Week 7, October 18-22
16 Cheshvan 5782
October 22, 2021
Dear ICJA Family:
Last night, over 200 people came to ICGC’s Challah Bake, including mothers and daughters of 8th graders interested in chesed and ICJA.
The ICGC Board deserves a special shout out for their efforts – Jordyn Baker, Julia Bellows, Laura Bellows, Nava Cohen, Dana Kalutsky, Rotem Lavi, Kayla Kupietzky, Jordana Zwelling, Adina Margolin, Daria Lennon, Talia Linzer, Lilac Marcus, Carly Sorscher, and Maya Wasserman (who also delivered a great dvar Torah),. Also, a special thanks to Simona Fridberg and Talia Linzer, who helped make the 5lb batch of dough during their free period, and Tali Benzaquen, Maayan Dallal, Aviva Dallal, and Carmel Schreiber, who helped with the setup. It truly was a group effort!
And now to today, which started a little earlier than usual with Rabbi Fliegelman’s minyan davening vatikin at the beach. I’m not exactly sure what time they had to get there (probably around 6:45 am), but they were there – with tefillin on a ready to daven. Yaasher koach to Gabe Aberman, Ezra Comrov, Amichai Dobuler, Koby Engel, Jacob Friedman, Eyal Gutstein, Aaron Hartman, Zev Margolin, Avi Meyer, Avi Okner, Ami Weiss and Meyer Zayan. Thanks to all of the parents who came along for the special program. We know that the best way for our students to appreciate tefillah is to see how much parents appreciate tefillah – and today, the message was loud and clear (and a little chilly as well)!
This morning, during the first period Keshet Starr, the CEO of ORA (Organization for the Resolution of Agunot), spoke with the senior class. Ms. Starr is a very impressive person, and her organization has made a significant difference in the lives of so many. But it has only done so by educating our community and advocating for those unable to receive a Jewish divorce. We are proud that we can offer her a platform at our school and that our students learn about the importance of the halachic prenup as part of our educational program.
This afternoon I had the chance to drop into Ms. Sennett’s business law class. While Ms. Sennett has been teaching history at ICJA for many years, before coming to our school, she was a practicing attorney – and so it was natural for her to develop and teach this course. Today, the seniors in her class were researching and writing a paper about corporate and security law in the workplace. As Menachem Reed explained, the goal of this assignment – “it’s to make the law ‘real.'” One by one, Ms. Sennett worked with each of the students, and all of them were totally engaged. What a joy to behold!
Finally, good luck to our student delegation going to the JUMP Conference this Sunday. JUMP is a great program created by NCSY and OU to foster new and innovative ideas for schools. God luck to Audrey Perlman, Joshua Kupietzky, Joshua Felix, Andrew Bersson, Noah Fensterheim, Hersch Linzer and Zachary Miller! I can’t wait to see what you come up with to help make ICJA an even better school!!
Candle lighting tonight is at 5:37.
Shabbat shalom, stay safe, stay connected, and stay inspired!
B’vracha,
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
15 Cheshvan 5782
October 21, 2021
Dear ICJA Family:
What a great day today was at ICJA.
For the first time in many months, I wasn’t there – having flown to Los Angeles to celebrate the brit of my newest grandson, Asher Matanky (son of ICJA alum Avi and Sarah Matanky). But while I was away, nothing slowed down as our fantastic faculty and great students were learning and doing so many important things. So many, in fact that I don’t know where to begin.
But let’s go with this one – while I was at the simcha, I received a phone call that the lights were out. Oy! A controller for our BAS (building automation system) had gone bad, and the lights were out in the 300 wing of the building – where Tanach and Ivrit are taught.
Kudos to our building staff who worked diligently to resolve the problem, and B”H, the lights were restored by 11:00 am. But what was amazing was the way teachers and students didn’t miss a moment of learning. The commons bustled with art projects and chavrutot. The classes that chose to stay inside the inner rooms used their phone lights. And Mrs. Wainkrantz taught the girls Chassidut on the meaning of dark and light in creation!
