E-news: Honoring Our Veterans

November 13, 2015

1 Kislev, 5776 This Week at CJHS Honoring Our Veterans Vocal Ensemble Performance Arts Alive! Tikkun Trio Spirit Week Cooper Invita@onal Highlights Zumba in Español New Tefillah Ini@a@ve Junior Class Field Trip STAND Alumni Reunion Community Events Chanukah Coat Club Baruch Dayan HaEmet A Taste of Torah

Spirit Week!

Monday, November 16 Pajama Day

Honoring Our Veterans Veterans in Our School Community

The CJHS community held a special Tefillah on Monday, November 9th, planned by science teacher Robert Taylor, Rabbi Marc Belgard, and Rabbi Judith Greenberg. The service included special prayers for those serving in the U.S. military, aEer which CJHS had the privilege of listening to two of our own U.S. army veterans, Corporal Piotr Motolko and Sergeant

Tuesday, November 17 Tiger Tuesday Wednesday, November 18 Windy City Wednesday Thursday, November 19 Western Day Friday, November 20 Grade Colors Freshman-­‐White Sophomores-­‐Blue Seniors-­‐Black

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Joe Cook, both of whom are members of the CJHS security staff. Members of the audience were encouraged to ask quesIons about the veterans’ experiences, including what moIvated them to enlist, their feelings about draEing for the military, and what the lasIng impact was on the two soldiers’ lives. Since few of us know veterans who have recently served in Iraq or Afghanistan, the presentaIon was truly eye-­‐ opening.The CJHS community hearIly thanks these veterans for their service!

CJHS Vocal Ensemble Musical Performance at Gidwitz

The Vocal Ensemble recently performed for the residents of Gidwitz. They performed selecIons from Into the Woods, Newsies, and The Prince of Egypt, and asked residents to join in the singing of Dodi Li and Ha;kvah. A fun Ime was had by all!

The members of the Vocal Ensemble include: Rebecca Abrams, Zach Becker, Emma Canter, Sarah Comar, Coby Drexler, Eli Johnson, Hana Lieber, Aitan Maeir, Dina Matkowsky, Maya Michalewicz, Romi Moller, Gabrielle Pretekin, Emma Siegel and Sarah Tenner, and it is directed by Ellen Singer.

Save The Date November 18-­‐20 Junior Social JusIce Seminar November 21 Homecoming November 25 Erev Thanksgiving -­‐ 8:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

November 26-­‐27 No School -­‐ Thanksgiving November 28 Alumni Reunion and Basketball Game

Healing Through Music Arts Alive!

Tikkun, a Quad City trio made up of music professors from Augustana College, performed at CJHS on Tuesday for the enIre student body and staff as part of our Arts Alive! program.

The trio included Janina Ehrlich, Robert Elfine, and Deborah Dakin. The trio’s mission is to heal the world through music.

They seek to present programs that comfort the soul and challenge the mind. Their selecIons included two Chassidic dances arranged by Zikmund Schul, Rondo arranged by Jean

December 1 College Program for Juniors and Parents December 13 ACT at CJHS December 7-­‐16 Chanukah December 20 -­‐ January 3 Winter Break

College Season CJHS is pleased to welcome admission representaIves from over fiEy colleges and Israel programs this autumn!

VIEW SCHEDULE >>

CJHS Spirit Week

Sibelius, Song Without words, Op.109 by Felix Mendelssohn, and Trio in A minor, Op 114, III Allegro arranged by Johannes Brahms. Students and staff parIcipated in a quesIon and answer period following the concert.

This is just one of many opportuniIes we look forward to as CJHS expands the exposure of the arts to our students and staff as part of our Fine, Performing, and Literary Arts mission.

Cooper Invitational Highlights Great speakers, amazing food, and exciIng basketball sums up the trip to Memphis for the Annual Cooper InvitaIonal!

Josh Kahane, Tournament Director, said it best, “We hope that the programming provided the boys with a message and experience they can take home and into the future. But what I know for certain is that we brought together 341 people for a weekend of friendship and camaraderie, of learning and growing, of commitment to Torah and strengthening of Jewish idenIty and pride...and in that sense, ever single team came away a champion.”

Our students were able to hear from Raheem Shabazz who is one of the top fitness trainers in the country. Bill Courtney delivered an amazing message on being excepIonal in everything they do. Coach Courtney is a popular coach in high school athleIcs and the movie, Undefeated, is about his coaching experience at a high school in Memphis that had not won a playoff game in over 100 years before he coached there. Friday evening, the boys were also able to hear comedian Joel Chasnoff. The boys represenIng CJHS played hard and won one game and lost three. The Tigers were in good spirits aEer the game against Atlanta Jewish Academy, which they won 68-­‐16. Go Tigers!

Zumba in Español Students from the Spanish classes of Sra. Eisenberg and Sra. Weisman parIcipated in a Zumba class conducted in Spanish by María Hernández, a well-­‐known instructor in the area.

fun! !Qué diver;do!

Zumba is an aerobic workout based on Spanish music and LaIn dance rhythms.

