Week of December 07 – 11, 2020
25 Kislev 5781
December 10, 2020
Dear ICJA Family,
Today was a day full of emotion as we began our school day watching the funeral of our mentor and halachic decisor, HaRav HaGaon R’ Gedalia Dov Schwartz, ztz”l.
More than thirty years ago, I was the “young” member of the cRc search committee that selected Rav Schwartz to be our Av Beit Din. Over the years, I have been most fortunate to have learned from him and traveled with him. He was an exceptional man, a polymath, whose life was centered on Torah. Still, he could just as easily speak of the history of European wars as he could discuss a page of Talmud, and analyze a Shakespearean play as he could a chapter of Tehillim.
While I participated in the in-person funeral when I returned, several teachers approached me to say how proud they were of their students. They explained how our students listened to the hespedim and appreciated the unique opportunity that they had to gain insight into the life and work of this great man.
Shortly after I returned, I had one more task, very different, but bittersweet – to divert Dr. Kahan’s attention as the entire school went outside and prepared for a surprise farewell gathering. It worked, and when I told Dr. Kahan that we had to go out to deal with something, he followed me and was completely surprised by students holding signs of thanks and farewell, cheering for him, and later walking past to thank him for his service to the school.
Dr. Kahan has been an integral part of our school for over fifteen years. We will miss him, but we wish him a future of more accomplishment in his new home in Israel. And of course, he will still be around, but working remotely through the end of the year, and even returning to join us for this year’s graduation.
And now it’s Chanukah. A time to celebrate our commitment to our faith and share the story of G-d’s miraculous salvation of the mighty into the hands of the weak, the wicked into the hands of those immersed in Torah.
But it’s also a time to celebrate each other – for all we have accomplished these past ten months, how we were able to quickly become an online school and how we have created a hybrid model where students are safe and able to continue their studies without interruption.
TOMORROW, of course, is our “pop-up” day off. Candle lighting time is 3:59 am.
SUNDAY is the Virtual Israel Fair (12:30 pm -3:30 pm) for 11th and 12th-grade girls and their parents – if you have not signed up yet, please do it tonight or tomorrow http://www.israelnextyear.org/!
MONDAY will be a special after school Chanukah treat
WEDNESDAY is our all-school COVID test (sorry, I can’t figure out the connection with Chanukah). But after school, ICGC will have roller staking extravaganza!
THURSDAY, there will be free latkes for lunch sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Stopek in honor of our outstanding students and teachers, and there will be special Chanukah swag and more!
By the way – just a little bit of ICJA trivia for Chanukah. The menorah in front of our school was donated in 1968 by Max and Rose Cohen, z”l in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. The Cohens also dedicated the campus of Hillel Torah, and the campus of HTC, and many other institutions in America and Israel. (I still remember when I was a student at Hillel Torah, and they came to visit!) The Cohens owned a wine company called Mogen David.
When we were getting ready to move to our new Skokie campus, the menorah came with us but first underwent a complete restoration, which included reinstalling the lights on top that now during Chanukah are turned on. “And now you know the rest of the story.”
Chanukah Sameach, stay safe, stay connected, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
23 Kislev 5781
December 9, 2020
Dear ICJA Family,
Today was our very first socially distanced Chesed Day. One grade at a time, our students heard from Adina Aberman of the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign about their work for the elderly and the infirmed. Next, our students assembled and then packed more than 1900 (!) small Chanukah gift boxes for hospital and nursing home patients with some special Chanukah treats and dreidels.
There was a special lunch and a hypnotist who entertained our students – both those who participated in person in the gym and those who in their classrooms. Kol hakavod to Rabbi Fox and Mrs. Zeffren for planning a great program, and thank you to the Schwartz Family for sponsoring these special days in memory of their mother and grandmother, Ann Ritz Schwartz, z”l.
Yesterday, I forgot to mention that eleven ICJA students participated in a leadership conference sponsored by the Illinois Holocaust Museum. The program, which was open to select high students around the Chicago area, was designed to increase awareness about the Shoah, genocide, and human rights and featured guest speaker Eric Ward. Since these programs have been offered, our students have not only participated but taken major roles among their peers. The same happened this year, and we are very proud of them all.
Thursday night is Chanukah, and next week we will have several special activities. Still, one of the most unique will be our participation in celebrating Chanukah with Bahrain’s Jewish community. Bahrain has been in the news recently because of its new relationship with Israel. But their Jewish community has only about 50 people, led by Ebrahim Nonoo. Through the efforts of JUF, next Thursday at 10:00 am Chicago time, we will join with him and members of his community for their lighting of the Chanukah candles and to learn about their unique community. And then, the ICJA band will perform some Chanukah songs for them, followed by a brief presentation about our community. All of this will be broadcast live, and we are honored to have been chosen to represent Chicago’s Jewish youth. To register for this event, click here.
Finally, this may come as a surprise, but once in a great while, some students may break a rule or two. And sometimes, when they do, I get a little aggravated. It happened today, not anything significant, but it happened. But then, after mincha, which took place right after the Chesed program had ended and things were getting back to normal, two students, Hadassah Bernstein and Kayla Kupietzky, approached me. They asked if they could get permission to stay in the gym and clean up the mess from today’s Chanukah package packing. Wow! Who could remain aggravated after something like that!?
We have a great school because we have great students and great teachers. And every day, I have the great privilege to watch great things happen. And sometimes those great things are the little things that people do, at just the right times!
Tomorrow is a regular day, dismissal is at 5:39p, and all periods meet.
11th and 12th-grade girls – don’t forget to sign up for Sunday’s Virtual Israel Fair (12:30 pm -3:30 pm) at http://www.israelnextyear.org/!
