At the close-knit Catholic school from which my son, Nico, just graduated, every eighth grader must study the Holocaust. The unit is both capstone and rite of passage— by eighth grade, students have the intellectual and emotional maturity to grasp this important subject matter. “It’s hard to study the Holocaust,” Nico, who is 14, told…
Civil rights leaders from multiple communities will gather in Chicago to pay tribute to the late Rabbi Robert J. Marx, founder of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and a towering figure in the city’s pursuit of social justice. The public memorial, to be held June 27 at Beth Shalom B’Nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Community…
Holocaust survivor and social activist Fritzie Fritzshall died Saturday at the age of 91. Frtizshall survived the death camps to become a leading voice for Holocaust education. She served as president of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and remained active in bridging ethnic and religious divides throughout her life. “She was brave, selfless, wise…
What do empty swimming pools have to do with racial justice and income inequality? To Heather McGhee, a lot. “In the middle of the 20th century, there were about 2,000 lavish, publicly-funded pools around the country. When the Civil Rights Movement enabled Black families to say, ‘Hey, those are our tax dollars funding those pools….
In Chicago’s large Orthodox Jewish community, Rabbi Ari Hart stands out. As a leader at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue in Skokie, Illinois, Hart focuses on the roles of women within their community, inclusion of LGBTQ individuals, and other accessibility issues as simple as welcoming different styles of worship. As an activist, he has embarked…
I had a friend from camp who loved Ferris Bueller and lived by the Tao of his maxim: “Life moves pretty fast if you don’t stop to look around once in a while.” The friend’s name was, funnily enough, Cameron. Cameron (the person, not the character in the film) made friends easily, had a Hebrew…
We are officially in Pride Month, and this year, with the return of some in-person events, it feels particularly festive. Yes, we’re still not through with the pandemic, but in-person Pride Shabbatot on sunny beaches, special seminars and yes, even parades are back on. And there are also still plenty of virtual options, offering the…
If you had to stand outside through 40 years of Chicago winters, you wouldn’t look so good either. That’s why a beloved piece of Chicago public art, the Chicago Jewish Mural, just underwent a major, much-needed renovation. Four decades ago, artists, friends and activists, Cynthia Weiss and Miriam Socoloff, created a glass mosaic mural that…
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