Thousands of kosher food lovers turn out for the first-ever Kosherpalooza festival at Meadowlands, Biden administration names Dan Shapiro, former US envoy to Israel, to manage Abraham Accords, Kim Kardashian cries over Kanye Wests antisemitism in upcoming Kardashians episode, The Jewish Sport Report: This inspiring Jewish sports story will never air on TV. So everybodys affected a little differently.. And for Rabbi Yosef Schanowitz, that meant rushing to Highland Park's hospital, where he regularly volunteers as a chaplain. Everybody was just glad to be there, said trombonist Dana Legg. Participants listen during an event of unity and healing at the Central Avenue Synagogue-Chabad in Highland Park for the victims of Monday's Highland Park's Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., July 7, 2022. Following the shooting, Yosef Schanowitz, the rabbi of the local Chabad synagogue, posted a statement on his website saying that in the spring of 2022, an individual who matches the description of the shooter briefly visited the synagogue.. It will haunt me forever. He went from door to door, with "no time for small talk I didn't even ask people their names. Serving the Jewish community | Highland Park, IL Patch The city experienced two growth spurtsin the 1920s . There are always different events in the community that are appropriate . Im sorry for the miscommunication and missteps that took place earlier and I am happy to honor those who respectfully urged us to reconsider.. (One of the two victims identified so far, Jacki Sundheim, was the bnei mitzvah and event coordinator for the North Shore Congregation Israel in the neighboring suburb of Glencoe.). They continued to play even as a handful of people began running toward them, against the flow of the parade. It has also been the hometown for several famous Jews, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid screenwriter William Goldman to Olympic figure skater Jason Brown. Rochelle Zell Jewish High School. Thats basically our backyard.. in 2018, killing 11 Jewish worshippers. By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org. According to a 2020 study of the metropolitan Chicago area by researchers at Brandeis University and the University of Chicago, Highland Park is 50% Jewish: about 15,000 of the suburb's. Highland Park resident receives Chicago Jewish Federation's highest honor JUF , Community Contributor Posted Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 9:34 am CT | Updated Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 9:36 am CT Goldstein was a mother of two daughters in their early 20s, Cassie and Alana. Among the dead were Jacquelyn Sundheim of Highland Park, the bnai mitzvah coordinator at North Shore Congregation Israel, a Reform synagogue in nearby Glencoe; and Irina and Kevin McCarthy, the parents of a 2-year-old who survived the massacre. Katherine Goldstein (middle) is shown in this photo. According to communications from city officials, Congregation Ohav Emeth, a local Orthodox synagogue, had objected to the quartet of banners waving in front of its building. According to a 2020 study of the metropolitan Chicago area by researchers at Brandeis University and the University of Chicago, Highland Park is 50% Jewish: about 15,000 of the suburb's. Matthew Hersh, the Borough Council president, defended the flags at the meeting. Join the Forward (in person in Aspen) for a wide-ranging conversation with Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies, and Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of the Forward. Highland Park synagogue-goers were also active in the movement to free Soviet Jewry in the 1970s and 80s. Prager assumed a celebrity sighting had caused a stir. Many of them arent quite prepared to see the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band perched atop its flatbed festooned in red, white, and blue or any other floats rolling along Central Avenue again. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade in Highland Park began around 10 A.M. and the shooting began only 10 minutes later, when the suspect, 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III, allegedly opened fire at parade-goers from a near-by rooftop, killing six and wounding 36. Theres a complex set of emotions. An inspiring Jewish story happened on this season of NBCs American Ninja Warrior. Nobody will ever see it. On Monday, seven people were killed and more than 36 others were wounded in a shooting at a July Fourth parade in the Chicago suburb. Locals were used to seeing a 1953 pickup truck drive through their suburb and others along Chicagos North Shore blaring a mashup of the song Yankee Doodle Boy with a, , written by the noted Orthodox singer-songwriter, The report captures Highland Parks sky-high levels of Jewish pride and provides yet another example of how Mondays, shooting that killed at least seven people at a July 4 parade, there struck the heart of one of the countrys idyllic suburban Jewish capitals. This is our joy, and this is our spirit, and this is our. We felt like it was important to have a variety of different events where people could come together how its most meaningful and how its most comfortable for them.. assistant director for program marketing at JCC Chicago and a fellow single mother who was part of the camp group last year have been talking about taking their kids to the drone show together. No one will. Expand. Michla Tzipporah Schanowitz, who runs the Central Avenue Synagogue with her husband Rabbi Yosef Schanowitz, described dealing with the events of July 4 as "kind of overload, trying to process the sorrow and the pain of what happened, and the shock. The entire North Shore region which stretches over 20 miles along Lake Michigan, approximately from Evanston up to Lake Bluff is heavily Jewish, and other adjacent suburbs northwest of Chicago, such as Buffalo Grove and Skokie, are also known for their large Jewish populations. Its a place of movie magic and one of the 100 wealthiest cities in America, tweeted the noted film critic Richard Roeper. . The mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, one of the most heavily Jewish suburbs in the Chicago area, is at least the 300th in the United States this year. The town has avoided large-scale antisemitic incidents throughout the 20th century even as nearby Skokie became the site of a nationwide neo-Nazi march and the center of a landmark Supreme Court case in the late 1970s, and as West Rogers Park on Chicagos far northwest side saw a white supremacist shoot to kill multiple Orthodox Jews leaving services in 1999. Highland Park, IL In 2019, Highland Park High School yearbooks had to be edited. This past April, around the Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day, antisemitic flyers were found scattered throughout Highland Park and other North Shore communities, (they shared qualities with others distributed in several other cities over the past year by the antisemitic, Highland Parks Jewish population is comparable to, Squirrel Hill, the Pittsburgh neighborhood where a white supremacist opened fire on the Tree of Life synagogue. north of Chicago, have spent the past year grieving and trying to make sense of the horrific turn that morning took. Around one third of the population of Highland Park's 30,000 residents are Jewish and the town features synagogues from multiple denominations, with substantial Jewish populations in many of the neighboring . Courtesy of North Shore Congregation Israel, As the shooting made national headlines, local Jewish institutions went into crisis mode. Congregation Solel was led for a decade by Rabbi Robert Marx, a pioneering social justice activist who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and died last year at 93. Speaking with Haaretz, Elbaum said that his daughter, who works at a gelato store around a block from the shooting, wasnt present for the shooting but that shes dreading going back to work. JEWISH; Highland Park Parade Shooting. The city of Highland Park condemned anti-Semitism and "all acts of hate," saying it "stands in solidarity with our Jewish community." According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Highland Park is . There were funerals to plan, families to support. Lippitz said the band can wait for that July 4 in the future when Highland Park is ready for another parade. Straus, a Chicago financial adviser, was one of the first observers at the parade and attended it every year, his grandchildren said. On the other side of the coin, some of the most prominent anti-LGBTQ voices on the internet, including Chaya Raichik, creator of the social media account Libs of TikTok. In 2014, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency included Highland Park in an article on communities across the country that were, melding Jewish pride into their ceremonies for July 4. , which that year fell on Friday, just before Shabbat. to remove Nazi and white supremacist elements from multiple students comments. Highland Park is a suburb of Chicago with a population of 30,245. Highland Park, Illinois - Wikipedia Several Highland Park mayors, including the incumbent Nancy Rotering, have been Jewish. Neo-Nazis protest 2 Georgia synagogues over the weekend, Supreme Court ruling in Sabbath accommodation case has far-reaching consequences for observant Jews, Italy to bar soccer players from wearing No. (Courtesy of Eshel). Highland Parks, median household income was $147,067 in 2020. , according to the Census Bureau, more than twice the national median. A typical lay-led service draws 30 to 40 people from Highland Park and Metuchen. While the Squirrel Hill shooters motive was clear, local police are still investigating the alleged Highland Park attacker, Robert Bobby Crimo III. The recent death by suicide of a gay Orthodox alum, his friends said, highlights the strife of being Orthodox and gay. My moms childhood friend Jacki Lovi Sundheim was killed today in the Highland Park shooting. Locals were used to seeing a 1953 pickup truck drive through their suburb and others along Chicagos North Shore blaring a mashup of the song Yankee Doodle Boy with a niggun, or wordless melody, written by the noted Orthodox singer-songwriter Shlomo Carlebach. Tcath said that while his organization and so many others are still looking into the younger Crimos background, Highland Parks Jews are not reacting first with fears about a looming wave of specifically antisemitic violence. Some lamenting the tragedy on social media noted how the shooting punctured a very affluent, normally peaceful town where several iconic movies ostensibly about American suburbia from Ferris Buellers Day Off to Sixteen Candles were filmed. I approached him and sternly asked him to leave as I noticed he was not a member of our community," Schanowitz told Israel National News. After the pandemic forced Highland Parks July 4 tradition to take a two-year hiatus, members of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band climbed up on their flatbed truck last summer and warmed up their instruments, eager to make the crowds along the route dance once again. The day will begin with a remembrance ceremony at city hall (which will also be live streamed for anyone who wants to watch but isnt comfortable attending in person) and a community walk that is decidedly not a parade. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Jewish leaders in the community scrambled to provide support to their congregants and to the broader community. According to news reports, Crimo had a history of consuming and sharing ultra-violent content online but there is so far nothing to indicate that he was motivated by racial or antisemitic bias. Multiple GoFundMe pages began circulating online immediately for families of victims and survivors, including one for the 2-year-old son of the McCarthys, who will now be raised by his grandparents, Nina and Misha Levberg. The director of a local synagogue said he passed out both American and Israeli flags along the North Shore parade route. Highland Park welcomed a sizable Jewish population after World War II. One though, plans never to play a parade again. A rabbi saying that a Pride flag goes against a synagogues values is sending a message, intentional or not, to their congregants and beyond, some of whom look to that flag as a lifeline, said the parent, Randi Ostrove. Aiden McCarthys photo was shared across Chicago-area social media groups in the hours after the July 4 parade shooting in Highland Park, accompanied by pleas to help identify the 2-year-old who had been found at the scene bloodied and alone and to reunite him with his family. "We're supposed to celebrate Shabbat with with song and joy, and it was very subdued. "We always rise to the occasion," Jewish leader Michla Schanowitz said. No place is safe.. She saw danger everywhere and couldnt stomach watching anything on TV besides childrens programming and shows like, As the anniversary approaches, she sees two schools of thought. For some people, and she includes herself in this group, it is top of mind, it has changed who they feel like they are, said Skolnick. Jun 27, 2023, 7:20 PM . Highland Park: the very Jewish Chicago suburb rattled by July 4 But the feeling would last for only a few bars. List of Orthodox Jewish communities in the United States - Wikipedia The mass shooting left, five of whom belonged to Jewish families and dozens more. "I just poked my head into the door and just being introduced as I'm clergy and I just want to wish you all the best; our prayers are with you and God give you strength and bless you, and went on to the next room unless somebody needed to talk," he added. . What if they had picked a different spot on the route? I learned a lot from the comments of many residents and especially the thoughtful teens who spoke at the Mayor and Council meeting,, Foster wrote in a statement posted to Facebook, , referring to a meeting last week of Highland Parks Borough Council. In the absence of kids on bikes and musicians on floats, Carp said, Im imagining its going to be this quiet walk, which just feels hard and heavy. For Skolnick, It very much feels like a funeral procession, she said. "While some in Highland Park portrayed the divide as one between the Orthodox Jewish and LGBTQ communities, others cautioned against viewing the two groups as completely separate." 28 Jun 2023 20:56:47 But they are strong, leaning on their Jewish values in search of hope, and using their skills to solve the . Jason Brown at the 2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 21, 2019. Like Squirrel Hill which is also home to almost exactly 15,000 Jews Highland Park boasts an array of synagogues spanning denominations, including multiple Reform congregations and the largest Chabad-Lubavitch center in the area, called the Central Avenue Synagogue. Prager assumed a celebrity sighting had caused a stir. Government Nearly 12 months on, people are still asking themselves impossible questions. "It's a very tight-knit Jewish community," he said. In early June, the town of Highland Park, New Jersey, had one of its central thoroughfares decked out in rainbow Pride flags to celebrate an upcoming LGBTQ-themed music festival. We are, of course, working with law enforcement to help advance their investigation, he wrote. Henderson; Summerlin; New Jersey Central Jersey. Meanwhile, the student president of the Jewish Allies & Queers group at Rutgers University, in the neighboring city of New Brunswick, was a featured speaker at a Pride flag-raising event the city had scheduled for Monday at a separate location. will begin with a remembrance ceremony at city hall (which will also be live streamed for anyone who wants to watch but isnt comfortable attending in person) and a community walk that is decidedly not a parade. It has also been the hometown for several famous Jews, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid screenwriter William Goldman to Olympic figure skater Jason Brown. It doesnt feel real. But also at the same time, knowing that we can do so much to bring so much light and goodness into the world.". Its not designed to be something people view, its designed to be something that people do, so that as a community we are actively traveling this journey together, said Amanda Bennett, communications manager for the city. Ohav Emeth matches that location. that Waukegan embraces our diversity as our strength' . Upon hearing this years itinerary, his first thought as a tuba player whos always considered July 4 to be his big day was that hed love to play. The band, based in nearby Skokie, has coped in its own way, with klezmer, the sometimes doleful and often buoyant traditional music of Eastern European Jews. The purpose of this music has always been to push back against the darkness, Lippitz said. One Year After Highland Park . Highland Park, IL - Niche In Highland Park, he told JTA, they prefer the Israeli flag., Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories One person who spoke linked the synagogues request to anti-LGBTQ behavior by the Christian right. Many of his congregants were at the suburb's Fourth of July parade where a shooter opened fire from a rooftop. HP still strong | Jewish Chicago (The JUF Magazine) @ Jewish United Fund Mass shooting in Highland Park touches Jewish community According to a 2020 study of the metropolitan Chicago area by researchers at Brandeis University and the University of Chicago, Highland Park is 50% Jewish. In Highland Park's Jewish community, few are - Jewish United Fund But as discussions of LGBTQ equality and visibility have taken center stage in the United States culture wars, even Jewish groups that advocate for LGBTQ rights have faced dilemmas about how to translate that support into action. They hoped to be part of the communitys healing as much as they had been part of its joy. Highland Park as a Summer Resort: The Wildwood Experience, The Origins of Chicago's Jewish North Shore Why did many in Chicago's Jewish community choose to move to Highland Park? At least 7 killed at July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, heavily The dust-up highlighted a local manifestation of what has been, at times, a broader contentious relationship between LGBTQ people and Orthodox institutions. One of them was Katherine Goldstein, who was a mother to two adult daughters, an avid bird watcher, and a lover of travel, according to a friend of hers who spoke with ABC News. Few members of the community were left unaffected by the shooting. The Lake Shore Country Club opened in 1908 as likely the only of its kind in the area to admit Jews in neighboring Glencoe, but Tcath said it was primarily populated by [people from] Highland Park. In 1918, the similar Northmoor Country Club opened in Highland Park proper. Highland Park became the city's primary Jewish neighborhood after most of the Jewish population moved from the Summit-University neighborhood in the mid-1900s . And finally, evening entertainment will include a concert by Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band and a custom drone show in lieu of fireworks. The town is rich in other 20th-century Jewish history, too. Ravinia