Walking, standing, or sitting

Rooftop view from London House Chicago overlooking Marina City and the Chicago River. (Photo courtesy of the London House Chicago)

Autumn in Chicagoland offers so many opportunities to explore Jewish culture, no matter what your speed. From architecture and literature to history, these events offer families and culture lovers new ways to discover the stories, people, and traditions that have helped shape Chicago and beyond. 

Discover the Jewish architects who shaped Chicago 

When you walk around downtown Chicago, do you ever wonder about the creative minds who designed the buildings gleaming around you? Well, many of those brilliant architects were Jewish. 

You can learn how they helped shape the city’s commercial and cultural landscape, with the Chicago Jewish Historical Society on Oct. 8. Join them for an hour-and-a-half walking tour exploring the contributions of Jewish architects, developers, and civic leaders who built Chicago’s urban environment.  

Landmarks will include London House Chicago, Marina City, the Nederlander Theatre, Chicago Loop Synagogue, and some surprises.   

The tour begins at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 at the Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E. Wacker Drive, and is $30 per person. Advance registration is required, at chicagojewishhistory.org. 

If your architecture itch is still not scratched, this year’s Open House Chicago weekend runs Oct. 17-18. This city-wide event, hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center, offers free behind-the-scenes access to over 200 architectural, historical, and cultural sites across 25-plus Chicago neighborhoods.  

Visit architecture.org for more details. 

Immersive storytelling at the Illinois Holocaust Museum 

Maybe a walking tour is too demanding, and you refer a slower pace. For those with a passion for technology and storytelling, the Princeton Club of Chicago and American Jewish Press Association are co-hosting a docent-led tour of the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Experience360 on Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. Experience360 is temporarily housed at the museum’s satellite space at 360 N. State Street, rather than the main museum space in Skokie. 

This tour will lead participants through “Stories of Survival,” an exhibition highlighting the stories from around the world of survivors of atrocities. The tour will include the Holography Theater, Holocaust Gallery, Virtual Reality Theater, and Special Exhibitions Gallery.  

Attendees must pre-register at princetonclubofchicago.org. Tickets are $5 for PCC members and $9 for non-members.  

Experience360 can be visited by those not on this tour as well. The exhibit is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  
 Admission is for children under five to $12 for adults, but free for everyone on the last Wednesday of the month. 

Note: The Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Skokie campus is scheduled to reopen in October 2026 following renovations designed to improve accessibility, visitor flow, and educational spaces. Group tour availability at the renovated Skokie museum begins in November. 

Northwestern Hillel to host staged reading of October 7  

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Northwestern Hillel will host a staged reading of October 7, a verbatim play produced by the Unreported Story Society and built entirely from survivor testimonies of Israel’s October 7 attacks. The production, directed by Jeff Gurner, has traveled widely since its premiere, including an off-Broadway run and stops at the Kennedy Center, UCLA, Princeton, and Bowdoin College. 

On a university campus, where students are regularly asked to engage with difficult ideas and with one another across real differences, the hope is that theater can offer something rare: “It’s a chance to sit with complexity rather than slogans, to imagine one’s way into someone else’s experience, and to bear witness to stories that deserve to be heard,” said Phelim McAleer, who co-wrote the play October 7 with his wife, Ann McElhinney.  

“October 7 was a cataclysmic moment from which emerged innumerable stories—stories of loss, courage, trauma, resilience, and hope. We believe October 7 the Play offers our Northwestern community an opportunity to encounter some of those stories in a deeply human way,” said Michael Simon, Executive Director of Northwestern Hillel. “At a time when conversations about October 7 and its aftermath can be polarized and divisive, we hope this moving and powerful work of art will create space for listening, empathy, reflection, and meaningful dialogue.” 

The one-time performance will take place on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson Street, Evanston. 

Tickets are free for Northwestern students and $18 for community members. To learn more, visit october7theplay.com. 

Jenna Cohen is a marketing and communications professional living in Chicago.