Shabbat yoga session (credit: JCC Kehilla)

With summer drawing to a close, nearly 200 young Jews in Chicago decided to take advantage of the beautiful Lake Michigan and Lincoln Park for Shabbat on the Lake.  Shabbat activities were designed to be inclusive, creative and most of all, engaging.

As the sun set over Chicago, participants were presented with a range of options for Shabbat services and activities.  Lincoln Park provided a beautiful, peaceful setting for Conservative and Orthodox services along with Shabbat inspired yoga and drumming.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the evening were Rabbinic- and young leadership- led text studies dealing with themes of Shabbat.  Rabbis spanning Chicago’s denominational spectrum donated their time and energy to provide thought provoking facilitation for Shabbat on the Lake.  Concepts ranging from tikkun olam to what makes a Jewish community unique to the laws of Shabbat were discussed by participants learning in chevruta.

Co-sponsors included JCC Kehilla, Birthright NEXT, Hadassah, Anshe Emet, Anshe Sholom B’nei Israel Congregation, Temple Emmanuel, and Temple Sholom. Shabbat on the Lake was a far reaching collaboration to present Chicago’s young community with a truly pluralistic and exciting Shabbat experience.  Many thanks are due to all of the volunteers and staff who made this event enjoyable and memorable

Join AZM Chicago and VIZion Chicago for Building Resiliency Among Israel’s Emergency Medical Responders: Reducing Secondary Traumatic Stress.

Monday, May 23 from 12pm-1pm

Adler School of Professional Psychology (17 N. Dearborn, Chicago)

Guests will need to check in at the front desk of Adler, located on the 15th floor of the building.

The event will be held in Room 16-118.

Guest Speakers: Dr. Uri Heller, Ph.D. and Talia Kurland, Psy.D. Student (and Dor Hemshech Young Adult Board Member)

Please bring a lunch; refreshments will be provided

Suggested $5 Donation

*Please RSVP to jwainer@azm.org or 847-677-5949 by Thursday, 5/19
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The goal of this lunchtime professional development seminar is to educate the community as to the development of a systemic psychosocial intervention program for Magen David Adom (MDA) volunteers and staff. We hope to engage in discussion and gain insight from community members before we move on to the next step in our research, creating and implementing the intervention program. The following information is a brief summary of the research so far:

Emergency medicine offers a hgih variability of situations for which medical responders must be prepared. Furthermore, the nature of emergency medicine leaves the first aid responder with little closure as to the outcome of the patients seen on a daily basis.

Israel’s emergency medical responders, Magen David Adom (MDA) has over 10,000 volunteers of which 4,000 are youth between the ages of 15-18 and 6,000 adult volunteers between the ages of 21-65. MDA is a highly respected organization in israeli culture, and many young volunteers remain active in the organization for life. In addition to those emergencies seen worldwide (i.s., heart attacks, car accidents, etc.), Israel’s emergency personnel must be prepared to enter situations, which have resulted in mass casualties and serious injuries that are the results of

Join ViZion Chicago to hear from Zion Uness. Zion Uness was born in 1977 in Ethiopia, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 7. He served in the infantry of the IDF and subsequently received a degree in occupational therapy from the University of Haifa. Since that time he has worked to improve Ethiopian–Israeli education and community life, and has spoken widely at Jewish community centers, film festivals, and universities about Ethiopian Jewry.

Sponsored by the American Zionist Movement- Chicago, ViZion (the Young Leadership division of the American Zionist Movement), and the Zionist Organization of America

ViZion is a group that meets monthly for professional development and networking; this months ViZion is open to individuals who work in the Jewish community on a professional and lay leader level.

Please bring lunch; refreshments will be provided.

Date: Monday, February 14, 12pm-1pm
Location: Argo Tea, Second Floor (1 N. Dearborn, Chicago)

RSVP by 2/9 to: Jessica, jwainer@azm.org or 847-677-5949