Spotlight on Inclusion Across JCC Chicago
Spotlight on Inclusion Across JCC Chicago
Throughout the month of February, we will be sharing blogs from families who participate in our Early Childhood and Apachi Day Camp programs and from Keshet families. They’ve all been touched by the inclusive programming we provide, our teams, friendships made and collaborative work of our Social Services team. This year our son, Leor, joined […] Learn More ›
Growing Through the Years with Camp Chi
Recently, I was a contestant in Who Knows One: Camp Chi Edition, which is virtual game of Jewish geography. Participating in this really fun event as part of Chi’s 100th birthday celebration got me thinking about my long-standing relationship with Camp Chi. It’s evolved and grown along with me as I moved from camper to […] Learn More ›
We Grow Good People
“We Grow Good People”…those aren’t just words we say at Apachi Day Camp, but words we try to live by. Each summer, children come to camp to spend time with friends, learn new things, create new memories, swim, participate in sports, sing songs, celebrate Shabbat, enjoy some popsicles, get someone out in a game of […] Learn More ›
“When How Might We?” Becomes “We Did!”
The last nine months have revealed significant truths about the power of flexible leadership during a period of unknown. Rewind. I was named President & CEO of JCC Chicago in September 2018. The first year was blissful—programs were full, the budget delivered a surplus and the future was nothing but bright. Everything we knew changed […] Learn More ›
A Treasured Member of our Family
When we picture our family, we see the four of us: Brad, Rachael, Blake and Shayna. But we have to acknowledge that there’s been a strong presence in our lives for a long time that has shaped our entire family in so many ways. It’s Camp Chi. Everyone in our family was a “J” kid […] Learn More ›
My Summer Home
For most people, going away to summer camp without your parents and your phone might seem weird. For me, that’s what I do every single summer. On Father’s Day, I take a bus from a local high school to Camp Chi, a Jewish sleepaway camp in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. I spend eight weeks on a […] Learn More ›
The Value of Practicing Gratitude (Even When We Don’t Feel Like It)
In the early days and weeks of the pandemic, amidst the overwhelming uncertainty and disorientation of it all, it was relatively easy to find the silver linings of a stay-at-home order. Leisurely morning coffee in jammies, the safety and privilege of working from home, mid-day family walks around the block, permission to stop making social […] Learn More ›
Film Festival Spotlight: Here We Are
Here We Are is a heartwarming film of the love a father has for his son. Aharon has devoted his life to raising his son Uri. They live together in a gentle routine, away from the real world. But Uri is autistic, and now as a young adult it might be time for him to […] Learn More ›
Film Festival Spotlight: Mossad
Need a good laugh? Mossad is a laugh out loud film; it was funny and fun to watch. This is not the usual gritty Israeli movie complete with sex, political conflict, war and teen angst that does well at film festivals, but not at the Israeli box office. Blue and white films have come a long way! Mossad […] Learn More ›
Growing with the J
Since I was a kid growing up in Wilmette, many of my life experiences were built by JCC Chicago. With every turn I took and every choice I faced; the J was there with a program that fit my needs as I moved along my own personal “Game of Life.” Looking back, I realized my […] Learn More ›
Film Festival Spotlight: Asia
One of the joys of directing the JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival is the opportunity to experience the breadth of Jewish films that are being made each year. Ruth Pribar’s first feature film, Asia, is a powerful film about the relationship between a mother and her teenaged daughter. Beyond the normal tension that one might expect […] Learn More ›
A Foot In Both “Camps”
I have worked in Early Childhood education for 25 years, the past 8 years at JCC Chicago, which has been a highly creative and fulfilling labor of love. So, naturally my team and I got creative when we needed to go virtual this past spring. Teachers made home visits to families, social distancing at the end of the […] Learn More ›
What It Means To Be Home For Life
There’s a feeling you get when you’re on a boat in Wisconsin early on a summer morning. As Camp Chi’s Head of Waterskiing for 5 summers, I always loved the quiet and stillness of the water before the other boats came out on Lake Delton and the chill in the air that evaporated as the […] Learn More ›
A Lifetime Dedicated to Community
Remember and Honoring Two Extraordinary Women On the evening of Rosh Hashanah, we heard the news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg had passed away. There have been many who connect the timing of her death to righteousness, becoming a tzadikka and bestowing justice in our world. While scholars may not be unified on […] Learn More ›
All We CAN Do
The first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to be all about what we couldn’t do. We couldn’t gather. We couldn’t travel. We couldn’t plan—at least not far beyond the end of our noses. We were facing the unknown with seemingly little relevant experience on which to draw and would need time to get our […] Learn More ›
Special Delivery
Since March 13, all of my personal and professional energy has been spent on “life after Corona.” Weddings are postponed, vacations rescheduled, furniture deliveries now 6/7/9/30 weeks out. We’re all looking forward to a return to normal and being able to pick up our lives where we left off. There is so much comfort in concentrating on […] Learn More ›