Stay safe, stay connected, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
22 Kislev 5781
December 8, 2020
Dear ICJA Family,
This afternoon, I learned about homeostasis from our 9th-grade biology students. It is a regular topic covered every year in biology. Yet, the way I learned about it was by walking into the biology lab and watching Ms. Gleicher teach her students while she was at home remoting into school.
There were 22 students in her lab and a TA overseeing everything. When I walked in, her image was projected on the large screen. She was helping her students with a lab about homeostasis, the CO2 levels of the oceans, and sea otters.
Students were seated at their desks, and via zoom working in small lab groups, popping in and out of “breakout rooms” to ask Ms. Gleicher a question, and talking to their lab partners using headphones.
It was a fantastic sight to see how students engaged were and watch a teacher manage multiple devices, jump between virtual lab groups, check on the classroom as a whole via the cameras we have in the lab as the students investigated a meaningful real-life problem!
But it also highlights the intensity of teaching experience during COVID. Because our teachers need to work with students who are in-person and remote, create socially distant learning experiences, and be ready to change things on a dime. And it’s not simple for our students either. Because so much has changed for them so quickly. To all of their credit, it’s working, better than anyone would have ever imagined.
But everyone needs a break. So in honor of all of the hard work that people have put forth to make things so successful and give everyone a chance to recharge – this coming Friday, the first day of Chanukah, we have decided to have a “non-snow day” and cancel school.
Tomorrow morning will be the Ann Rita Schwartz, z”l Day of Chesed. Our students will help pack Chanukah boxes for the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign, be treated to a special lunch and entertainment – featuring a hypnotist (and yes, we’ve figured out how to do it socially distant!).
The schedule for tomorrow morning is:
1st period 9:05 am – 9:47 am – (Freshman Chesed)
2nd period: 9:50 am – 10:32 am (Sophomores Chesed)
3rd period: 10:35 am – 11:17 am (Seniors Chesed)
4th period: 11:20 am- 12:02 pm (Juniors Chesed)
(Boys’ chesed project in the gym and the Girls’ chesed project in the cafeteria)
All School Lunch (to be eaten in FIRST-period classes) & entertainment: 12:05 pm – 1:13 pm
By the way, if students want to volunteer to be a subject in the show – click here. 20 students will be chosen.
Sunday is the Virtual Israel Fair for our junior and senior girls from 12:30 pm -3:30 pm. Don’t forget to sign up at http://www.israelnextyear.org/! If you have any questions contact Mrs. Kraft. (The boys’ Israel Fair will be December 20 and 27)
Yesterday, I invited 11th-grade students to apply for a unique leadership program, The Purple Fellowship, sponsored by the Shalom Task Force. This Fellowship includes an 8-week curriculum that will be taught once a week over zoom. BTo learn more about Shalom Task Force, click here. And to learn more about the program and apply for the Fellowship before the December 22nd deadline, click here- https://shalomtaskforce.org/purple-fellowship .
Don’t forget that if you plan to travel over Winter Vacation, to share your plans with us (email me at lmatanky@icja.org) so that our medical committee can review them.
Tomorrow is an early dismissal day – school is out at 4:58 pm, and we skip 9th period.
And finally, our Interact Club is doing a collections drive of toiletries for the less fortunate. Please help them by bringing in items that can be donated. See attached.
Stay safe, stay connected, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
21 Kislev 5781
December 7, 2020
Dear ICJA Family,
Today as I was leaving the Talmud class I teach, I saw a group of boys in the Math/Science Commons standing around Benny Grey and Enon Gurvich. Benny was wearing a cowboy hat and wielding a toy sword, and Enon was wearing a stovepipe hat and sporting a cane. Now it’s not unheard of for ICJA students to sometimes appear in unusual outfits. But, if it happens, I don’t hesitate to address the issue. So, I made a beeline for them, ready to give some well-deserved “mussar.” But when I got closer, I heard what they were saying – they were practicing a scene from Shakespeare which they were going to perform in class. So instead of getting aggravated, I got some nachas.
Then I turned to my right, and there were two students, Eliezer Zagorin and Tal Damelin, wholly engrossed in a socially distanced chess game. Nachas part two! (BTW, Chess is a very intense sport at ICJA, and there are times that we can find three to four games happening simultaneously!)
But that’s not all because today, the latest edition of the Crown Prints – the official student newspaper of ICJA was distributed. Kudos to Mrs. Goldstein, the faculty advisor, and especially to the editor-in-chief, Simone Miller. If you want to read the latest articles, go online to idacrownprints.blogspot.com.
This coming Sunday is the Israel Fair for year-in-Israel programs. Our Israel advisors Mrs. Kraft and Rabbi Fox, are hard at work meeting with students to them (and their families) make the right choice for their “5th year.”
11th-grade students are invited to apply for an extraordinary leadership program, The Purple Fellowship, sponsored by the Shalom Task Force. This Fellowship includes an 8-week curriculum that will be taught once a week over zoom. Based out of New York, Shalom Task Force’s mission is to create safe relationships, healthy families, and a supportive community. To learn more about Shalom Task Force, click here. And to learn more about the program and apply for the Fellowship, click here- https://shalomtaskforce.org/purple-fellowship .
Finally, some news from our caterer – beginning this Thursday they are returning to a hot schnitzel menu. Lunches can be pre-ordered and ready to pick up on the Starr Catering website – click here. Also, if anyone still has a lunch debit card, they must be turned in for credit before Winter Vacation. After vacation these cards will no longer be able to be used.
Don’t forget that if you plan to travel over Winter Vacation, to share your plans with us (email me at lmatanky@icja.org) so that our medical committee can review them.
Tomorrow is an early dismissal day – school is out at 4:58 pm, and we skip 4th period.
Stay safe, stay connected, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy