Dear Am Yisrael SJS Community,

The following topics are covered in this week’s Limmud/Education Update:

I. Thank You and we wish you a fantastic summer

II. Keeping Hebrew Reading and Tefillah Skills Fresh During the Summer

III. Special Message for Rising 8th Graders and their families

IV. Summer Job Opportunity

V. SJS Tzedakah 5777 Allocations and Totals

VI. Little Kids Sing at SJS

VII. Looking Ahead*

I. Thank You and we wish you a fantastic summer

We want to take this time to thank our Am Yisrael SJS families for partnering with us throughout the year, including this past weekend which included Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), several honorees, the Chugim Open House, the Pardes Reflections speeches and our Closing Assembly.  We also want to thank you for the outstanding number of food and supply donations that were provided for the Ark’s pantry.  We will reach out to you at various points throughout the summer as we will be planning our curricula and programming for the upcoming school year.  Please know that I am a call or email away and happy to talk with you throughout the summer.

We have so enjoyed sharing this school year with you and we send our best wishes to everyone for a fantastic summer.  My wife Laura and our children Michael, Gabe and Amelia and I will miss seeing you on a regular basis as we do during the school year.  We hope to see you at various points either around Chicagoland and/or at the synagogue during the summer.

II. Keeping Hebrew Reading and Tefillah Skills Fresh During the Summer

Speaking of the summer, we strongly encourage our SJS students to keep their Hebrew skills fresh.  We especially expect our rising 3rd through 7th graders to use these direct links below and/or to read Hebrew regularly using other similar Tefillah/Hebrew materials.

Practicing Tefillah

https://www.amyisrael.org/practicing-tefillah.html

Hebrew Reading

https://www.amyisrael.org/hebrew-step-by-step.html

As you may remember, for security purposes, we decided to make some of our website pages visible only to our members and other authorized individuals.  These pages include the bulletin, the calendar, upcoming events, membership directory and our SJS pages.

If you wish to set up your log in account, please email our Executive Director, Nancy Holab Nevins nhnevins@amyisrael.org to let us know.  Once Nancy receives that email, she will send you a link that will enable you to set up your log in credentials, as you are accustomed to doing on most websites.  Your user ID will be your email address.  Your password will be your choice.  You will need to log in any time you wish to access those pages, but once you have created your log in credentials, you won’t need to contact us again. You’ll simply log in.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but these are challenging times, and certain precautions must be taken.  Thank you for understanding.

III. Special Message for Rising 8th Graders and their families

Dear Soon-To-Be 8th Graders and Parents,

Ta’am Yisrael is a meaningful and fun week-long experience in Israel for 8th graders in the Chicagoland area.  We invite you to experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of Israel!  Connect with the people and the land!  Meet 8th graders from Chicago and Israel!  Interested in learning more about the trip?

As someone who has staffed this trip in Israel, I strongly encourage you to attend an information session and to RSVP at www.taamyisrael.org:

 • Mon, Jun 5, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Shir Hadash Synagogue, 200 W Dundee Rd, Wheeling, IL 60090

 • Tue, Jun 6, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Rd, Glencoe, IL 60022

 • Wed, Jun 7, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Beth Shalom, 772 W 5th Ave, Naperville, IL 60563

 • Mon, Jun 12, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Anshe Emet Synagogue, 3751 North Broadway, Chicago, IL 60613

 • Tue, Jun 13, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., 3480 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60657

Shabbat Shalom,

Mr. Sherman/Charlie

PLEASE NOTE: This special message to rising 8th graders and their families will be sent as a separate email as well to make sure it doesn’t get lost with the rest of the information in this week’s Limmud/Education Update 5-26-17.

IV. Summer Job Opportunity

Ramah Day Camp is looking for warm, nurturing, energetic college age counselors and sports staff. Interested? Contact Lori Stark at director@ramahday.com. Make a difference in the lives of young Jewish children and join the camaraderie of a great staff.

V. SJS Tzedakah 5777 Allocations and Totals

At our closing assembly this past Sun, May 21, we announced our Tzedakah totals and the places where the classes decided they want to donate the money that they brought in throughout the year.  Our grand totals for the year, including where the classes decided to donate, can be found below:

Camp Am Yisrael: $36.44

Keshet: 100%

Gan: $94.45

Ark: 50%

Israel Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: 50%

Aleph: $97.31

Ark: 50%

Israel Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: 50%

Bet: $172.95

Israel Sports Center for the Disabled 60%

Lurie Children’s Hospital 40%

Gimel: $143.37

Israel Sports Center for the Disabled 50%

Israel Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: 25%

Les Turner ALS Foundation 25%

Dalet: $164.35

American World Jewish Services 20%

Composting Program (run by SJS student’s Jacob and Kylie Brodsky’s mom, Becky Brodsky) 20%

Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces (FIDF) 20%

Lurie Children’s Hospital 20%

Northfield Food Pantry 20%

-Dalet also had a tree planted in Israel through JNF

Heh: $158.39

Israel Sports Center for the Disabled 20%

Lurie Children’s Hospital 20%

Ark 20%

IDF 20%

JUF 20%

-Heh also had a tree planted in Israel through JNF

Vav: $138.01

Cantor’s Garden (Produce goes to the Northfield Food Pantry) 100%

-The Kadima Chug of Vav also had trees planted in Israel through JNF in honor of Rabbi Newman Kamin, Mrs. Holab Nevins, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Bogucki, Ms. deSouza, Mrs. Naranjo, Mr. Brown and Mr. Wilson

Zayin: $78.92

Cantor’s Garden (Produce goes to the Northfield Food Pantry) 100%

-The Kadima Chug of Zayin also had trees planted in Israel through JNF in honor of Rabbi Newman Kamin, Mrs. Holab Nevins, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Bogucki, Ms. deSouza, Mrs. Naranjo, Mr. Brown and Mr. Wilson

Prozdor: $62.25

Ark 50%

Family Promise 50%

Pardes: $70.25

Save Our Hungry Children 50%

Lurie Children’s Hospital 50%

Total: $1,216.69

VI. Little Kids Sing at SJS

Every year we have parents who say that their younger kids love to sing what they have learned at Am Yisrael SJS but they can’t remember the tunes.  Here is a link for you to access while you are on a summer drive or just hanging around your home:

https://www.amyisrael.org/little-kids-sing-at-sjs.html

*Special Note: Our synagogue’s Executive Director Nancy Holab Nevins sends a weekly email entitled “Am Yisrael Events” and a monthly bulletin.  These are good sources of information and include materials for the congregation on the whole that go beyond the scope of my weekly emails.  If you are only receiving my weekly email and want additional information regarding the congregation, Nancy can be reached in the synagogue office at 847-446-7215 or via email nhnevins@amyisrael.org.

Shabbat Shalom,

Charlie Sherman