Emanuel Congregation | Reform Jewish Synagogue

Born in the former Soviet Union, Simona Bogode found her Jewish home at Emanuel Congregation in 2020. Since then, she’s been an active member and volunteer with the Emanuel Eeshas. “My parents grew up not really being able to practice Judaism,” she says. “Growing up we knew we were Jewish, but other than attending High Holidays, we didn’t really connect much more. I did however get to go to Camp Chi! When I was 20, I went on my birthright trip and had a profound connection w

I am so fortunate to have recently returned from my first in-person conference since before the pandemic. I spent 3 days with a cohort of fellow educators exploring and sharing ideas on how to infuse experiential Jewish education into our community.  The program was with M2 through the Institute for Experiential Jewish Education (IEJE).  This seminar was the kickoff of an 18-month program with 25 fellow Jewish educators from across Chicagoland.  Throughout the 18 months of th

The great scholar Abraham Joshua Heshel once said “What we need more than anything is not textbooks but text people. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read; the text they will never forget.” Mandy, if our students never opened a book (God forbid!), they could learn everything they need to know about Judaism and its middot (values) by emulating you. Your kindness and sensitivity to each child’s specific needs allows for kids to feels suppor

This past Friday, I had the privilege of joining 6 young women as they re-celebrated their B-Mitzvah. Their original service took place over zoom and this was their opportunity to celebrate together, on the Bimah with Cantor Friedman, friends, family and community members. What a beautiful service. During the Torah portion, Termurah, I realized it was the same portion of my own B-Mitzvah, held ### years ago. So I went to the basement and pulled out my old folder, containing