Festival is an open-air pavilion seating 3,200, which hosts classical, pop, jazz and latin concerts in the summers. Ohav Emeths rabbi, Eliyahu Kaufman, declined a JTA request for comment, as did Rabbi Steven Miodownik, who heads Congregation Ahavas Achim, another Orthodox synagogue nearby that shares a vaad, or rabbinic council, with Kaufmans synagogue. Based on whats currently known I personally do not feel that way. Tcath said that the worst for Highland Park involved antisemitic hockey fans from neighboring towns, who in the 1980s and 90s would throw bagels onto the ice when their children played against Highland Park, to try to intimidate and embarrass them. Then he realized that he wont be fully able to lose himself in the music. Nothing gets cursed here. One speaker, attorney John Kovac, characterized the Pride flag as a symbol of sexual immodesty that runs contrary to Orthodox Jewish values. Vandalized Jewish cemetery is rededicated; 'Our community shows It felt like a disaster movie. Alex Koffman, the bands musical director and violinist whod served in the Red Army before immigrating from Belarus to the U.S. in 1989, recognized the sound of gunshots. A view of the Mizrahi Grill kosher restaurant in Highland Park. "Everyone is in a state of grief. Her anxiety comes in waves, and she was surprised to find it triggered by the warming weather and start of camp. . According to a 2020 study of the metropolitan Chicago area by researchers at Brandeis University and the University of Chicago, Highland Park is 50% Jewish: about 15,000 of the suburbs 30,000 residents. As such, they warrant a priority response from everyone." Anyone with information should call the Highland Park Police detective bureau at (732) 572-3800. Thousands of kosher food lovers turn out for the first-ever Kosherpalooza festival at Meadowlands, Biden administration names Dan Shapiro, former US envoy to Israel, to manage Abraham Accords, Kim Kardashian cries over Kanye Wests antisemitism in upcoming Kardashians episode, The Jewish Sport Report: This inspiring Jewish sports story will never air on TV. They asserted that it is clear that Americans ability to live independent of the fear of gun violence is ever more elusive. In Highland Park's Jewish community, few are untouched by deadly mass I would never bring my kids to that., And some arent ready to gather with larger groups at all. Overview The Willits House Highland Park has several attractions including a downtown shopping district and the Ravinia Festival. The director of a local synagogue said he passed out both American and Israeli flags along the North Shore parade route. (About 3% of the Jews in Highland Park and its surrounding towns are Israeli, the study also found. And for at least a decade, it has added Jewish flavor to the citys July 4 parade, one of the most beloved and well-attended on the North Shore. Highland Park is kind of still the Mecca, or Jerusalem, if you will, Tcath said. This is an extraordinary year, said city manager Ghida Neukirch. 'Conservadox' minyan attracts a diverse crowd - New Jersey Jewish News Skolnick, 53, who had loved the Highland Park parade since childhood, had organized about 100 families from JCC Chicagos Z Frank Apachi Day Camp in neighboring Northbrook to march together last year. His parents had helped bring dozens of Holocaust survivors to the United States. I hope that people feel supported, I hope that people are able to take comfort and participate in what they can, she said. Some lamenting the tragedy on social media noted how the shooting punctured a very affluent, normally peaceful town where several iconic movies ostensibly about American suburbia from Ferris Buellers Day Off to Sixteen Candles were filmed. Highland Park--about 50% Jewish according to the 2020 Metropolitan Chicago Jewish Population Study, including a substantial number of Israelis--was left in a state of shock and trauma following the event. Crimos father, Bob Crimo II, is a well-known local figure who owns multiple businesses, including a deli, and once unsuccessfully ran for mayor. Congregation Solel was led for a decade by Rabbi Robert Marx, a pioneering social justice activist who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and died last year at 93. While authorities have not said what motivated the suspect, investigative groups have pointed to the suspect's social media posts as gravitating towards far-right ideas. They are about not feeling shame anymore for who you are. at the public library three months later. Irina McCarthy had been the same age when she immigrated to the U.S. with her Russian Jewish family. SEE ALSO | Highland Park mass shooting sent Community Emergency Response Team running toward danger . Several Highland Park mayors, including the incumbent Nancy Rotering, have been Jewish.