Could Spring be just around the corner? A bit of a cold breeze today but dare I say we might wake up to warmer weather as early as tomorrow? I can hope, right? We still don't know when we will be able to gather together in person as a section. But we are doing our best to bring you great virtual programming until that day arrives!

Keep scrolling for section news and information and more details about these great March events:

Congratulations to raffle winner Andrea Metzl. You are the winner of the NCJW Advocate T-Shirt! Check your mailbox this week (or depending on the post office, next week) for your shirt to arrive! If you haven't already completed the survey, please do so at your earliest convenience. As a thank you to all who respond, we will send you a PDF of NCJW Cooks - a compilation of recipies from some of our favorite NCJW cooking programs. Click here for the survey.

Join the Chicago Jewish Coalition for Refugees (CJCR) and congregations and individuals from across the state as we affirm our obligation to welcome the stranger and take action to support refugees and asylum seekers. NCJW CNS is a member of the Chicago Jewish Coalition for Refugees. Click here to register.

Join us for a screening of this powerful film and a panel discussion. With its impressive array of storytellers and archival footage, Shared Legacies explores the normalized bigotry of the Jim Crow South, the North’s rampant bias in the areas of housing, employment, and education, and the civil rights era initiatives that brought Black and Jewish leaders together to support Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision for a more just and equitable world. Click here to register.

On March 11, JCAST Chicago will host the final of three sessions in the series “Sex Trafficking: Discussing Healthy Relationships and Consent With Our Youth”, a series about sex trafficking, pornography, and consent. In the final session, “Sex for Pay: Work or Prey,” participants will adapt the lessons learned in the previous sessions to scenarios based on real-life situations teens have experienced. Through these conversations, we will learn how complex the issues are in determining whether and at what point a teen has been trafficked. You do not need to have attended the prior sessions to participate. Click here to register

Is it true that wine at seder or kiddush can be the first step toward addiction; Jews are as vulnerable to addiction as any other group; addiction is different for women and men; you can learn to be a great ally to Jewish families facing addiction or in recovery? Join NCJW Salon and speaker Beth Fishman, PhD, Program Manager, JCFS Chicago Addiction Services as we discuss these and other issues as the Jewish community confronts addiction and supports recovery. Click here to register.

The change from a flat to a progressive tax, proposed in the Fair Tax Amendment in 2020, was only about the Illinois income tax. What about other taxes? How does income tax interact with sales and property taxes? Will your taxes ever go down? Will Illinois ever have a tax structure that takes them all into account? How will there be enough money to fund human services in Illinois? Join Ralph Martire, Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, as he explains how taxes are calculated, how they interact, and what you can do. Click here to register.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg z”l was an inspiration, and her commitment to using her position on the country’s highest court to protect reproductive rights serves as a model for all of us. On what would have been her 88th birthday, National Council of Jewish Women advocates and friends will come together from across the country to celebrate her incredible legacy. Each day we ask ourselves, how do we pick up where Justice Ginsberg left off? How are we working to further reproductive freedom and expand abortion access? 

We are excited to convene a powerhouse panel to explore the ongoing impact of abortion bans and restrictions on reproductive health, rights, and justice, with particular attention to how these affect Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as those working to make ends meet. With the protections of Roe in peril, our panelists will share the path forward for fighting to protect abortion rights and access for generations to come. 

Join us to honor Justice Ginsburg’s birthday by learning what is at stake and how we keep fighting in 2021 and beyond. 

Click here for more information and to register.

JCAST Chicago is thrilled to partner with Mary Bonnett and Her Story Theater for this event featuring a fifteen-minute monologue taken from Mary’s fourth play, MONGER performed by Jamise Wright, Artistic Associate, Her Story Theater and lead in original MONGER production. After the performance, Mary and panelists will explore the impact of men’s participation in domestic sex trafficking; and how it effects individual lives, families, and communities. Please note, this program will contain adult content and mature themes. We invite audience members who are triggered during the program to do what you need to feel safe including turning off your camera or leaving the event until you feel comfortable returning. If you have any questions, please reach out to jcast@ncjwcns.org. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

The Illinois General Assembly is back in session and NCJW is ready with our advocacy goals, including a number of bills we’d like to see passed. We need your help to make these goals a reality. Please watch for our weekly Take Action Tuesday email highlighting specific topics requiring urgent action such as signing a petition, contacting your legislators, signing a witness slip, or spreading the word. 

This year we are focused on Reproductive Rights, Gun Violence Prevention, Voting Rights, and Racial Justice, while still keeping an eye on Immigration Rights, Federal Judiciary, Comprehensive Sex Education, Gender-based Violence, and Women’s Equality. Specific state bills we’d like to see passed are the Repeal of the Parental Notification of Abortion Act, The Fix the FOID (Firearm Owners Identification) Act, and the Illinois Healthy Youth Act. 

