CJHS E-News October 16, 2015

October 16, 2015

2 Cheshvan, 5776 This Week at CJHS Cross Country Champions Town Hall Meetings Grandparents' Night Blood Drive Classical Chamber Concert From the P.O. Alumni in the News Community Events 窶帰lumni Trivia A Taste of Torah

Quick Links CJHS.org Calendars Lunch Menu Edline Give Now

We're Still #1!

Cross Country Takes Conference Championship

Save The Date October 20 Early Dismissal - Conferences October 27 Early Dismissal - Conferences November 11 No School - Professional Day November 18-20 Junior Social Justice Seminar November 21 Homecoming November 25 Erev Thanksgiving - 8:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

November 25-26 No School - Thanksgiving

The CJHS cross country team has clinched the Conference

Break

Championship for the sixth year running! The men's team dominated the field, with our seven varsity runners all making All

December 6

Conference. No team not named Chicagoland Jewish High School

Studio Art Show

has ever had all seven of its runners make All Conference, and no men's team not named Chicagoland Jewish High School has ever claimed the title of Conference Champion! Yoni Maltsman led the way for the Tigers, finishing third. Ben Lesch, Felix Rosen, Akiva Stein, Zev Mishell, Ari Rosenthal, and Sol Treister rounded out

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

VIEW SCHEDULE >>

STEM Corner

the record setting field, while Liam Lynch led the way to JV victory with a first place finish. ​Kol hakavod, runners!

The JSC is an extracurricular science study competition sponsored by the Walder Science Center in partnership with the Lev Academic Center. The winner earns $1,000 plus a scholarship to Lev. The top five scorers will go on a trip to Israel. All other participants earn cash prizes commensurate with their scores. This year's topic will be Light, Optics and the Human Eye. For more information and to register by October 16, click here.

The varsity girls had their best showing in years, finishing solidly in third place. Gaby Ecanow, Romi Moller, and Ann Kushnir made All Conference, making this the first time that CJHS has placed three girls on the All Conference squad! The Junior Varsity girls also made waves, led by Meira Levine, who finished fourth.

Congratulations to the entire team on another incredible season!

Town Hall Meetings On Thursday, members of the Va'ad Hastudentim, the CJHS Student Government, hosted four town hall meetings, one for each grade. Focusing on the categories of academics, social life, and student life, the Va'ad solicited comments from students, who had the chance to share their own experiences and hopes for CJHS. The Va'ad is committed to making the voices of students heard, and these meetings are a big part of making that happen.

Grandparents Meet and Greet Model Lessons in Bible and Art

On Tuesday, October 13, over thirty CJHS grandparents came together for our annual Fall Meet and Greet. The group was treated to learning sessions by Rabbi Zach Silver, Rav Beit Sefer and Studio Art Instructor, Mrs. Marla Snyder. Grandparents were thrilled to get a small taste of what their grandchildren experience on a daily basis at CJHS. Special thanks to everyone who worked hard to make this evening a success! Please save the date for our spring Grandparents and Special Friends Day on Thursday, May 26, 2016.

Blood Drive October 28, 2015 | 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Students! Parents! Staff! Whatever role you play in the CJHS community, you have one thing in common: you have blood! Wednesday, October 28, is the CJHS Fall Blood Drive, and the more people are able to donate, the greater impact we can make in helping out the local community. To see what times are available, click here. Come be a part of what could be a recordbreaking mitzvah day for CJHS!

Tikkun Trio to Perform at CJHS November 10, 2015 | 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

The CJHS Performing Arts Departments proudly welcomes TIKKUN, a Quad City trio whose mission is to heal the world through music. They seek to present to their audiences programs that comfort the soul and challenge the mind. This incredible program will include two Chassidic dances (arranged by Zikmund Schul), Rondo (Arranged by Jean Sibelius), Song Without Words, Op. 109 (arranged by Felix Mendelssohn), and Trio in A minor, Op 114, III Allegro (arranged by Johannes Brahms). The program is open to CJHS staff and CJHS parents. For additional information about the program or to make a reservation, please contact Bruce Scher, Department Chair at bscher@cjhs.org.

Alumni Trivia

Step into the gallery on the Hudson and what will you see? A midnight cowboy, lights glowing softly! Whose incredible installation paintings are these and where is she now?

From the P.O. The grade get-togethers concluded on Sunday, October 11 with the juniors and their parents. Thank you to Sherry and Brad Levin for opening their home, and to all of the families who attended. Also, a final thank you to Amy Mishell and Maryl Dayan for spearheading the grade get-together program this year and making it such a success. It's not too late to contribute to the grade get-togethers. To do so, send a check to our front office, made payable to CJHS P.O.

CJHS PO Book Club - Fall Book Club Meeting: The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard Monday, November 9 7:00 p.m. at CJHS Join us as Edie Salzman leads us in what is sure to be an engaging discussion about The Book of Aron, "a novel that will join the short list of classics about children caught up in the Holocaust." For more information about the book, click here.

Please RSVP at PO@cjhs.org. Feel free to contact us with questions.

Karen Ecanow & Debbie Copley CJHS PO Presidents

Sponsored Breakfast Happy birthday to Noah Cope. Many thanks to his familiy for sponsoring bagels. To sponsor breakfast in honor of your favorite Tiger, contact Diane Zidman, dzidman@cjhs.org.

Community News and Events

Alumni in the News Elli Cohn Featured on JTS Website

Check out the face of the JTS Rabbinical School, CJHS alumna, Elli Cohn ('09). Elli attributes her ambition to be a rabbi to her teachers at CJHS: What inspired me to pursue rabbinical school? I chose to pursue this path largely because of my high school teachers. At Chicagoland Jewish High School, where many of my teachers were

...

also rabbis, I was impressed and inspired by their refined pedagogy, deep love of the material, and perhaps, most importantly, their genuine interest in my development as both a student and whole person. I thought it would be a true privilege to have the opportunity to provide students with the gifts my own rabbis gave me.

Todah rabbah, Elli!

Limmud Chicago Coming Soon!

November 7-8, 2015 Don't miss out on Limmud Chicago 2015! Now in its 6th year, Limmud Chicago brings together Jewish learners from all over Chicagoland for an immersive experience of Jewish learning and community. Limmud is an entirely volunteer-run conference with participants on all kinds of Jewish journeys and presentations on the broadest array of Jewish topics possible. T​his year's conference is November 7 and 8 at the Doubletree Hotel in Skokie, from 6:30 p.m. on Saturday to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The exciting slate of presenters for Limmud Chicago 2015 can be found at http://www.limmudchicago.org.​ Fill in the code CJHSLC15 during registration for a discounted rate.

Empowering Our Students for Jewish Campus Life November 11, 2015 | 6:00 p.m.

An Evening for High Schoolers And Community with Hillels of Illinois North Suburban Synagogue Beth El Featuring Eric D. Fingerhut, President and CEO, Hillel International – former U.S. Congressman and Chancellor of Ohio Board of Regents 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Hillel Fair Representing Midwest Campuses – Meet Current Students and Staff!

7:00 p.m.: Keynote Address by Eric Fingerhut Eric Fingerhut will address Hillel’s dynamic role in developing Jewish identities and Jewish life on campus during the undergraduate years. Discussion panels to follow will highlight what’s really happening on campus, including important challenges faced by today's Jewish college students. During the panels, high school students will have the opportunity to learn from Write On for Israel fellows and current college students about engaging in Israel activism and Jewish life while on campus. Parents and community members will learn how Hillel has evolved to face the current campus environment. A light kosher dinner

will be provided; event is free of charge. To RSVP please contact Suzanne Storrs at 312.673.2355 or register online.

JNF National Teen Conference October 25, 2015 | 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Fairmont Chicago Millenium Park Hotel $18 for lunch and transportation Buses from Northbrook, Skokie, Evanston, Lincolnshire, and Naperville The JNF national conference for teens is just around the corner, and as a teen leader in CJHS, you will have the opportunity to engage with Israel and with other teen leaders from various organizations. Come for fascinating speakers and workshops on social action, co-existence, leadership. environmentalism, Israel Advocacy and more, with special guest, Knesset member and former ambassador Michael Oren. For a detailed schedule, click here​. Register today to ensure a spot. For more information, contact Tal Shaked at 312.605.0385.

Alumni Trivia Ilana Dodelson ('11) earned her B.A. in art from Bard College, in addition to studying art for a year in Rome. Ilana now works for the well-known northeast painter and artist Judy Pfaff, best known for her installation art, sculptures, and prints. Ilana also works mostly in painting, although, she explains, "I've also worked with sculpture, installation, and printmaking as well, so different materials and mediums often find their way into my paintings.

"Right now, though, I'm trying to stop thinking so hard about the big questions and focus on finding a balance between paying rent and making art. I think questions like that can often be paralyzing, so while they are important, I'm trying to take a healthy break from them. I will say, though, that while I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that art can change the world, I think that making art is an incredibly empowering thing, so working to make art accessible to others can empower those who's voices aren't often heard." View Ilana's breathtaking gallery here!

A Taste of Torah: Noach

The opening verses of this week's parasha label Noah as "Ish tzadik tamim haya b'dorotav," a righteous man, a humble man, the greatest of his generation. Classical commentators focus on these key words, "of his generation," which may be needlessly hard on poor Noah: it is most difficult to stand out from the pack precisely when the rest of society is behaving unjustly. Noah's behavior epitomizes the statement in Pirkei Avot, "Bamakom she'ein anashim, hishtadel lihyot ish," in a place where there are no menschen, strive to be a mensch.

Society is not nice. People generally prefer to acknowledge what is convenient over what is morally right.

Current events bear this out with painful sharpness. A good friend of mine made the difficult choice to do the right thing at the right time, to speak up and not be silent, and has struggled ever since with experiences of slactivism, criticism, ostracism, and other similar -ism's on the part of friends, family, the Jewish community, and the wider world, who would really prefer not to have to acknowledge the distinction between moral right and personal comfort. "How can the world live with this injustice?" my friend asks. Very readily, we discover. No one likes a whistleblower.

"I kind of have to take a page from Noah's book," my friend remarked. "Now there's a man who was totally alone in the world!" Aside from his immediate family, Noah had absolutely no one who believed in the importance of what he was doing. He was the only voice for righteousness in his generation, and his survival in the face of horrific catastrophe must have done nothing to assuage his rage, his trauma, and his survivor's guilt. "But if Noah had laid down and given up, where would we be now? There'd be nothing left on this earth but a few giraffes!"

Noah was the only wholly righteous patriarch in his generation: his was the task to build when everyone else was destroying, and to keep building and planting in the face of unremitting destruction. Our generation, we hope, is more fortunate. We have many Noahs and Na'amahs, each ready with hammers and tar buckets, each loud and embarrassing and inconvenient, each building a future for the human race. Not, we hope, alone in their efforts. Let us ensure they are not alone!

Mrs. Shira Eliaser

1095 Lake Cook Road Deerfield, IL 60015 | cjhstigers@cjhs.org | 847.470.6700