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Saturday Night, March 7
Purim Dance
Tuesday, March 10
Purim
Wednesday, March 11
Lyric Opera Trip (Culture Club)
Sunday, March 22, - Monday, March 23
Spring Musical
Monday, March 23
Rabbi Elliot Dorff Lecture
Thursday, March 26
Argonne Lab Trip (QuarkNet)
Friday, March 27 - Saturday, March 28
All-School Shabbaton Tuesday, March 31
Prospective Student Bowling Party
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Community News and Events
Camp Tov - The Tikkun Olam Experience
Camp Tov is a weeklong, challenging, interactive, service-oriented day camp where young Jewish teens are given the opportunity to work together on various stimulating volunteer projects. Come to an informational meeting on Wednesday March 11 at the home of Adam Schneider. For more information, click here.
Rabbi Elliot Dorff to Speak at Congregation B'nai Tikvah Congregation B'nai Tikvah, 1558 Wilmot, Deerfield, is honored to welcome Rabbi Elliot Dorff on Monday, March 23, 2009, at 7:45 p.m. His topic is: The Present and Future of the Conservative Movement.
There is no charge for this program, however, reservations are preferred.
Call the Synagogue office for more information and to RSVP, 847.945.0470.
Bret Stephens to Speak for AIPAC Congregation B'nai Tikvah, 1558 Wilmot, Deerfield, Tuesday, March 31, 8:00 p.m., welcomes Bret Stephens,who will speak on, Challenges Facing Israel Today: From Gaza to Iran. A dessert reception will follow the program. There is no charge for this program, however, reservations are preferred. Please RSVP by March 27, to tjubelirer@aipac.org.
Questions: Call the Synagogue office, 847.945.0470.
 Jewish Employment Network
There are JEN groups that meet on a regular basis. Please contact Arlene Shafton 312.673.3443 for further information on these groups. Upcoming events include... Financial Stability in Transition:
March 11, 2009 Moriah Congregation, Deerfield |
Sponsor Breakfast
What's better than a birthday celebration with friends? Celebrate your student's birthday or other milestone with a special breakfast at CJHS.
 For a donation of $162 (9x chai), bagels, cream cheese, and orange juice will be served to everyone. An announcement will be made in Tefillah and in the dining hall, and the occasion will also be listed in our weekly E-News.
If you have any questions, please call 847.324.3713 or email ialtman@cjhs.org. Order forms are available online here.
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Victor Abecassis: NextStep Super Teen
 Congratulations to senior Victor Abecassis, who was recently awarded the title of "Super Teen" by NextStep Magazine, a national publication read by some 800,000 teens across America. Victor was nominated because of his myriad efforts on behalf of others: specifically, his work with Keshet and his personal training with history teacher Mr. Harvey Gross. With Victor's help, Mr. Gross has lost 120 pounds and regained his health.  Victor was chosen as one of 25 Super Teens across America. The March edition of the magazine, announcing 2009's winners, is now posted online. Click here to read Victor's profile. |
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Purim Preview
Purim Is The Best Day of The Year at CJHS!
 Purim is right around the corner, and students and faculty members have been engaged in a flurry of activity to prepare for next week's Purim celebration. Thank you to the scores of families who have contributed to the annual Mishloach Manot fundraiser; on the morning of Purim, YPI will announce how much money we have raised through this drive.
Here's a preview of next week's festivities:
Saturday Night:
The annual Purim Dance. This year's theme: Beach patry, Shushan-Style! See article below for details.
Monday:
Monday is Ta'anit Esther, a fast day. As a reminder, neither breakfast nor lunch will be served at school. The day's schedule may be found at www.cjhs.org/pdf/daysthatdeviate.pdf.
Tuesday:
Truly the best day of the year! Students, faculty, and staff arrive at school on Purim in the craziest, most outlandish costumes of the year. The day will begin with crazy, festive Tefillah, including reading Megillat Esther. We'll have a delicious, fancy seudah for breakfast, and then students and faculty will perform in this year's Purim Spiels. After the spiels, and a few other surprises, we will go out into the community to work on Tikkun Olam projects that focus on feeding the hungry. Freshmen will go downtown and do a program with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Sophomores will pack tons (yes, tons) of food at the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Juniors will work with clients of The ARK in West Rogers Park, and seniors are going to Waukegan for the first step in a partnership with a public school there. Upon our return to CJHS, everyone will receive mishloach manot from the school community.
Purim Reminders "al regel achat" (while standing on one foot):
· Wear a costume. (If you don't' want to wear it all day, bring
a change of clothes for the Tikkun Olam project.)
· Bring a bag lunch.
· Dismissal is at 4:20 this Tuesday. |
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Scavenger Hunt Victors
Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year's All-School Scavenger Hunt! Seven teams in all made it across the finish line, with two of them virtually tied for first place. The winners are switching places with the teachers of their choice, while the teachers take their places in the student body.
Victor Abecassis - Mr. Taylor (biology)
Zach Spellman - Ms. Friedman (English)
Brianna Wolin - Ms. Musleh (math)
Mark Weiss - Mr. Marchenko (history)
An extra-special shout-out goes to the first runners up, whose clever answers sent the judging into overtime: Jacob Rabinowitz, Steve Edelman, Jack Dreifuss, and Jeff Budweg. If for any reason, the winners cannot take over the school for a day, the first runners-up will step up and reign as kings. At any rate, they did get to shovel it down at Friday's victory breakfast, where the quickest and the cleverest of the CJHS student body traded quips and plotted strategies for next year.
What did our students find this year?
A cichlid:
The new fish in the biology lab
A two-foot hexagram flanked by two squares:
The Bev Fox Memorial Garden
...not the Israeli flag on steroids, as suggested by some!
A goddess and Mentor who is not on our faculty:
Pallas Athena, a.k.a. Mentor in Homer's Odyssey
Next best answer: Ms. Sharna Marcus, formerly of our faculty, now at Shorashim
Someone who starts davening in one corner, but ends up in another without even realizing it!
Rabbi Akiva, in Tractate Brachot...
...and possibly Richard "The Wandering Jew" Kahn, class of '08
Someone who voted for the first time this year:
Five proud seniors and Igor Burda, our maintenance engineer, now a proud new citizen of the U.S.A. This question was all the more challenging as it was written in Russian!
A very modest person:
Donna Abisdris for her sweet nature
Chana Trimble for her dedication to tzniut
Ms. Marianne Novak for her many talents outside teaching
A compound made of 9 potassium atoms and one of phosphorus--and what makes this substance:
K9P, of course. What makes it? Doggies.
The three pesukim used to justify the opening bracha of the Amidah:
Shemot 3:6 ("elohei Avraham, elohei Yitzchak, v'Elohei Ya'akov")
Bereshit 15:1 ("magen Avraham")
Bereshit 21:1 ("foked Sarah")
Now, what we say in our own prayers is our business, but at least we know where the words came from!
Six things to remember every day include...
Kippah
Homework
FOB
Pants
Positive mental attitude
Yetziat Mitzrayim
Amalek
The Alamo
"Resist the temptation to play pants-less basketball in a glass-paneled gym."
"Stay out of Aaron Weinberg's way after a heated discussion, or you will be plowed by his wheelie backpack as he strides out."
"When submitting a bridge to the regional competition, make sure that (A) it fits on the loading platform, or failing that, (B) that you're not the one to bring it up to the stage."
"Contributing to YPI is your sole purpose in life." |
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Adarama Continues
This is the last weekend that the YPI Silent Auction will be accepting bids! Do you want a CJHS junior to help clean your house for Pesach? How about those Cubs tickets? Do you dare challenge Victoria and Jeremy for seats at the Mr. Landau Star Wars experience? Head over to cjhsypi.blogspot.com and place your bids!
Sales of breakfast treats are in full swing, the coin jars are filling up, and CJHS's Youth Philanthropy Initiative is doing its best for Teen Living Programs, a Chicago center for underprivileged teenagers. Throughout the month of Adar, YPI is hosting various fun events to raise money for the teens at TLP centers. |
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Beach Party, Shushan-Style!
