Week of February 1-5, 2021
23 Shevat 5781
February 5, 2021
Dear ICJA Family,
This has been a busy week with creative activities, a bit of controversy, but most importantly, great learning. Watching the news and reading the papers, I am grateful and amazed that we have so successfully managed not only to have in-person education this year but the best education imaginable.
But this week, we also lost four great rabbinic leaders, Rabbi Dovid Soloveitchik, Rabbi Yitzchak Scheiner, Rabbi Avraham Avidan, and ICJA alum, (class of 1947) Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, זכר צדיקים לברכה.
Rabbi Twerski was a great rabbi and a renowned therapist who was an expert on addiction and recovery. He was also a composer who wrote the famous tune for the song “hoshea et amecha” (the song he asked to be sung at his funeral instead of eulogies). And he was an author of more than 60 books ranging from those focused on Torah to a series that he created using the Peanuts cartoons created by Charles M. Schulz.
A few years ago, in conversation with Rabbi Berel Wein (ICJA class of 1950), Rabbi Twerski told the story of when his father, the Hornistopel Rebbe, came from Milwaukee to visit the Academy. Unexpectedly, he chose to only sit in the general studies classes. When asked why, he responded – “In the Judaic studies, I know what they’re doing, but I want to make sure that the general studies are serious and not fooling me.”
While at the Academy, Rabbi Twerski was the editor in chief of the school newspaper (The Academocrat), was class secretary, and a student council delegate.
Over the years, I was privileged to hear him speak many times, and thanks to modern technology, many of his presentations and insights are preserved on youtube and other sources. Here is an excellent collection of short (3-5 minute) insights from Rabbi Twerski – click here.
May his memory be for a blessing, and may it inspire not only our world but especially our ICJA students!
Back to school – the 3-point competition is finally over, and Jon Okner was the winner. Congratulations Jon!
The Interact Club is starting a “cozy sock drive” to benefit Sharsheret. See the attached flyer.
If you still have time, here is my weekly dvar Torah – https://youtu.be/NmX9934P2So
Candle lighting tomorrow is at 4:51 p.m.
Shabbat shalom, stay safe, stay in contact, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
22 Shevat 5781
February 4, 2021
Dear ICJA Family,
The hour is late and so today’s will be VERY brief – but important.
Attached is an important letter from our medical committee regarding their recent decision not to allow interscholastic sports at ICJA due to the continuing risks of COVID exposure. Please take a few minutes to open and read the letter so that you can have a better understanding of their decision. Sports are important to all of us – but only when it can be played safely!
On the subject of sports, tomorrow will be the finals for the Mechanchim’s 3- point competition. More than 50 boys participated in this challenge, and the final seven are: Noam Braun, Evan Comrov, Enon Gurvich, Jon Okner, Adam Schwartz, Jakob Wortman, and Zeke Zwelling. Thank you to Rabbis Stromer and Fox for arranging this event.
Tomorrow dismissal is at 1:58 p.m, we skip 3rd period and in the afternoon, periods 10, 11, and 12 meet. Candle lighting tomorrow is at 4:51 p.m.
Stay safe, stay in contact, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
21 Shevat 5781
February 3, 2021
Dear ICJA Family,
Since last week, when IDPH announced that they would permit scrimmages for higher risk sports such as basketball, our gym has been busy, and it’s been great to see the coaches back at school. Yesterday, IDPH went a step further and announced that competitive play against other teams would be permitted.
As reported in the press, it was a surprise move (see here) and caught many off-guard. But, we took their recommendation seriously and referred it to our medical committee for guidance. The medical committee determined that while IDPH is permitting such interscholastic play, it would present too great a risk to ICJA students – since we have no control over whether other schools participating have been as COVID compliant as our community. Therefore, we and several other schools in our conference will not be participating this year.
We are working to find other safe options for our athletes beyond the current practices. But safety, as determined through the guidance of our medical experts, will always come first.
Today, I visited Mr. Cooper’s US History class. The students were studying about the Panama Canal and Theodore Roosevelt. It was impressive to watch them volunteer their knowledge and use that knowledge to describe how Roosevelt was more liberal than his predecessors – one example offered by Hannah Rothner was his creation of the National Parks.
But then, at the end of class, Mr. Cooper introduced a song, “James K. Polk” by the group “They Might Be Giants,” which was about the 1844 presidential election. But what I couldn’t figure out was, what did 1844 have to do with 1904 and the Panama Canal?
So later I went back and asked him – and you’re not going to believe the answer! Apparently, yesterday he discussed the difference between Manifest Destiny and Imperialism, and one of his students asked him if he knew a song about Manifest Destiny. He did – and “James K. Polk” was the song! So today, he played it for them. Only at ICJA will students ask about a song about Manifest Destiny, and only here will the teacher have one! 🙂 By the way, click here for the lyrics.
