Join us for our Shabbat Service on Friday, October 9, at 7:30 pm led by Rabbi Menachem Cohen and singing led by Rabbi Ezra Kiers. We will pray and welcome Shabbat together in a circle of friendship.
Doors open at 7:00 PM. The Service will be followed by an oneg.
At Broadway United Methodist Church, 3338 N Broadway in Chicago.
Our next Rosh Chodesh Affiliation Group meeting will take place via Zoom on Sunday, October 11, at 3:00 pm. It will be close to the beginning of the month of Cheshvan, the only month without any holidays. Cheshvan is a month of reflection.
For more information contact Ascher Levy, ascher1@ameritech.net.
The World to Come by Dara Horn is the story of the theft of a Chagall painting from a museum. The thief is a young Jewish man who is a quiz show writer who believes the painting once hung in his parents' living room in Russia. The theft opens many philosophical questions about the family history of the main character and questions about life in general. He learns that the world we create by our own choices and actions becomes our world to come.
We will meet Sunday morning October 4, 10:30 AM, at a home in the Hollywood Park area of Chicago (near NEIU). Write to Joan Minsky, minsky@aol.com, to RSVP or for more information: chicagomakom@gmail.com
Simchat Torah means "rejoicing in the Torah." The celebration occurs when the year-long cycle of weekly Torah reading finishes Deuteronomy and continues with the beginning of Genesis, showing that reading Torah never ends.
This is an opportunity to get close and personal with the Torah. This year participants will pull a Torah portion out of a hat, and we will pick out something meaningful which can be your "Torah inspiration" for the coming year.
We will meet at Beit Yichud, 6932 N Glenwood in Rogers Park, at 7:00 PM.
Light refreshments will be served. There is metered street parking and there is a Red Line stop nearby.
Al Goldberg and Cookie Gluck will host the first night of Sukkot in their sukkah on Friday evening, September 25, 2026, at 6:30 pm. Al and Cookie's Sukkot events are inspiring, spiritually fulfilling, and informative about the holiday and its traditions.
Together we will welcome Shabbat and welcome Sukkot with the blessings for entering the Sukkot, and then hold a Welcoming of the Ushpizim meditation. Al will also describe the ritual of Etrog and Lulav.
This will all be followed be a potluck meal / oneg.
This event will be in south Evanston.
RSVP (required) or for information write to al_goldberg@mac.com
Yom Kippur concluding Ne’ilah service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
Concluding with rousing sounds of shofar, and followed by breaking the fast.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom
(No tickets needed.)
Yom Kippur afternoon Mincha service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom.
(No tickets needed.)
Yom Kippur yizkor service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom
Send e-mail to chicagomakom@gmail.com to have your loved ones remembered.
(No tickets needed.)
An exercise where we recall and sharing about our loved ones. May their memories be a blessing.
Journaling and discussion: Ascher Levy leads a discussion and experience about the God-spark within you.
We meet Rabbi Allen Secher, who answered Dr. King's plea for rabbis to join a famous civil rights action in 1964. They were all arrested, and the civil rights act was submitted to Congress the next day.
Yom Kippur morning service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom
Check our tickets page for tickets in advance.
Kol Nidre service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom
Check our tickets page for tickets in advance.
Rosh Hashanah morning service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom
Check our tickets page for tickets in advance.
Rosh Hashanah evening service, with Rabbi Menachem Cohen and cantorial soloist Eli Newell.
Followed by apples and honey for a sweet new year.
At Broadway United Methodist Church and on zoom.
Check our tickets page for tickets in advance
Led by Leah Shoshanah
Saturday, August 22, 6-9 pm
Rogers Park location, those who RSVP will get the address.
Please bring a kosher-style (no pork or shellfish) appetizer, main course, or dessert to share.
RSVP to ascher1@ameritech.net.
Come join us for the popular Shabbat in the Park again, Friday evening August 14. Now now with Selichot added in!
Selichot are prayers and poems about repentance. They are said at various times during the year, most notably in the lead-up to High Holy Days.
In the Sephardic tradition this lead-up period starts at the beginning of Elul. Our congregation follows Ashkenazi customs, where Selichot is a few weeks later. But as our monthly Shabbat service coincidentally aligns with Elul, we will use this opportunity to observe Selichot at the same time.
Our August 14 Shabbat service will again be outside at Loyola Beach Park at 7:30 PM.
Services will be led by Rabbi Menachem, with Eli Newell as cantorial soloist.
A vegetarian potluck oneg/kiddush will be served after services. Please feel free to bring a dish. Fish will be OK to bring. Paper plates and tableware will be provided.
Enter the Loyola Beach parking lot at Greenleaf, east of Sheridan. We will be in the grassy area at the end of Lunt Ave, near the south end of the parking lot (which runs parallel to the lake between Greenleaf and Lunt). We will meet and schmooze before services starting at 7:00.
It's best to bring blankets and/or chairs, as there is no seating provided.
The CTA Red Line and 147 bus have stops nearby.
Come join us at Loyola Beach Park as we welcome Shabbat on Friday evening.
Services will be led by Rabbi Menachem, with Eli Newell as cantorial soloist.
A vegetarian potluck oneg/kiddush will be served after services. Please feel free to bring a dish. Fish will be OK to bring. Paper plates and tableware will be provided.
Bring a blanket or chair. We will meet on the grass.
Enter the Loyola Beach parking lot at Greenleaf, east of Sheridan. We will be in the grassy area at the end of Lunt Ave, near the south end of the parking lot (which runs parallel to the lake between Greenleaf and Lunt)
Join us at 6:30 pm on Saturday August 8 at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Grant Park/Millennium Park for Makom Shalom’s annual picnic. We'll meet on the lawn just south of the stage.
The concert featuring the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus in Mozart's Requiem will begin at 7:30. Requiem is a soul stirring work that was left unfinished because of Mozart's early death. While writing this work Mozart expressed his concern that he might be writing a requiem for himself.
The concert will also feature John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1. This symphony was written during the AIDS epidemic and pays tribute to Corigliano's friends and colleagues lost to the disease.
Email cohen.roberta.d@gmail.com to RSVP so we can save you space for your lawn chair or blanket. Bring your favorite picnic foods to eat and enjoy the comraderie.
On August 7 we will meet for dinner
Our Shabbat Dinner Group will meet at Kie-Gol-Lanee, 5004 N Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL.
The restaurant has a wonderful Oxacan cuisine with many delightful dishes from southern Mexico. The menu includes more traditional items like tacos and tamales with a southern Mexican motif, and quite a few more exotic platters. There are also gluten free and vegetarian menu selections.There's something on the menu for meat lovers, vegetarians, vegans and the gluten free.
There is metered street parking and the 151 Sheridan Bus stops nearby. There is also a Red Line stop in the area.
Members and non-members are welcome to join us as we bentch licht and chow down and visit with each other.
We know that not everyone can make it by 6:00 pm, so get there whenever you can and and if you RSVP we'll save you a place. And please do RSVP so that we can be sure to have enough room for everyone at the table.
RSVP to Ina Marks via text messaging, 773-350-2127.
This event will be led by Rabbi Menachem Cohen and Leah Shoshanah. We will gather around a fire at the Emily Oaks nature center in Skokie.
Join Hazon Eliyahu, the Vision of Elijah, for an embodied ceremony of moving from a place of narrowness to a place of expanse. This experience observes the closing of Tisha b'Av by birthing vision(s) for the Great Song. The Great Song is the union of all our heart-beats, the song of life and the song we will create together as we sing, pray, and move on July 23.
Tisha b'Av begins at sundown on July 22 and ends at sundown on July 23. This Jewish day is historically one of grieving the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem. It is said that Tisha b'Av ends with the birthing of the Messiah, which we take to mean the birth of vision for healing of our world.
We have chosen to offer a ceremony that will aid in the transition from grief to birth, and provide space for tears, singing, movement, and musical joyous expansion. Utilizing meditation, song, and movement we will let go of the narrowness and constriction created by anxiety and fear to arrive at an embodied feeling of a vision for the world to come. We will invite the strength of our prophetic ancestors, Eliyahu and Miriam, drawing their vision into our own being to carry with us as we walk through the world.
For more information and to sign up: click here.
Rabbi Allen Secher, the founder of our congregation, is the subject of a play to be performed Monday, July 13, at Temple Am Shalom in Glencoe. When the Rabbis Came to Town by Roger Rapoport tells the story of Secher's life as a social justice activist. It focuses on the 1964 arrest of 17 people (16 were rabbis) during a civil rights demonstration and prayer service in St. Augustine, FL. They had traveled to Florida directly from a rabbinical conference when Dr. King appealed for their help from jail.
While in a holding cell, the clergy together wrote a letter titled "Why We Went." On June 19, 1964, two days after the arrests, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by Congress.
Their story will be told in a one-man play with actor Adam Bell as Reb Allen on Monday, July 13, at 7:00 - 9:00 pm. Am Shalom is located at 840 Vernon Ave., Glencoe, IL. Admission is free.
To sign up to attend the play: Register for play
An article on the play, the rabbi, and the events this is all about: Article in JTA
Our next Rosh Chodesh Affiliation Group meeting will take place via Zoom on Sunday, June 14, at 3:00 pm. It will be the close to the month of Av. In the Hebrew calendar the 9th of Av is the end of the fasting period which began in Tammuz, the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. It is also a month symbolizing hope and redemption.
For more information contact Ascher Levy, ascher1@ameritech.net.
Come join us at Loyola Beach Park as we welcome Shabbat on Friday evening.
Services will be led by Rabbi Menachem, with Eli Newell as cantorial soloist.
A vegetarian potluck oneg/kiddush will be served after services. Please feel free to bring a dish. Fish will be OK to bring. Paper plates and tableware will be provided.
Bring a blanket or chair. We will meet on the grass.
Enter the Loyola Beach parking lot at Greenleaf, east of Sheridan. We will be in the grassy area at the end of Lunt Ave, near the south end of the parking lot (which runs parallel to the lake between Greenleaf and Lunt)
Crafts and Conversation, with Wendy Lauter.
Crafts and Conversation is a community crafting circle. Just come and craft whatever you'd like and schmooze and have a good time. Crochet, sketch, whatever … or just join us without being crafty.
We will meet in a Ravenswood location.
RSVP to Wendy by e-mail lausho343@gmail.com
Happy New Years by Maya Arad is a story told by a lifelong collection of letters by an Israeli woman who emigrates to the United States. As the author goes through different stages of her life she shares many valuable insightful observations. And there's so much to be derived from reading between the lines.
We will meet Sunday morning June 21, 10:30 AM, at a home in the Hollywood Park area of Chicago (near NEIU). Write to Joan Minsky to RSVP or for more information: chicagomakom@gmail.com
Come join us at Loyola Beach Park as we welcome Shabbat on Friday evening.
Services will be led by Rabbi Menachem, with Leah Shoshanah as cantorial soloist.
A vegetarian potluck oneg/kiddush will be served after services. Please feel free to bring a dish. Fish will be OK to bring. Paper plates and tableware will be provided.
Bring a blanket or chair. We will meet on the grass.
Enter the Loyola Beach parking lot at Greenleaf, east of Sheridan. We will be in the grassy area at the end of Lunt Ave, near the south end of the parking lot (which runs parallel to the lake between Greenleaf and Lunt)
On June 5 we will meet for dinner
Our Shabbat Dinner Group will meet Friday, June 5, at Cumin, 1039 W Belmont, Chicago, at 6:00 PM.
Cumin is an Indian and Nepali restaurant with a wide variety of meat based and meatless dishes. There's something on the menu for meat lovers, vegetarians, vegans and the gluten free.
There is metered street parking and the CTA Red Line/Brown Line station is nearby.
Members and non-members are welcome to join us as we bentch licht and chow down and visit with each other.
We know that not everyone can make it by 6:00 pm, so get there whenever you can and and if you RSVP we'll save you a place. And please do RSVP so that we can be sure to have enough room for everyone at the table.
RSVP to Ina Marks via text messaging, 773-350-2127.
Crafts and Conversation, with Wendy Lauter.
Crafts and Conversation is a community crafting circle. Just come and craft whatever you'd like and schmooze and have a good time. Crochet, sketch, whatever … or just join us without being crafty.
We will meet in a Ravenswood location.
RSVP to Wendy by e-mail lausho343@gmail.com
On the night of Shavuot we will reconvene online for a mid-night meditation.
It is said the channels between us and the InfiniteEternal are open wider at that time than any other time, making it easier than usual to commune with the Divine. To ask questions and state intentions.
Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88641542795?pwd=LzdOalZsaEJoL2NTb1VKS2xOL1JwUT09
Meeting ID: 886 4154 2795, Passcode: 950181, 312-626-6799
Shavuot is z’man simchateinu/time of our happiness and z’man matan Torah/time of the giving of Torah. In days such as these, it can be difficult to find happiness.
How do you find and keep joy in difficult times?
Rabbi Menachem will lead teachings and discussions about happiness and joy, as well as help us prepare to receive Torah.
Teaching, discussion, and meditation will be followed by a dairy potluck. Why? No one really knows. It’s simply Jewish tradition. Please bring something to share and your lactaid pills.
Later that evening we will reconvene online for a mid-night meditation. It is said the channels between us and the InfiniteEternal are open wider at that time than any other time, making it easier than usual to commune with the Divine. To ask questions and state intentions.
Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88641542795?pwd=LzdOalZsaEJoL2NTb1VKS2xOL1JwUT09
Meeting ID: 886 4154 2795, Passcode: 950181, 312-626-6799
Our next Rosh Chodesh Affiliation Group meeting will take place via Zoom. It will be the first day of Sivan, the month of the harvest and the month during which Shavuot arrives.
For more information contact Ascher Levy, ascher1@ameritech.net.