Everyone got a heart healthy workout while learning about LaIn culture and having lots of

New Tefillah Initiative Last Friday, Hadar Halivni spearheaded a new iniIaIve of the Va’ad Tefillah in which students share their own reflecIons on tefillah. Hadar spoke about her personal relaIonship to wearing tallit and tefillin and encouraged us all to be more mindful about the ways in which we engage in prayer, think about God, ritual and our Jewish idenIIes. Here is what she said: ​Imagine this. You just got out of the pool, and your mom is standing there wai;ng for you with a towel. She wraps it around you and rubs your arms to warm you up. That’s how I see wearing a tallis, but instead of my mom around me, it’s God. Click here to read Hadar's complete reflecIon.

CJHS Juniors Field Trip

The enIre junior class will travel downtown next week for a social jusIce seminar facilitated by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. We will parIcipate in workshops on community organizing, leading the students to idenIfy current issues that speak to them.

The seminar will culminate in students visiIng state legislators to lobby on these issues.

They have been preparing for the seminar by parIcipaIng in workshops, at CJHS, exploring the concepts of idenIty, privilege, and oppression with Deborah Goldberg, director of Or Tzedek, JCUA’s teen social jusIce program. Stay tuned for a report on our seminar next week.

STAND Presentation This past Thursday STAND hosted Alpha Diallo who spoke to the CJHS community. Alpha is a refugee who fled Guinea due to human rights violaIons. His story is inspiring and thought provoking, and students gained a great educaIonal experience at the event. Alpha started the year strong for STAND, which hopes to make an impact by focusing on the refugee crisis throughout the year. For more about STAND, click here.

Alumni Reunion and Annual Basketball Game

Recognizing the 10 Year Reunion of the Class of 2006!

Mingle with old friends and teachers and cheer on the alumni!

Don't miss the annual tug-­‐of-­‐war compeIIon and fun interacIve acIviIes including a Photobooth and Milt's Food Truck.

Saturday, November 28, 2015 16 Kislev, 5776 7 p.m. -­‐ 9 p.m.

Chicagoland Jewish High School 1095 Lake Cook Road in Deerfield

*There will be a suggested $10 donaIon at the door. Each entrance donaIon will include a discount coupon for Milt's Food Truck.

Interested in parIcipaIng in the Alumni Basketball Game?

Click here to sign up.

For quesIons, please contact Tara Seymour.

Don't Delay! Apply Today!

Save $500: Apply By December 15, 2015 All incoming freshmen and transfer students can save $500 on tuiIon when they submit their applicaIon for admission by December 15, 2015.

Click here to begin your applicaIon today!

Sponsored Breakfast If you would like to sponsor breakfast in honor of your favorite Tiger, contact Diane Zidman at dzidman@cjhs.org

Community News and Events

Baruch Dayan HaEmet It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Theodore C. Karp, loving husband of Judith Karp, loving father of CJHS teacher Mrs. Shira Karp Eliaser (Dr. Norman), and beloved grandfather of Davita and Shoshana.

May God comfort the Eliaser/Karp family among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

A Taste of Torah: Toldot For so many, childbirth represents a manifestaIon of God. Seeing a child for the first Ime is a miracle — each and every Ime. During this week’s parasha, we read of Rivka’s pregnancy and the birth of Yaakov and Esav. But this is by no means a “normal” pregnancy (if that exists in the first place).

We read about Rivka in 25:22, Vayitrozezu habanim b’kirba; vatomer im ken lama zeh anochi?

Vatelech lidrosh et Adonai. A translaIon: “ The sons yitrozezu in her womb. And she said, “If this is the case, why do I exist?” She then went to address HaShem.”

A look at several translaIons of the Torah illustrates the ambiguity of the word “vayitrozezu,” and in turn the power of interpretaIon that commentators will have in explaining this important scene in the history of the Jewish people.

Here are four translaIons that we find for this word: The Brown-­‐Driver-­‐Briggs Biblical Dic@onary: Crushed Anchor Bible: Clashed Jewish Publica@on Society (which we find in the red Eitz Hayyim Humash): Struggled Everef Fox: Almost crushed.

One thing is certain: Rivka knows that something is happening inside of her that is off from the norm. And she goes to God to ask about the situaIon. The Bechor Shor, a 12th century French commentator, suggests a psychological read of Rivka in the midst of deep existenIal pain (by suggesIng that the verb relates to a phrase from Isaiah 42:3 meaning broken reed, kaneh ratzutz). Realizing that it is not yet Ime to give birth, she wonders if she has miscarried. She addresses God with anger and frustraIon: If I was going to miscarry, why did you allow me to be pregnant in the first place? Why did you receive this prayer of ours? It certainly was not to help us!

In turn, Abraham Ibn Ezra (12th century Spain/Egypt) explains that her quesIon of “Lama zeh anochi?” (Why do I exist?) is addressed to other women in the community. She asks them if the symptoms she is having are normal. When they respond, no, she wonders why she has such a different pregnancy. AEer all, these are the first twins in history! She goes first to others in her distress, and then to God. Such comments note the real, emoIve, and psychological distress of a character in the midst of the most trying Ime in her life. Ibn Ezra’s interpretaIon of the verse notes the power that a community can have in supporIng an individual who is in both emoIonal and physical distress. In so many ways, this is the best of what a Torah community can provide for each other.

Our commentators bring to life the raw, existenIal fears that people have through a close reading of the text, and also a model for what it means to commune with God. Our Torah serves as a model for how real people struggle in their own religious quests. May we learn from them as we

venture on ours, supporIng each other along the way. ​Rabbi Zachary Silver

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