Upcoming Events

• Friday, May 9 - last day of classes for seniors

• Motzaei Shabbat, May 10 - last chance to receive 70% Give-Get credit for reservations and ads for the Dr. Edward A. Crown Annual Scholarship Dinner

• Monday, May 12 - Wednesday, May 14 - Senior Finals

• Thursday evening, May 15 - Lag B'Omer - ICGC, ICBC celebrations

• Wednesday, May 28 - Physics Day for juniors

• Tuesday, May 27 - Thursday, May 29 - Senior Retreat @Camp Chi

• Sunday, June 1 - Tuesday, June 3 - Shavuot Break

• Wednesday, June 4 - Study Day (no classes)

• Thursday, June 5 - Wednesday, June 11 - Finals Period

• Sunday, June 8 - Class of 5785 / 2025 Graduation 1pm

• Tuesday, June 17 - Dr. Edward A. Crown Annual Scholarship Dinner honoring Ald. Debra Silverstein (Crown Service Award), Daniel Harris (Crown Leadership Award), and Rabbi Yishai Broner (Educator of the Year) - Click here to register and/or buy an ad (See brochure below: 70% Give-Get credit for all reservations and ads received by May 10; 50% after that date)

Click here to view ICJA's cafeteria May menu.

Students celebrated in a gala JUF event as Israel's flag was raised over Daley Center.

(Pictured here: seniors Avi Chen and Ranon Ginsberg leading the Prayer for the State of Israel)

On Thursday, students headed downtown as the City of Chicago marked the secular date of Yom HaAtzmaut and a JUF-organized ceremony raising the Israeli flag over Daley Center in downtown Chicago.

ICJA was in the center of the ceremony: seniors Ella Kakon and Emily Darlow read the Tefillot for Israeli and the Israeli hostages; senior Avi Chen recited the Prayer for the State of Israel in Hebrew; and senior Ranon Ginsberg recited the Prayer for the State of Israel in English. Students heard from JUF Board Chair Wendy Abrams, Israel Consul General to the Midwest Yinam Cohen, and Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza. Students also had a chance to dance with former ICJA parent Ald. Debra Silverstein.

Yasher koach to our students for providing much of the ceremony's ruach and singing.

Pictured above: Pictured above: senior girls with former ICJA parent Ald. Debra Silverstein

Pictured above: sophomores Levi Madoff and Ayden Starck

Pictured above: freshmen Lior Kirschner, Avi Friedman, and Menachem Steinberg

Pictured above: seniors Aaron Hartman, Avi Okner, Zev Margolin, and Avi Chen

Pictured above: sophomores Yakira Wittlin, Ariella Titievsky, Zahava Volkov, Sarah Leonard, and Kinneret Finegold

Pictured above: girls dancing

Pictured above: juniors Penina Benjamin and Libby Bleichman

Pictured above: freshmen Eitan Spolter, Yaakov Lehrfield, Shmuel Scharman, and Menachem Dukes

Pictured above: juniors Aaron Katz, Eli Cherney, Jack Marshall, and Zachary Fogel

ICJA's Chidon HaTanach Team Excelled at this year's Nationals.

Last Sunday, six members of ICJA’s Chidon HaTanach team traveled to New York for the National Chidon Finals, where they racked up victories.

Senior Aliza Shyovitz won 1st Place and senior Levi Polsky won 4th Place in the 12th Grade Division. Freshman Emily Adler won 8th Place overall nationally; junior Penina Benjamin won 11th Place nationally.

ICJA’s student-led Chidon HaTanach team is one of the most successful in the country, routinely outperforming even much larger teams from schools with dedicated Chidon teachers and classes. Yasher koach to the entire team, team captains Penina Benjamin, Levi Polsky, and Aliza Shyovitz, and faculty advisor Mrs. Rachel Polsky

Pictured above: senior Aliza Shyovitz and freshman Emily Adler

Pictured above: junior Penina Benjamin, freshman Emily Adler, senior Aliza Shyovitz, sophomore Ariella Titievsky, freshman Menachem Steinberg, and senior Levi Polsky

Nearly 200 ICJA grandparents attended this year's meaningful Grandparents' Day.

On Monday, ICJA Grandparents’ Day brought nearly 200 grandparents to our school.

Grandparents enjoyed a gala dessert buffet with their grandchildren, and heard from Grandparents’ Day co-chairs Roslyn Lennon ‘69 and Elaine Rothner (pictured here) about some of this year's highlights in our school.

Seniors Daria Lennon, Dana Kalutsky, and Koby Engel spoke about the roles that ICGC and ICBC play in our school.

Afterwards, grandparents attended 8th period classes with their grandchildren. Students with frees during 8th period learned with their grandparents in the Commons.

Thank you to our co-chairs, our students, and our staff for making this event so meaningful, especially Director of Institutional Advancement Deva Zwelling and Development Operations Manager Ilana Levy.

