime.

This week, we caught up with ICJA's Tanach Chair and Mechanechet, Mrs. Lynn Kraft,

This week we caught up with Mrs. Lynn Kraft, the Chair of ICJA's Tanach Department, girls' Israel Guidance Counselor, and Mechanechet in our school and asked her to tell us a little about herself.

I grew up in Lawrence, New York. I attended the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, then SKA for high school, then Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim (MMY) in Jerusalem.

I started college at Columbia University, then transferred to Stern College my sophomore year. I realized that I wanted to be a Tanach teacher, and Columbia wasn't giving me the education I needed to do that.

My husband, Rabbi Aaron Kraft, and I moved here when my husband was part of the YU Torah Mitzion Chicago. Today, he is a Dayan with the CRC Bet Din.

We live in Lincolnwood with our children: Adira (age 16), Tani (age 13), Eli (age 11), Avi age (9) and Akiva (age 7).

When I was young, I never wanted to be a teacher. My great-grandmother had been a teacher in Germany, and my mother said as a teacher, you always bring your work home with you. I thought about being a doctor, then considered going into business, and even thought about becoming a lawyer.

Finally, I realized that I just loved Tanach and learning and creating shiurim. I've also always had a knack for explaining things clearly to other people. Teaching allows me to fulfill my passions.

I love the warmth and the relationships that are created here, between colleagues, and between teachers and students. Some of my favorite memories from ICJA have been the special Shabbatonim we've celebrated together where we create those connections.

I like running and reading; my favorite genres are probably realistic fiction and historical fiction. I also really enjoy cooking and baking.

Yes - I have synesthesia: that's a condition where stimulation of one sense can lead to stimulation of another, unrelated sense. What that means for me is that I see letters and numbers in color.

About one in 2,000 people have synesthesia. Interestingly, my suitemate at Columbia also had synesthesia. I think it helps make me a better Tanach teacher: seeing numbers and letters in color helps me remember what content is in each perek of Tanach. 

Pictured above: Emily Blumberg, '18 Kayla Glass, '18, Mandy Gordon, '18, Max Baker, '18 Avi Braun, '18 and Abie Jacobs '18

If you are interested, please contact programs@walderlab.org or call 773-649-5360.

Over Chanukah, ICJA gave its Class of '21 alumni a Chanukah gift: a brand-new directory that lists ICJA alumni who live in Israel and have graciously offered to open their homes to recent ICJA '21 grads who are currently spending a gap year in Israel this year.

The directory was sent out to the emails of '21 grads that we have on file. 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.

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