While all this was going on, Yeshiva University was interviewing prospective students, and our Student to Student program presented to two Comparative Religions classes at Naperville North (approximately 50 students). Yonatan Chavel, Shiri Kolom, Leora Lakser, and first time presenters Noa Gavant and Jordana Zwelling were fantastic! A special thanks to Mrs. Miki Schreiber for virtually chaperoning one of the presentations today, and of course to Mrs. Zeffren the faculty advisor! When asked at the end of the second presentation what they love about being Jewish, our presenters said: “the community,” “our history and ancient texts, with so many stories relevant to our lives today,” and “the food!”
A bit later, but still in the morning, I received the following email from Mrs. Pederson – “I wanted to share some nachas (not sure if my spelling is correct). I walked through the Math/Science commons, and Ariel Kahnrose and another student were on a zoom with Dani Siebzener. Dani is in Israel and speaking with the boys. He was so engaging!”
But Dani wasn’t the only alum online today with ICJA students. Because through the diligent efforts of Rabbi Fox the following alumni in Israel had chevrutot with his 12th grade Talmud class: Moshe Chinn, Yitzchak Nadoff, Shmuel Bergman, Michael Edelman, Yoni Asher, Josh Goldrich, Ray Goltz, Justin Carl, Nerya Miller, Gadi Kalman, Daniel Otani.
Each alum was paired with a senior or two and learned via FaceTime, Whatsapp, or Zoom. But today wasn’t a “one and done.” Rather, this chevruta learning will continue weekly! The students really enjoyed it – and to quote Mrs. Pederson, what nachas!
Today, Noah Fensterheim spearheaded a new Student Council project to collect tzedakah to benefit Refuah 311. There are tzedaka boxes in all of the minyan locations and the front office, and the cafeteria. Please help out!
Finally, tonight is the Challah Bake! Thank you, ICGC, for making this happen. Thank you to the Walder Foundation for supporting these critical programs that foster leadership and community. And a special thank you to all of the mothers and daughters who will be joining us this evening.
Tomorrow, we skip 4th period, and periods 10, 11, and 12 meet. The school will be dismissed at1:58 pm.
Stay safe, stay connected, and stay inspired!
B’vracha,
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
14 Cheshvan 5782
October 20, 2021
Dear ICJA Family:
This morning I had the opportunity to co-chair a JUF presentation on the new 2020 Chicago Jewish Population Study. It’s a fascinating, concerning, and challenging report. On the one hand, the Chicago Jewish population has grown, but the non-Orthodox denominations have shrunk. On the other hand, the Orthodox community has grown (but we are still on 7% of the total population), and 57% of Orthodox Jews identify as Modern Orthodox Jews.
Of course, there is more to learn from this data, but among my takeaways is that ICJA is more important than ever! Not only are there many people within our community that we can serve, but there are so many more that we can reach out to and bring them closer to Torah. For more information about this study, click here – https://www.juf.org/Population-Study/default.aspx
Today our faculty and students had an opportunity to take their personal yearbook pictures. If someone wasn’t able to do so for some reason, the photographers will be returning on November 22 for retakes. Again, if you have any questions, please be in touch with Mr. Olson, volson@icja.org.
As many of you know, our Ivrit curriculum NETA uses themes to teach Hebrew. Many of Mrs. Tanner’s classes are studying about photos (צילום). To bring these lessons to life, she invited former ICJA teacher, parent of alumni, and professional photographer Larry Engelhart of Deja Views to speak with her students. He wowed the classes with personal stories about Karim Abdul Jabbar, who visited Israel, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Clinton’s visit to the Illinois Holocaust Museum. Mr. Engelhart also talked about the Obama inauguration party he couldn’t cover, as it conflicted with Shabbat. He shared a moving story about his experience with disabled children at the Alin hospital in Jerusalem. He concluded with a fascinating discussion of bias in visual media regarding Israel.
Tomorrow, during 6th period, all transfer students (this year 11 students transferred to ICJA!) are invited to a lunch with Ms. Avner and Mr. Zbaraz. The lunch will take place in the wrestling practice room, and it’s one more way that we work to make sure that all of our students have the full range of opportunities for an ICJA experience!
Don;t forget about tomorrow night’s MEGA CHALLAH BAKE event from ICGC. If you have not yet registered, you can click here and click here to pay if you previously registered.
Monday night and Tuesday will be the very first yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z “l. To an ICJA community, I know that I do not need to relay how important he was as a world Jewish leader and an ambassador of the values that we hold dear. It wasn’t that long ago that ICJA hosted Rabbi Sacks and that he spoke to more than 1200 people from across the community.
This coming Tuesday, ICJA students will have the opportunity to learn some of his teachings. Together with the Rabbi Sacks Trust, we have shared materials with our teachers to use in their classrooms and dedicate time studying his writings in his memory.
Stay safe, stay connected, and stay inspired!
B’vracha,
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
12 Cheshvan 5782
October 18, 2021
Dear ICJA Family:
Beginning at 6:45 this evening for parents of both 9th and 12th graders and at 7:30 for everyone is our “Simulated School Night.” (I know it’s a strange title for this evening, but we adopted it several years ago to distinguish this evening’s program from the Open House we have for prospective students.)
Hopefully, by the time parents arrive, they will have had a chance to get their child(ren)’s schedule and room numbers. If not, we will copies of schedules in the front office. Then, starting at 7:30, parents will go from class to class (don’t worry, we’ll have people in the hallway in case you get lost), meeting teachers, and hearing about the goals for each class.
At 6:45, parents of 9th graders should go into the gym for a presentation, and parents of 12th graders should go to Math/Science commons (past the Beit Midrash, turn right at the first corridor, and then straight ahead).
Please note: Due to a simcha in his family, Rabbi Stromer will not be here tonight. But he will be in touch with all of his students’ parents and will make himself available to meet as well. And Mrs. Yitzchak, who is under the weather, will be zooming into her class to meet with parents.
I look forward to seeing many of you this evening, but first, let me tell you a little bit about today.
This morning, after davening, I had a chance to meet with the senior class officers – President David Gaffen, Secretary Yolie Starck, VP Gavriel Engle, and Treasurer Matthew Schreiber. We had a chance to review their opportunities and plans for this year – everything from Shpiel to Retreat. They are a great group of officers, and I look forward to creating opportunities for their class to celebrate their achievements at ICJA and strengthen further the bonds that exist between them.
Afterward, there was the 10th-grade boys’ town hall meeting. They didn’t have many questions, even though we did talk about sports and the need to think ahead to next year and the year after.
And then, this afternoon, I dropped into Mrs. Pogonitz’s Biology class. They were reviewing a group assignment from earlier in the period, and to their credit (and of Mrs. Pogonitz’s), they were on task – developing a hypothesis for an experiment. Meir Zayan and Gabe Aberman were throwing out ideas to explain the phenomena they were studying and doing a pretty good job. But as Mrs. Pogonitz told me, I picked one of the more subdued moments to visit the class, and I should come back when they are experimenting with isopods (we used to call them “rollie pollies”) then it will be exciting!
Tomorrow is our first Ann Rita Schwartz, z”l Chesed Day. Make sure to dress warmly because, for part of the day (the fun part), we’ll be outside. Inside we will have an opportunity to help Sharsheret, the Jewish Soldiers Project, Chai Lifeline, the Shabbat Project, and the Chicago Center.
Also, tomorrow, the senior class will have the opportunity to hear from Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, the Dean of YU’s Center for the Jewish Future. Rabbi Glasser is a fantastic educator and a great speaker, and we are so fortunate to have him!
Tuesday afternoon will be school as usual, but it’s an early dismissal day, and we will end at 4:58.
Stay safe, stay connected, and stay inspired!
B’vracha,
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy