Sign In Forgot Password

                      a letter from our president, lee zoldan

Shalom my friends,

Last night, our synagogue was the target of a protest by several groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). That protest turned violent, resulting in property damage to our building and two arrests.

As you know from our weekly eblasts, we occasionally rent our space to other Jewish organizations.  This provides additional income to help defray our costs and keep our membership dues low.

The Chicago Jewish Alliance is one such organization, and last night we hosted an event of theirs featuring Yoseph Haddad. As you can see, Yoseph, an Israeli Arab, is a very well known and impressive advocate for Israel who was injured during his service in the IDF.

As with all our events, we required an RSVP, and the 200+ attendees were vetted by the Israeli Consulate beforehand. Our name and location were not announced in the advertising; this information was only given to those who registered. Unfortunately, several people registered under false names, and we believe they released our location to their peers.

Our best-in-class security procedures were in place, including our metal detector in the vestibule and complete bag searches by the two guards at the door.  We turned away anyone who was not on the list or seemed affiliated with the protestors. 

The event started at 7:30. Around 7:00, a group of about 30 people, some carrying an SJP banner, arrived at our building. Members of the US Palestinian Community Network along with attorneys of the National Lawyers Guild were among the protestors.

See some of the photos of the event below.

         

      Students for Justice for Palestine protest the Yoseph Haddad event.

           

    Lawyers for the National Lawyers Guild watch and await possible                                                             arrests of protesters.

           

 Chicago Police arrest one of the protesters who were in the synagogue.

           

    Bomb sniffing dogs from the Chicago Police SWAT Team check the                                                                   synagogue.

Shortly thereafter, two people who had gained admission to our event started yelling in the sanctuary.  Our staff people, Mary Lynn and Cary, were both working the event and quickly called law enforcement.  Members of both the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department responded quickly, creating a human barrier in front of the Clark Street side of our building that at times was two officers deep. 

Although there was no mainstream media coverage of this, social media coverage went viral.

Some examples of the posts are here: 

Chicago Jewish Alliance video of one interruption of the program.

Chicago Jewish Alliance video of lobby confrontation.

Eyal Jakoby's video of what happened in our lobby

ADL Midwest Condemnation of the protest.

Chicago JCRC (JUF) Condemnation of the protest including outdoor footage.

During the arrests, our building suffered property damage. Although some people left the building when the shouting started, the vast majority stayed, chanting “Am Yisrael Chai” as the protestors were handcuffed and removed. 

We are working with our partners at ADL, JUF, the Israeli Consulate, the Chicago Jewish Alliance, the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff’s office and Blue Star Security to review all aspects at of this situation and prevent it from happening again. In the meantime, we thank all these institutions for their swift and forceful response to this unfortunate incident. 

We also thank Alderman Bill Conway (34th Ward) who has pledged his full support to our community. He told us that he will work with the Chicago Police and the State’s Attorney’s office to ensure that justice will happen in this case.

We are also especially grateful to Mary Lynn Pross and Cary Wolovick, as well as our board secretary Franklin Sabes who represented the synagogue at the event.  Together, they worked seamlessly with law enforcement to make sure the event proceeded as smoothly as possible, that the disruption was resolved quickly, and that no one was hurt.

We look forward to a time when we can appreciate our differences instead of trying to annihilate them; until then, events like this underscore the need for us to maintain a strong Jewish presence in downtown Chicago.  That wouldn’t be possible without your support, and my gratitude for all your help over the years truly knows no bounds.  We have not had an antisemitic incident since 2017 when a lone attacker smashed our windows and put Nazi stickers on our doors.  As before, we now hope to put this incident behind us and enjoy our right to gather for events and worship services in downtown Chicago for many years, in peace.

Sincerely, 

Lee Zoldan

President

                                  Help Support Israel now!

Israel needs our help like never before, and to make sure we get voices heard and our funding to the right places, here is a list of organizations that are supporting Israel either through donations or through legislative action. While this list has been compiled from reliable sources, there are also a lot of scam artists taking advantage of the situation, so please thoroughly research any organization you decide to support. 

For a full list of worthy organizations to review, click here.

                       Welcome TO CHICAGo Loop Synagogue

We would love to have you join us for our Shacharit minyanim Monday through Saturday!

Reservations must be made to attend minyanim along with proof of identification. Please email Cary to reserve your place at caryw@chiloopsyn.org.

                                     Our Vision and Identity


Whether you work or live downtown, Chicago Loop Synagogue is your

spiritual home.

 

As the largest synagogue in the downtown area, we serve Jews with many differing needs. Some come to pray, some come to participate in our array of thoughtful programs or unmatched High Holiday services. No matter what causes you to engage with us, Chicago Loop Synagogue is committed to helping you find what you seek.

                 Our Building and its architectural history

The synagogue is also an architectural marvel which is regularly featured on architecture tours.

Among other features, it contains the magnificent Abraham Rattner stained glass artwork which takes up almost the entire Eastern facade of the Synagogue. Rattner lithographs are located in our Beit Midrash as well as the entry to the Social Hall. The Hands of Peace by Henri Azaz crowns the entrance to the Synagogue.

We were featured by the "Historic American Buildings Survey" by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

To view the short form architectural history, please click here.

To view a .pdf of the drawings for the "Historic American Buildings Survey," please click here.

                      Have your simcha at our Synagogue!

A three-story high stained glass window, which has been called the biggest and best work of its kind in the US, if not the world, will be a magnificent backdrop for your simcha.

Impress your guests with the near-perfect acoustics in our soaring 535-seat sanctuary, upgraded social hall and full kosher kitchen.  For more information, click here.  To book a showing, click here or call 312-346-7370.

                                              Yahrzeits

For a list of this coming month's yahrzeits, click here.

                                 How to connect with us

Are you interested in joining us? Click here and let us know!

To contact us, call (312) 346-7370 or email our office at  loopadmn@chiloopsyn.org.

Click here to like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Instagram.

Click Here to like us on Twitter or follow us at @Loop_Chicago

Sun, November 10 2024 9 Cheshvan 5785