Complicity + Our Imperfect History: A Pride-Inspired Drash
From Ash Levine When I first read this portion, I was deeply uncomfortable with the portrait it painted. Korach and his collaborators were living in a difficult moment. The Israelites had just learned that they wouldn’t be permitted to enter the promised land in their lifetimes. Moses had sole political leadership of the community, and […]
Honoring Our Collective Histories: A Pride-Inspired Drash
From Catherine Miller Shabbat shalom everyone. I’m excited to be on the “other side” of this Friday night shabbat stream for the first time. Now, I don’t know about you but saying HAPPY PRIDE right now feels strange. It feels inauthentic. Not only do we have a global pandemic but we also are witnessing a […]
An Exciting Update on Mishkan’s COVID Response Giving Circle
This spring, Mishkan welcomed a $25,000 COVID-19 Response Grant which allowed us to distribute funds to those in and beyond our community. In an effort to diversify our impact, we offered support to individuals, hospitals, healthcare workers, and vulnerable communities around Chicago — which you can read about here! But, you may remember that we also received […]
By the Numbers
By: Rabbi Jessica Lott This week we begin to read the book of Bamidbar, the 4th book of the Torah, which, in English, is called Numbers. This is because the first instruction God gives is for Moses and Aaron to conduct a census. The Israelites have come to the point in their wanderings in the […]
An Opportunity to Fund Covid-19 Relief Efforts
Mishkan welcomed a wonderful gift this last month. We received a $25,000 COVID-19 Response Grant and an additional $5,000 Anonymous Grant, which allowed us to distribute funds to those in and beyond our community during this trying time. When we thought about what would make a meaningful distribution, we realized that to have the biggest […]
Getting Creative: The Kosher for Passover Edition
What’s the difference between a board of matzo and the box it comes in? Nothing. -Old Jewish Proverb In this year of our people, 5780, COVID-19 concerns are dominating Passover preparation in Jewish households across the world. We are all dealing with this new reality and the changes it will bring to the holiday. Many […]
Sam’s BMitzvah: Small Changes Against Injustice
Recently, I have been studying the story of the 10 plagues. Right now in the Torah the Israelites are being enslaved by the Egyptians, and they have been enslaved by them for about 400 years. In a moment, we’re going to read from the very beginning of the Torah portion about how the Israelites […]
Chicago City Budget Vote Recap
On November 26, Chicago City Council passed a budget with a vote of 39-11. While the budget does include modest funding increases for mental health services and homelessness prevention, it does not reflect the values and priorities we and our allies at ONE Northside and the ReImagine Chicago Coalition have been pushing for. This budget […]
2018 Pomegranate Prize Awarded to Ilana Gleicher-Bloom
Massive mazel tov to Ilana Gleicher-Bloom, Founding Vision Director of Mensch Academy at Mishkan Chicago, on winning the 2018 Covenant Foundation Pomegranate Prize! The Pomegranate Prize, inaugurated in 2011, is designed to honor rising leaders who have been in the field of Jewish education for up to ten years. Ilana shares: My dream is to create a world […]