NCJW state advocacy work is managed through the Illinois Policy Committee, comprised of advocates and interested members from both the Chicago North Shore and the South Cook sections. Meeting monthly (by zoom, of course) we coordinate NCJW advocacy efforts, plan outreach to legislators, facilitate responses to emerging issues, and learn from and support each other. If you’re interested in any of the NCJW issues and want to get more involved, please join us! Contact Jill Lexier at jill@ncjwcns.org.

Congress is firmly focused on President Biden’s agenda, with his American Rescue Plan and nominees to fill agency positions on the docket. NCJW is engaged in both efforts to ensure critical provisions impacting women, children, and families are included in COVID relief and supporting nominees for agency positions that would directly affect our agenda. In particular, we are anticipating hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee to fill critical Department of Justice (DOJ) positions. Subscribe to NCJW's First 100 Days Newsletter to learn more about how we’re moving NCJW’s mission forward!

The administration has nominated two NCJW partners for important positions in the Justice Department. NCJW enthusiastically supports Vanita Gupta for Associate Attorney General and Kristen Clark to head the Civil Rights Division.

“My name is X from and I am a National Council of Jewish Women advocate. I’m calling to ask that you confirm Kristen Clarke for the head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. She will be ready on day one, she is the right person to reform the department, and she will fight for equal justice for all.”

If the senators are supportive, then ask them to do more: speak to their colleagues, write an op-ed, tweet about their support, and hold town halls on her nomination.

The NCJW Gives Back service theme for February was supporting our senior citizens. During the pandemic, the elderly, more than most, have had to cope with feelings of isolation and a limited ability to connect with their loved ones. In February, we wanted to do something to show them some love and appreciation by asking our members and the community to help to create Shabbat Gift Bags for residents of the Self Help Home Senior Living Community. The Selfhelp Home was founded in 1938 in the shadow of the Holocaust as a purely volunteer mutual aid society where refugees and survivors could find community and rebuild their lives. Today, it thrives as a boutique Jewish community where older adults experience the highest quality of life possible, founded on the principles of compassion and dignity. NCJW Gives Back will return with a new collection in April. Learn more at ncjwcns.org/actions/ncjw-gives-back.

The Illinois General Assembly is back in session and we need your help! Join Planned Parenthood Illinois Action and partners for a day of digital lobbying and other actions. You'll hear from our champions, learn about the issues impacting Planned Parenthood in Illinois, listen to some good music and take action with our Public Policy team. All from the comfort of your home! So stay in your PJs, bring your sack lunch and get fired up to take action on March 2nd starting at Noon. Click here to RSVP

The North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic (NSLAC) is hosting a virtual cooking demonstration inviting anyone seeking help with domestic violence to join anonymously and privately. NSLAC will be making a banana bread recipe on screen while their attorneys answer questions in the chat. No registration is required. For discreet help with domestic violence, check out NSLAC's banana bread recipe.  Click here to register.

Filmmaker Richard Barber made a series of short films between the summer of 2018 and January 2020. It documents a period when the cruelty of US immigration policies became so egregious and glaring that ordinary people decided they had to become involved in resisting them. “To Right The Wrong: Border Stories” weaves these short films into a single 37-minute documentary. The film will be followed by a discussion with members of the Witness at the Border team. Click here to register

 The intersection of Jewishness and racial categories in America has always been complex, and Jews of all backgrounds have been active in both creating and resisting these designations. Join us for this four-session course exploring how Jewish women have experienced and understood some of these racial and ethnic groupings from the early 19th century through today.  Session details to be announced. Sessions are designed to stand alone, so attend as many evenings as you’d like! No advanced reading or preparation required. Registrants will also receive access to session recordings. Click here for registration and information

7:00 pm — 8:30 pm

Join the Annual Women’s Seder, virtually. This year’s theme, “Immigration: Planting the seeds for a new life,” and the Haggadah will feature the artwork from students at International Newcomers Academy. Haggadah and supply list will be sent prior to event. Click here to register

The hidden resistance efforts of Jewish women in ghettos during Nazi occupation are one of the most extraordinary and often-overlooked stories about World War II and the Holocaust. The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos, the soon to be released novel already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture, shares the defiance and rebellion of women who worked together and risked their lives in the fight for justice and liberty. Click here to register for the virtual program

Offered both virtually and in person at the Morton Arboretum

Did you know that young women, ages 18-24, are at a greater risk for sexual violence than other age groups? Or that most victims are exploited by people they know? Reclaim13 works to bring healing to survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation. Our Reclaiming Voices Survivor Art Show began in 2019 to give “voice” to the experiences of survivors. The 3rd annual Reclaiming Voices Survivor Art Show will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021 and will be a hybrid event, with our in-person show at the Morton Arboretum and our virtual showcase the same evening online. Click here for more information.

Chicago North Shore has several new ways to support our section. As always, you can make a one time donation or purchase a tribute (links are below), you can even purchase an NCJW star necklace or hanger charm or become a monthly donor!