When he was just 30 days old, Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer suffered a botched radiation treatment for a skin ailment, leaving half his body discolored. Growing up he was often teased and treated differently. Eventually, Goldhamer found his career calling in the seminary, attending Hebrew Union College in 1967.His experience as an outsider led him to…
Block Club Chicago is a nonprofit newsroom focused on Chicago’s neighborhoods. Subscribe to support their on-the-ground reporting here. Neighbors are pushing for a Northwest Side park to be renamed after an influential German-Jewish author and poet who died in the Holocaust. Kolmar Park, 4143 N. Kolmar Ave., is named for the street on which it…
Myra Friedman clicked on the video, and there it was: the old neighborhood, the high school clubs, the gray jackets with pink lettering, the shopping trips to Woolworth’s and Kresge’s, the multiple synagogues. The 1950s and ‘60s in Jewish Chicago were back, in a documentary playing on her computer in L.A., and on laptops, tablets,…
The moment that crystallized Howard Reich’s future in music, writing and Judaism occurred when, as a 16-year-old living in the largely Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie, Ill., he found the 1951 Best-Picture winning musical “An American in Paris” showing on the family TV. George Gershwin, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, wrote the film’s music,…
Tom Sondag wanted to help his favorite Chicago Jewish deli, Manny’s Deli, while also helping his friend, Catholic pastor Michael Pfleger of The Faith Community of Saint Sabina, feed residents on the South Side of Chicago. Sondag, who owns the Castle Honda car dealership, bought 1,000 sandwiches, and on Monday, Dec. 21, stood with Pfleger…
To start a vigorous political argument just say, “Rahm Emanuel.” Whether you’re in Chicago, where he was a mayor and congressman and investment banker, or in Washington, where he worked with Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, the diminutive middle son of the three Emanuel brothers is trending upwards — for this week at least…
Before becoming a rabbi, Benay Lappe wanted to be a Buddhist monk. While Jews have often been drawn to Eastern traditions, few dedicate nearly a decade to becoming a devout Buddhist in Japan. Lappe is hardcore. But before making her final commitment, she consulted with a rabbi in Tokyo who gave her a copy of…
The announcement came in early March: The Standard Club, a nexus of Jewish life in Chicago for 150 years, would be closing its doors May 1 and its building, a 13-story, 1920s high rise designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, would be sold. Thanks to the coronavirus, the club didn’t last even that long. It…
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