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IDA CROWN JEWISH ACADEMY

Upcoming Events


  • Friday, February 21 - Motzaei Shabbat, February 22 - ICGC Shabbaton



  • Friday, February 28 - Motzaei Shabbat, March 1 - ICBC Shabbaton - Click here to reserve your spot (To discuss financial assistance, email Mr. Yona Bildner)


  • Wednesday, March 5 - Sophomore pre-ACT in school


  • Tuesday, March 11 - Junior ACT in school


  • Tuesday, March 11 - National Honors Society Induction 7pm


  • Friday, March 14 - Purim - no classes - Click here if you would like to order an Academy Associates Purim e-Card to send to family and friends


  • Wednesday, March 19 - ICJA Takes the Stage, Commemorating the Life of Batsheva Chaya Stadlan, z"l 7pm - Click here to reserve your spot today (women and girls only)


  • Wednesday, March 26 - Freshmen pre-ACT in school

Click here to view the ICJA Cafeteria's February Menu.

Wrestling Aces Win Wittenberg!

Yasher koach to the Wrestling Aces for their second Wittenberg victory in a row.

Last sunday, the Ida Crown Wrestling Team won the 28th Annual Wittenberg National Yeshiva Wrestling Championships on Sunday in Paramus, NJ.


In winning the tournament for the second year in a row, ICJA bested a field a dozen schools and did so in commanding fashion.


The Aces won four individual championships: Sophomore Caleb Novick (106), Sophomore Megill Hameiri (113), Senior Avi Chen (138), and Senior Aidan Zukerman (145). ICJA also had two silver medalists: Sophomore Levi Madoff (160) and Senior Moshe Tarshish (170). The Aces also won three bronze medals. 


The victory marked the tenth time that Ida Crown has won Wittenberg. Yasher koach to all the Wrestling Aces and to Coach Doug Klein and Assistant Coach Bill Porter!

Pictured above: sophomore Megill Hameiri

Pictured above: senior Aidan Zukerman

Pictured above: senior Avi Chen

Pictured above: sophomore Levi Madofff

Pictured above: sophomore Caleb Novick

Pictured above: senior Moshe Tarshish

Basketball Aces Clinch 1st & 2nd Place!

Senior Aces are Chicago Prep Conference Champions won 2nd Place in Conference Championships.

On Wednesday evening, the Varsity Aces defeated Holy Trinity 43-39 to take the Chicago Prep Conferences championship! Senior Avi Okner was named Tournament MVP. ICJA's JV Basketball Aces clinched their spot as 2nd Place Conference Champions.


Yasher koach to all the players and coaches for a wonderful season!

Ida Crown Takes the Stage, Celebrating the Life of Batsheva Stadlan, z"l Day of Learning

Students enagaged in learning on the theme of Being True to Yourself.

On Wednesday, ICJA girls enjoyed a meaningful Learning Program as part of ICJA Takes the Stage, Celebrating the Life of Batsheva Stadlan, z"l.


Marianne Novak talked about this year's theme, Tocho K'boro, and described how her daughter Batsheva Stadlan z"l embodied this principle. Students then heard an inspirational talk from Eve Levy, co-director of the L'Chaim Center in Deerfield, IL, who explained that true beauty comes when our external and our internal personas are aligned - and concluded her talk by getting all the girls dancing to the song This is Me.


Afterwards, students learned about "Being True to Yourself" from Torah sources compiled by Maryanne Novak and Lizi Martin. Seniors Meital Wittlin, Tali Weiss, Nava Drytser, Zehava Piltz, Aliza Shyovitzs, Hadar Simkovich and Leah Rina Brochin led learning sessions for freshmen and sophomore girls while juniors and seniors learned b'chavruta. Thank you to the many students and teachers who made this event a success, to Deva Zwelling for facilitating the event, and to Carolyn Soffer for organizing the Day of Learning.


ICJA Takes the Stage, Celebrating the Life of Batsheva Stadlan, z'l, is generously sponsored by the Ralla Klepak Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Pictured above: juniors Devora Kaplowitz, Chanie Gelerinter, and Yaffa Hoberman learning with Marianne Novak

Pictured above: juniors Dina Gottlieb, Mia Weiss, Ariella Pullin, Penina Benjamin, and Libby Bleichman learning with Noah Nussbaum

Pictured above: students dancing together

Pictured above: sophomores Maayan Engel and Bela Burstyn with senior Hadar Simkovich

Pictured above: senior Tali Weiss leading a learning session

Pictured above: seniors Zehava Pilz and Aliza Shyovitz leading a learning session

Mrs. Ayala Zimmerman's 11th Grade Boys

Navi Class

Students discussed the fate of King Ahab's family.

Juniors in Mrs. Ayala Zimmerman's Navi class are learning Sefer Melachim Bet. This week, they learned about the death of King Ahab's relatives.


Consulting Rashi and other peirushim, students discussed the relations between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the political climate during King Ahab's reign.

Pictured above: Zachary Fogel and Jonah Strahlberg

Pictured above: Macks Kroll and Noam Hellman

Pictured above: Judah Well and Yair Bell

Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum's 11th Grade Boys' Honors Talmud Class

Can we fulfill a mitzvah with temporarily-owned funds?

Pictured here: junior Yoshi Bernstein learning with Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum


Students in Rabbi Menachem Rosenbaum's honors Talmud class are learning Masechet Kiddushin. This week they learned if the mitzvot of Terumah, Pidion Haben, and Kiddushin can be fulfilled if they are handed handed over for a limited period of time.

Pictured above: juniors Yedidya Bechhofer and Yehuda Goldstein

Pictured above: junior Ezra Mauer and sophomore Dov Kaiserman

Pictured above: juniors Macks Kroll and Michael Matveyev

Student Council

ICJA Student Council is busy planning Spring activities.

Student Council met this week to plan a host of fun school activities next month, from Purim celebrations to a food drive, and other ways to enrich student life. Thank you to our Class Reps for putting in so much time and effort to bring even more ruach to our school!

Mrs. Rachel Polsky's 9th Grade World History Class

Students played a trivia game about the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Freshmen in Mrs. Rachel Polsky's World History class are concluding their unit studying the Medieval and Renaissance Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty that succeeded it, becoming the last modern imperial dynasty in Asia until its end in 1912.


This week, to prepare for their upcoming test, students played a massive trivia game spanning hundreds of years, testing their knowledge about significant figures and events. The winning teams earned extra credit points on their upcoming exam.

Pictured above: Avigayil Loebmann and Jonah Krule

Pictured above: Menachem Dukes and Yaakov Lehrfield

Pictured above: Dana Stein and Shira Kremer

Mrs. Chavee Gottlieb's 10th Grade Chemistry Class

Students are learning nomenclature to use with different types of chemical bonds.

Sophomores in Mrs. Chavee Gottlieb's Chemistry class are learning the rules of nomenclature for writing the names of different kinds of chemical formulae.

Pictured above: Ayelet Klein

Pictured above: William Moscovitch and Noah Ehrlich

Pictured above: Zahava Volkov

Rabbi Zev Drutman's Calculus Class

Students are calculating linear and angular speed.

Students in Rabbi Zev Drutman's Calculus class are learning how calculations of linear speed and angular speed differ.


This week, they practiced calculating speed using different formulae and discussed the relationship between linear and angular speed.

Pictured above: seniors Sarah Levitt and Sarah Lipson

Pictured above: seniors Simcha Seruya and Rachel Freed and junior Penina Benjamin

Student to Student

Students educated their peers at Rolling Meadows High School.

On Wednesday, Student to Student presenters traveled to Rolling Meadows High School to educate their peers about the Jewish life cycle, kashrut, Israel, antisemitism, and other topics, and field questions from Rolling Meadows students about being a Jewish teen today.


Thank you to seniors Maytal Needle and Avi Meyer (pictured here) for presenting, and to our chaperone for the event.

ATT Teachers Educational Conference

While students were off school, teachers were hard at work.

On Monday, as ICJA students enjoyed a day of no classes, over 500 ATT teachers packed into ICJA for the annual ATT Teachers Educational Conference.


In the day-long event teachers shared best practices, learned about new ideas in education, and gained skills to inspire and teach our students.

Veshinantam Levanecha

Freshmen and their relatives davened together last Sunday at Khal Zichron Chodorov in Lincolnwood.

Many Sunday mornings, ICJA's freshmen boys' rebbe, Rabbi Louis Fliegelman, arranges for students and their fathers (and grandfathers and other relatives) to meet at a different Chicago-area shul to daven Shacharit together and enjoy breakfast and learning.


Last Sunday, even though the previous night’s ICJA-Yeshiva basketball games ended after 11pm, freshmen boys got up early to daven at Khal Zichron Chodorov in Lincolnwood. After davening Rabbi Pinchus Eichenstein spoke to the boys about his days of playing basketball, and stressed it’s a mitzvah to exercise so one should have the strengh to perform mitzvot.



For more information about the Veshinantam Levanecha program, email Rabbi Louis Fliegelman at lfliegelman@icja.org.

This Week's Learning Dedications

This week's learning dedications include:

Thursday, the 22 of Shevat, 5785, February 20, 2025, in loving memory of Raymond Dayan, z''l, Shimon Rahamim ben Hana, to commemorate his 14th yahrzeit by Yael and David Shiner, Rebecca, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, Rikki & Shimon


Wednesday, the 21 of Shevat, 5785, February 19, 2025, in loving memory o Lawrence A. Wilk, z"l, on the occasion of his 12th yahrtzeit, by Alita & Michael Birn and Family


Tuesday, 20 of Shevat, 5785, February 18, 2025, in loving memory of Marilyn Allswang Eisenberg, z''l, to commemorate her 7th yahrzeit on the 20th of Shevat, by David and Laura Allswang and family, Shari and Azi Feifel and family, and Elliot and Leah Allswang and family


If you would like to sponsor a Day of Learning, please contact our Director of Development, Deva Zwelling, at (773) 973-1450 ext. 115, or dzwelling@icja.org.

Spotlight on Mrs. Carolyn Soffer '04

This week we caught up with Mrs. Carolyn Soffer, who organizes ICJA Takes the Stage.

ICJA girls all know Mrs. Carolyn Soffer, who organizes and runs ICJA Takes the Stage. This week we caught up with her and asked her a few questions about herself.


Where did you grow up and where do you live now?

I grew up in many places. I was born in Chicago and lived here until I was 7. My family then moved around. I lived in Indiana, Florida and Maryland. When I was in 8th grade we moved back to Chicago. I currently live in Lincolnwood with my husband and two children.


What do you love about working at ICJA?

I started working for ICJA right after graduating from ICJA in 2004. I helped organize the Girls' Play 2004-2005, but I officially started working at ICJA in 2013 in Academic Support. I love the family that is Ida Crown Jewish Academy but working with the students on the ICJA Takes the Stage performance is by far my favorite part.


Can you describe a favorite ICJA memory?

My favorite ICJA memory is when Rabbi Matanky yelled out “Girls” in the hallway and for a brief moment I forgot I’m not a student and I was not in trouble for being in the hallway during class!


Is there anything about you that most people don't know that you'd like to share here? 

I have always wanted to make Aliyah and IYH my dream is coming true very soon. 

New ICJA Prospective Student Video

Watch "Oh the Places You'll Go," our video

for prospective students - and share it with people you know who'd like to learn more about ICJA!

ICJA Seniors Israel Mission Video 

Watch this moving video documenting some of the volunteer activities last year's seniors participated in during their month-long Mission to Israel 2023-4!

Learning Commons Passwords 

In addition to many thousands of physical books and journals, ICJA's Learning Commons contains tens of thousands of online books, journal articles and other resources, including subscriptions to newspapers such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and more. Students are able to access these resources through our portal.


Please stop by our librarian Mrs. Steinberg's desk in the Learning Commons or email her at  librarian@icja.org her to pick up your updated passwords to access our online material. ICJA's subscriptions are available at icja.libguides.com/home.

Enter to win $1,000 for Reviewing ICJA

Review ICJA on Niche.com and enter a sweepstakes.

Help let people know how fabulous ICJA is! Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or alumnus/alumna, the popular school ranking website Niche.com wants to hear from you. Plus, every person who reviews ICJA (or any other school) is automatically entered into a monthly $1,000 sweepstakes by Niche.com. For more information and to leave a review, click here.

Send Your School News to the ICJA Newsletter

Do you have school-related news you'd like to see in this newsletter? Let us know!

If you have exciting ICJA-related news to share about classes, sports, clubs, or other projects, please tell us! Send news items and/or photos to Dr. Yvette Miller, Director of Communications at ymiller@icja.org. Your items can enhance our newsletter and ICJA's social media presence.

School Announcements

Click here to reserve your spot at ICJA Takes the Stage
Click here to order an Academy Associates Purim eCard
Click here to sign up and become a FAN today!
Click here to join the Academy Associates

Join our New Alumni Facebook Group


We are excited to announce that we have a new private Facebook group called “ICJA Official Alumni Page.” It is a space for alumni from all graduating years to join. We will periodically post alumni reunions, events, fundraising opportunities, information about ICJA today, and news.


We are proud to have some families with us for four generations. If you are an alum, please join the group HERE and be sure to share the link with your family, friends, and fellow graduates. You can also share this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/UeTsqg16DDx4JHGK/?mibextid=hubsqH. Thanks for staying connected to ICJA!


Please reach out to Ilana Levy at ilevy@icja.org if you have any questions about this new effort.

Community Announcements

ICJA ISRAEL CONNECT:

Connecting ICJA Alumni in Israel

The first ICJA Israel Connect directory is out.

Last summer, ICJA gave its Class of '24 alumni the third edition of our directory listing ICJA alumni who live in Israel and have graciously offered to open their homes to recent ICJA grads who are currently spending a gap year in Israel.


Thank you to the many alumni who have reached out to us, offering to host.


If you have any questions or would like to update our contact information to help recent ICJA grads obtain a copy, please contact Dr. Yvette Miller, ICJA Director of Communications, at ymiller@icja.org.


We are still taking submissions from alumni who are willing to host, to include in future copies of this directory. Please contact Dr. Miller to be included.

Inspiring bnei and bnot Torah to thrive in the modern world
ICJA is an affiliate of the Associated Talmud Torahs and a partner with JUF in serving our community.


Ida Crown Jewish Academy
8233 Central Park Avenue
Skokie, Illinois 60076

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