Student Council is selling sweatshirts as a fundraiser. The order form is attached. Orders are due by February 16th.
Tomorrow dismissal is at 5:39.
Stay safe, stay in contact, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
20 Shevat 5781
February 2, 2021
Dear ICJA Family,
For the first time in nearly a year, the ICJA gym was busy with sports last night! More than 30 boys turned out for the basketball scrimmages, and tonight we hope to have at least as many girls, which is a great step in the right direction, even though it was a little strange to see them practicing with masks on and sitting on the sidelines socially distant. But I guess that’s great as well – because our coaches are making sure that safety protocols are followed even on the basketball court.
A few hours ago, Mr. Harris had a chance to visit Ms. Goldstein’s public speaking class. We’ve been offering this class for many years. Today’s lesson was further evidence of why this is one of the most popular senior electives. Ms. Goldstein wanted her students to understand the power of vocal variants and gestures. The way she did it was to ask them to say the word “oh” in all different ways to express everything from joy to pain, sympathy to understanding. The students were great – it was fun, and they learned the lesson. A special shout out to Elie Gaffen, who is learning remotely but did a great job “oh-ing” via zoom and his iPad.
Tomorrow, we will be moving the food service (the catering for lunch) from the gym to the cafeteria. This will allow Starr Catering to add to the offerings and give us a little more time to convert the gym from a place we daven to the place we practice sports. Lunch may still only be allowed to be eaten outside of the school building or in the building’s assigned spaces. Remember to order lunch items in advance, go to the Starr Catering website – https://ordering.orders2.me/menu/5efeae93505ee98f137b23cc#school-menus.
This Sunday, our mechanchim will be hosting a first-half Super Bowl Watch Party on the big screen in the ICJA gym (- socially distanced, of course). The program is open to the first 50 boys who sign up and will include snacks (total time unmasked under 15 minutes) and divrei Torah. To sign up, click here – https://forms.gle/wegp7P22onCjTMKo8.
Tomorrow dismissal is at 4:58, and we will be skipping 9th period.
Stay safe, stay in contact, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy
19 Shevat 5781
February 1, 2021
Dear ICJA Family,
A lot is happening at ICJA, and as is expected, a little bit of snow didn’t get in the way of starting school on time and with the usual enthusiasm and creativity.
Motzaei Shabbat, while the snow was falling, I received notice that ICJA was featured in an article in JUF News. Entitled “Persevering during COVID, teachers receive an A+: Educating with flexibility, creativity, and tenacity,” the article opened with an interview with our own Mrs. Alissa Zeffren, who described the ICJA response to COVID. It’s a great article and highlights what we all know – that ICJA is a safe haven during a pandemic and a leader in educating students despite the challenges we encounter. Click here https://www.juf.org/news/local.aspx?id=450978.
In the article, Mrs. Zeffren also mentions the ICJA Student to Student program that has continued teaching non-Jewish high-schoolers about Judaism, despite COVID. Tonight, Student to Student will have one of their largest presentations online with three schools in the Northwestern suburbs and more than 200 students in attendance.
Today, I had a town hall meeting with the 10th-grade boys. In addition to bringing them up to date with some of the happenings at ICJA and reminding them of the upcoming college planning seminar with Rabbi Fliegelman, we also spoke a bit about keeping up with the news. It was impressive how many follow national and local events, but it was also clear that we need to find ways to help them better understand the news with so much information bombarding them. The boys made suggestions, ranging from that it is the responsibility of families, carving out time in school, and even having news “tickers” on our flat-screen displays. It was a good discussion but more needs to happen. I am sure this discussion will continue.
Tonight will be the launch of a new club at ICJA – “Girls’ Talk” – a project of three girls – Julia Bellows, Audrey Perlman, and Gabrielle Rosenzweig. The program tonight is with Deena Berger (Julia’s aunt), a buyer for Saks who will be talking about trends in the fashion industry. The meeting will take place in Ms. Engle’s zoom room – 7:30 pm.
And then, of course, there are sports! Tonight the JV and SV boys begin their open gyms at 5:45 pm. Tomorrow night the girls get started at 5:00 pm. All the rest of the information regarding other sports, forms that need to be completed, etc. was in an email sent earlier today from our AD, Brittany Peters.
Finally, one housekeeping item – for all our students who are zooming, either short term or long term: Please make sure that your video is on at all times. Teachers will only mark you present when they can see you. If your video is turned off – you will be marked absent.
Oh, and before I forget – the next all school COVID test will be after Purim. When a date is set, I’ll pass it along.
Tomorrow is an early dismissal day (4:58 pm) and we skip 1st period.
Stay safe, stay in contact, and be inspired!
LAM
Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky, Ph.D.
Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy