“After Sukkos.” This famous phrase can be heard throughout the community, both locally and out-of-town, as people busily prepare themselves for the important Yomim Noraim season. At Yachad, since our work never stops, we have been hard at work bringing Inclusion to the community before, during and after the Yom Tov season. From our opening events to our most recent Sukkot parties, the participation from the Yachad community has been wonderful. We are also excited for all of the upcoming events!
Our Seniors and Rayim divisions’ (ages 15-23 and 24-40+) opening event was held at Bowlero in Buffalo Grove, where participants took advantage of fun offerings, such as LaserTag, premium bowling and an arcade. More than 60 individuals took part in the festivities. The day ended back at our office, located on the Skokie / West Rogers Park border, with a dairy buffet dinner. It was a great kickoff to what promises to be an amazing year of fun, friends, and community. Our Juniors division (ages 7-14) opened the year at Paint-N-Party, where two dozen children created all kinds of ceramic masterpieces, from figurines to decorative bowls and much more. All in all, Yachad had two great kickoff events and it promises to be an amazing year of fun, friends, and community for everyone.
On Chol Hamoed Sukkos, back-to-back sukkos parties took place in the beautiful Cong. KINS Sukkah. Our Juniors created candy, graham cracker, and frosting sukkahs and played all kinds of fun games. Our Seniors and Rayim divisions enjoyed an amazing magic show. Lots of socializing, games, and music, along with a fleishig meal rounded out a great time had by all! Turnout was great at both of our parties and there was no rain!
In a first for Yachad, we hosted our first community-wide GO b’Yachad event with Frumba! The event was open to all women and girls in the community. Everyone who attended enjoyed the gathering and camaraderie. Healthy snacks were served. Thank you to Tziporah Gelman for partnering with us and for running the dance exercise class, ensuring that everyone was included and had a great time!
This past week, the Yachad team came together for our annual Chicago High School Leadership Shabbaton. The High School Leadership Board, consisting of 15 board members from local high schools, along with Yachad’s Director Elliot Cohen, Program Coordinators Elana Lipman and Jessica Rine and their families, participated in team-building and bonding exercises, informational sessions and role-play scenarios, all in the name of using the most current and best practices in Inclusion. It was an amazing weekend with delicious food, capped off by a lively and interactive experience at ComedySportz Theatre. Yasher koach to Rabbi Zev Cohen for inspiring words that he shared with us after davening on Shabbos morning and to Rabbi Yosef Polstein for providing chizuk and at our Oneg. Thank you to Akiva Frishman (former Chicago Yachad High School Board member and current coordinator for National Yachad’s Informal Education department) for flying into Chicago in the midst of a very busy season, to facilitate a memorable weekend.
