Plant a seed and watch it grow.

Once again, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago’s South Suburban Mini-Grant Program will provide the financial oomph to help a wide array of Jewish cultural programming blossom in the Southland. Over the coming year, 13 cultural, religious and educational projects will share nearly $20,000 in small grants, ranging from $275 to $4,000 each.

Programs will look at historic figures ranging from “Rabbi” Abraham Lincoln to Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara; highlight Arabic music, great classical composers and Israeli and Jewish cinema; explore Hinduism, the Qur’an and black-Jewish relations; and delve into repentance, forgiveness and finding goodness amid the Holocaust.

All were selected from proposals submitted by area Jewish organizations and reviewed by a group of local residents – the South Suburban Mini-Grant Kehillah – which awarded the grants.

The full list of programs includes:

• BBYO Sports Day – presented by BBYO Great Midwest Region, Chaverim BBG and Barney Ross AZA

Teens from across Chicagoland and northwest Indiana will be brought to the Windy City Fieldhouse for an evening of sports and entertainment after Shabbat on Saturday, April 8, 2017.

• Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom

A one-man play recounting the exploits of a foreign diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.

• Ishmael and Isaac: A Concert of Arabic and Jewish Music and Poetry – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom

Cross-cultural enrichment and increased mutual understanding among a diverse, interfaith group.

• The Forgiveness Project – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom, Congregation Am Echad and Temple Anshe Sholom

Explores forgiveness from the Jewish perspective, as well as its impact on broader society. It’s especially relevant as we mark Selichot, the prayers of repentance recited before the High Holidays. Friday evening, Sept. 23, Saturday evening, Sept. 24, and Sunday morning, Sept. 25.

• We Called Him Rabbi Abraham – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom and Temple Anshe Sholom

President Lincoln had a unique relationship with the Jewish community and, in some cases, was treated as one of us. We will learn how he acquired his exceptional status and how this fascinating relationship evolved.

• Got Questions? Jewish Responses to Modern Issues – presented by Congregation Am Echad

Answers to interesting modern questions of worship, ritual Shabbat observance, matters of personal status and family life, and communal issues.

• Hinduism: How Much Do You Really Know About It?

What Does the New Testament Have to Say About Judaism?

What Does the Qur’an Have to Say About Judaism?

Presented by Congregation Am Echad

Educates the Jewish and non-Jewish community about the beliefs, practices and holidays of Hinduism, and compares them to Judaism’s. Presented by Dr. Ronald Rutzky. Sundays March 26, April 30 and May 7, 2017.

• Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema in the Southern Suburbs – presented by JCC Chicago

Presents two acclaimed Israeli films with facilitated discussion. Nov. 20, 2016.

• Chicago Jewish Film Festival – presented by JCC Chicago

Presents two acclaimed Jewish films with facilitated discussion. March 2017.

• In the Midst of the Holocaust There Was Goodness – Irene Sendler – presented by National Council of Jewish Women South Cook Section

Judy Winnick portrays Irene Sendler, known as the Angel of the Warsaw Ghetto. April 26, 2017.

• Race, Religion and Issues Affecting Blacks and Jews – presented by Temple Anshe Sholom

Michael Rubin examines interracial history from the Deep South and Chicago. 7-10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016.

• Yom HaShoah 2017, Remembering Together – presented by Temple Anshe Sholom

Music transcends words. The poetry of Alden Solovy, and IPO musicians will play music of Schulhoff, Ullman, Klein and Weinberg, composers who all were lost in the Holocaust. April 23, 2017.

• Judaism’s Influence on the Great Composers – presented by Temple Anshe Sholom

Professor and Refusnik Eduard Schmieder will discuss how composers were influenced by traditional Jewish music. Musicians from IPO will perform the Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2.

Mini-grant proposals were reviewed and selected for the South Suburban Mini-Grant Kehillah by Dr. David Gottlieb and Bob Zitter (co-chairs), Laura Eisenwasser, Dan Greenberg, David Lebowitz and Bonnie Ribbet.

For more information, contact Alene Rutzky, Jewish Federation South Suburban Office coordinator, at (708) 798-1884 or [email protected] .