 Got cabin fever? Come out for this year's Purim dance on Saturday night, March 7. With a "Beach Party, Shushan-Style" theme, the evening will be full of fun for everyone. Tickets are $15 at the door. |
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The CJHS winter sports season ended with a bang thanks to the stellar performance by our Lady Tigers in Baltimore's Beth Tfiloh Weiner basketball tournament last week. "There were 10 teams in the tournament, and the Lady Tigers placed third!" cheered senior player Rachel Binstock. In the team's first tournament, the Lady Tigers played excellent basketball, and just as important, really had a great time. The team wishes to think chaperone par excellence Rabbi Yehoshua Ben-Avraham ("Yaba") and Coach Robert Davis for taking them on this memorable trip.
As a testament to the team's excellent play, sophomore Alison Dreifuss was named a first-team tournament all-star, and senior Emily Pogrund was named as a second-team tournament all-star-- and they have the huge trophies to prove it!  Alison averaged almost 12 points per game and was very consistent through the five games the team played. Coach Davis adds, "In addition to Alison's considerable basketball skills, she's the voice on the team that will always make you smile. She is always very cheerful and positive." In the team's third-place win over Baltimore's Beth Tfiloh, Emily hit four jump shots in a row--including two three-pointers. Throughout the tournament, she played with unmatched intensity and a desire to win. According to Coach Davis, "Emily's  teammates really look up to her, and she is a true leader on the team. In fact, the girls refer to her as the mother of the team." For their individual accomplishents, Alison and Emily are named "Athletes of the Week." Just as winter sports ended, spring sports began this week with Men's Tennis, Coed Ultimate Frisbee, Women's Badminton, and Women's Soccer all beginning practices. In just a few short weeks, these teams will begin competing against public and private schools throughout the Chicago area. (Click here for the spring athletics schedule.) It's still not too late to join a team; register at the CJHS front desk. |
Basketball Feeder League
 Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade boys: get your game on! Click here for details on our new Middle School Feeder League. Polish your game two nights a week right here at CJHS! League registration includes uniforms, coaching, game space with the big guys, and your very own awards banquet!
Hot off the presses: for Schechter students, the Schechter late bus will drop them off at CJHS on Thursday nights where the players will be chaperoned until practice begins. |
 AP Exams
The AP exams will be administered at CJHS during the weeks of May 4 and May 11. Students enrolled in AP courses have already received registration forms. Additional registration forms are available in the College Counseling office. The fee for each exam this year is $86. Registration forms and payment are due no later than Monday!
...and College News!
With most college decisions still several weeks away, the CJHS class of 2009 has already experienced remarkable success. Our seniors have filed 263 applications to over  100 different colleges. Each senior has received at least one acceptance already, and over 50 colleges have accepted at least one of our seniors. The colleges to which our seniors have been accepted include Binghamton University, Brandeis University,  Colorado College, Drexel University, Georgetown University, Hofstra University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, Indiana University, Kendall College, University of Maryland, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, University of Missouri-Columbia, Muhlenberg College,  Northern Arizona University, Northwestern University, University of Oregon, University of Pennsylvania, Purdue University, Rhode Island School of Design, Tulane University, Washington University and University of Wisconsin. We congratulate the CJHS Class of 2009 and look forward to many additions to this list. |
Spring Bell Schedule Starts Monday
 Change your clocks on Sunday; change your bell schedule on Monday! Just a reminder that we are moving to our spring schedule, with short Tuesdays for athletic events and longer Fridays as candlelighting moves later. Please note, however, that this Tuesday, Purim, has a 4:20 dismissal. |
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Bowling Party for Incoming Students
When: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What Time: 4:30 - 6:00 PM
Why: It's a nice way to meet your future classmates
RSVP by March 25. Fax to 847.324.3701 or e-mail magbodza@cjhs.org. Questions? Contact Rachel Spiro, Director of Admissions, rspiro@cjhs.org. If needed, transportation will be provided from Solomon Schechter, Northbrook, to the Wilmette Bowling Alley. The bus will leave Schechter at 3:45 PM. Parents must arrange their own pick-up. Refer to the registration form for details. |
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CJHS Named All-Star
 This week, CJHS was named a 2008 Constant Contact All-Star by the company through which we send most of our major emails (including e-news). We received this honor based on our regular communications, low spam reports, low unsubscribe levels, and use of email marketing and list management best practices. Using Constant Contact has helped CJHS save money on paper, photocopying, and postage, and has significantly increased the efficiency of our communications with students, parents, and the greater community. Kol Hakavod to Ms. Musin, Mrs. Eliaser, Rabbi Barkan, Ms. Altman, Ms. Agbodza, Ms. Smerling, and Ms. Schiller, who use Constant Contact to send emails about CJHS happenings. If you are interested in how Constant Contact might help your organization, please be in contact with Ms. Musin at cmusin@cjhs.org. Our conversation could result in a discount for CJHS and for your organization! |
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Seven Questions For...
...Jenna Corush and Donna Abisdris!
Seniors Jenna Corush and Donna Abisdris are members of the CJHS badminton team and began practice this season on Tuesday. They also played on the CJHS tennis team in the fall. Donna heads to Columbia College in the fall, where she will major in photography, while Jenna will attend culinary school in Chicago. How did you begin to play badminton?
Jenna: During my sophomore year, the sport was introduced at CJHS. I thought it was a joke, and thought it would be funny to join the team. However, when I joined I realized how much I loved it, and how hard it really was.
Donna: I started playing during study hall just for fun, I never thought of it as a team sport, and I got hooked because it's way more fun than studying.
What does it take to be a really good badminton player?
Jenna: Like in every sport, practice always helps, but just being alert, staying on your toes and running or working out outside of practice always improves the game.
Donna: It takes endurance, coordination, and you have to think really fast. Once you get the hang of hitting the birdie, it's really about where you aim. Since the courts are pretty small, you have to think exactly where to hit the birdie to get your point. You need to find your winning shot.
Tell me about a favorite memory from last year's season.
Jenna: Battling it out with Becca Gore!
Donna: At our first meet, I think it was at Stevenson, the other team had a very energetic ritual before the game. They ended it with a cheer, and when they were finished they asked us if we would like to do our cheer. We had nothing prepared, but we huddled and came up with a little something--but half of us forgot. At the count of three we had a very energetic mumble!
Any predictions for this season?
Jenna: Hopefully we will win a match; however, I feel confident because this year we had pre-season workouts, strengthening the team before we began practices.
Donna: Going into the season last year, I didn't know what to expect, being part of the inaugural team. Now that we have some experience and a little training, we're going in strong, and hopefully we'll have a cheer to back it up!
Any plans to continue playing when you graduate?
Jenna: I hope to continue playing after I graduate, because the truth is, badminton is an exhilarating game that makes you work hard without realizing it.
Donna: I would love to continue! It's a great sport and easy to pick up, but let's see how the workload pans out.
You play both tennis and badminton. Which do you prefer? Jenna: That's a tough choice. Both games are captivating in their own way. Overall, I think badminton is my favorite sport, however tennis comes in a close second. Donna: That's a tough one. They're actually very different and it's difficult to start the badminton season with a "tennis arm," as my coach says. Going from tennis ball to birdie is a little challenging at first, but I'm coming back to it. I guess I'd have to go with badminton because you don't have the sun in your eyes when you play, and we never get rained out.
Jenna--you are an aspiring chef. If you were asked to plan a post-season badminton banquet, what would you serve?
Jenna: If I were to plan a badminton themed sports banquet, I would base it on a Greek menu, because the game originated and was played in ancient Greece. Some of the items on the menu would be classic lemon rice soup to start, cheese pie triangles, boureki, baklava...and you can't forget the shuttlecock cookies! |
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Jewish Meditation
 On Thursday after school, the student leaders of our meditation minyan -- Hannah Rosenbaum, Nicole Wiznitzer, Aliza Small and Sara Schankerman -- experienced their first training session with Rabbi Jordan Ben-Dat Appell, rabbi of Congregation Eytz Chayim. They explored meditation through discussion and exercises and how it enhances Tefillah. If other students are interested in joining this group, please contact Rabbi Barkan or Hannah Rosenbaum. |
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Religious Life
 Yasher koach to Rachel Braun, Rena Forester, Daniel Eisenberg, Jacquie Zaluda, Aaron Weinberg, and Ari Eisenstadt for leading davening this week; also to Louis Shekhtman for reading Torah. Yasher Koach to Rabbi Kurtz of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El for giving the D'var Torah. |
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Shabbat Shalom
Candlelighting is 5:28 p.m. this Friday. Shabbat Shalom!
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Be our guest for bowling and pizza!