Pictured above: senior Lea Ackerman, freshman Yis Burgher, and sophomore Jacob Ackerman with their grandmothers Susan Alexander and Ava Burgher '76

Pictured above: junior Zachary Fogel with his grandparents Carol Weintraub Fogel and Ron Fogel

Pictured above: sophomore Mashie Perkins with her grandparents Marna and Moshe Nitekman

Pictured above: sophomore Ilya Friedman and senior Jacob Friedman with their grandmother Dr. Shana Erehberg

Pictured above: senior Allie Stein with her grandmother Margaret Matanky

Pictured above: senior Lilac Marcus with her grandparents Polly Klarman and Joan and David Marcus

Students presented "Reader's Theater" performances of poems to their peers.

This week, seniors in Mrs. Marsha Arons's English class presented Reader’s Theater productions of poems. Reader's Theater combines reading and performing. Students prepared moving poems and explored ways to emphasize the emotional depth of each piece.

Pictured above: Elisha Shpayher, Jacob Friedman, and Gabe Aberman, presenting Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Pictured above: Dana Kalutzky, Nina Ripstein, Rachel Sommer, and Maytal Needle performing If by Rudyard Kipling

Sophomores recited Birkat Ha'Ilanot together at Rabbi Gutstein's home.

Wednesday morning after breakfast, sophomores in Rabbi Joel Gutstein’s Talmud class traveled to Rabbi Gutstein’s house to make Birkat Ha'Ilanot, the bracha on flowering fruit trees that’s said in the Spring.

Afterwards, students enjoyed learning and ice cream together before heading back to school.

Pictured above: Jacob Itzhaki, Oren Goizman, Yair Elbaz, Ayden Mishkin, and Asher Gadd reciting Birkat HaIlanot

Pictured above: Ayden Mishkin, Asher Gadd, Oren Goizman, Yair Elbaz, and Jacob Itzhaki enjoying ice cream

Freshmen final projects are on display in room 307.

This week, freshmen in Mrs. Kochava Itzhak's Chumash class completed a unit on the 50 Miracles of Yam Suf, studying the various commentaries on the scope, magnitude, and precision of this monumental and defining moment of our nation.

As a culminating project the girls designed a 50 Miracles mural on canvas, on display in room 307. Each piece of artwork reflects a different miracle; students are encouraged to stop by and look.

Students held special study sessions for this week's AP .

Students in AP classes spent much of this week studying and taking exams, and ICJA teachers went the extra mile, holding extra review sessions inside and outside of school, sending students study packets, answering questions, and posting review videos online.

AP US History held intensive study sessions this week, challenging students to come up with examples they would use to support various answers to different hypothetical test questions.

Thank you to all our teachers for working so hard this week to help our students do well.

Pictured above: juniors Ariella Pullin and Yehuda Goldstein

Pictured above: juniors Yoshi Bernstein, Penina Benjamin, and Dina Gottlieb

Pictured above: juniors Aiden Rich and Devorah Kaplowitz

Students were honored for excellence in Torah learning, Torah learning diligence, chesed, and good midot (character traits).

Wednesday evening, over a hundred students and their relatives attended this year's Torah Awards and dessert reception.

The evening began with the presentation of this year's Yehudi HaTov Award, presented in memory of ICJA alumnus Jason Lerner '95 a”h. The entire senior class voted on which of their peers deserved this honor. Yasher kochacha to senior Meital Wittlin (pictured here) for being elected the student who most embodies being a Yehudi HaTov (a good Jew).

Next, students received awards for Torah Excellence, Torah Diligence, Midot Tovot, and Chesed. The awards were interspersed with beautiful reflections from students. Thank you to senior Levi Polsky for delivering Divrei Torah: words about Torah learning. Thank you to senior Ami Weiss for delivering Divrei Derech Eretz: reflections on being a good person. Thank you to senior Ella Perlman for delivering Divrei Chesed: words about the importance of giving to others Thank you to Rabbi Shmuel Kurtz for organizing this meaningful event.

Pictured above: Torah Excellence Award recipients

Pictured above: Torah Diligence Award recipients

Pictured above: Midot Tovot Award recipients

Pictured above: Chesed Award recipients

Pictured above: senior Ella Perlman with her mother Melissa Perlman

Pictured above: freshman Elijah Comrov with his mother Dr. Elana Comrov

Pictured above: junior Yair Bell with his parents Dr. Dean Bell and Juli Bell

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at Or Torah in Skokie.

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 Congregation Or Torah in Skokie.



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

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.

Support the ICJA Scholarship Fund and win a trip to Israel!

There is no limit to the number of tickets you can purchase. Winners will be announced June 27, 2025.

Click here or on the flyer above to register and/or buy an ad for the Dr. Edward A. Crown Annual Scholarship Dinner honoring Ald. Debra Silverstein (Crown Service Award), Daniel Harris (Crown Leadership Award), and Rabbi Yishai Broner (Educator of the Year)

70% Give-Get credit for all reservations and ads received by May 10; 50% after that date

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.