Tikkun Fellowship

A passionate ambassador of the classical guitar, Liel Amdour is committed to sharing the music of the guitar with audiences everywhere. The 2018 recipient of the Ben Steinberg Musical Legacy Award for a Promising Young Jewish Artist, and a two-time recipient of the British Columbia Arts Council Scholarship Award for Promising Young Artists in 2013 and2014, Liel regularly performs as a soloist in diverse settings and receives frequent praise for her expressive performances and charismatic presence.

Dedicated to presenting her music to audiences previously unfamiliar with the classical guitar, Liel performs in both traditional and unconventional venues. Notable engagements include recitals at the Chicago Latin American Guitar Festival, the Righteous Among the Nations Ceremony in Vancouver, the Vancouver Classical Guitar Society Emerging Artists Series, the Home of the President of the University of British Columbia, the Ben Steinberg Award Recital in Toronto, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s 100th Anniversary Celebration, and the Performing Arts Mosaic in New York City, among others. Past engagements include performances for the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Society, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Odessa Society, Vancouver Russian Music Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, IGNITE! Youth Festival, as well as frequent appearances at corporate, non-profit, community and gala events.

Liel currently collaborates with the eminent Israeli composer Daniel Akiva on the performance and recording of his 10 Prelude Prayers, a journey into Jewish spirituality and meditation. Prelude No. 9 is written and dedicated to Liel Amdour.

Born in Be'er Sheva, Israel, Liel fell in love with the guitar at the age of 11. She began her studies with Anna Saharova and Ivan Dimitrov, and later with Dr. Daniel Bolshoy at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree. Liel completed her Master’s of Music degree as a student of Denis Azabagic at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts in 2021.

Notable awards include the University of British Columbia School of Music Director’s Graduation Award for Citizenship (2018), Tom Lee Music Excellence Award (2012), the Mildred Johnson Music Scholarship (2013), the Vancouver Kiwanis Society Most Promising Artist Award (2013), and the John S. Chappell Memorial Scholarship (2014). Recent scholarships include the Gloria Miner End Music Scholarship and the Dean’s Award Scholarship from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University (2019).

Josh Levine is a Chicago based musician, actor and clown. He is currently an ensemble member of Theater Unspeakable and does work with Silent Theatre Company along with other devised work. Josh Is passionate about his Jewish heritage and infuses it into most things he creates. When not performing, Josh is an avid Jewish Genealogist working on other peoples family trees along with his own.

Diana Masyukova has always had a passion for serving her community, which can be seen through her philanthropic efforts as well as her professional career. After immigrating to America from Ukraine in 2003, Diana began working with her mother to assist in planning various events for the Russian Jewish community. These events included birthday parties, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings and so much more. At a young age, Diana quickly understood the love that she had for building community, sharing traditions, and bringing joy to other’s lives. This love took her to the next chapter in life when she began working for a Russian Jewish wedding planner where she was able to assist with planning and executing events. Diana continued working as a Bar and Bat Mitzvah planner and entertainer, all while continuing to assist her mother in the private events business for over 18 years now. Knowing that this is where her passion lived, Diana chose to continue her path and major in Hospitality and Tourism Management with a concentration in Meetings and Events Management. While attending school, Diana decided to add a Yoga Class to her schedule and quickly learned of the tremendous positive impact it had on her life. From managing daily stressors and high-energy career demands to working through building a more positive self-image, this ancient practice was about to change her life. As the inevitable love story between herself and yoga began, Diana decided to increase her devotion to the practice and was able to complete the professional yoga teacher training (Yoga Alliance -200 Hour Teacher Training). As she spent more time familiarizing herself with the teachings of Yoga, Diana seamlessly began to incorporate the familiar traditions of Judaism and her lifelong passion building holistic and joyous communities. After graduating college, Diana decided to immerse herself in the world of Corporate Meetings, and large-scale social events. Having gained this crucial experience, Diana had the realization that a more personal approach to events was favored. Diana went on to become the Work Place Experience Manager at Chicago’s Convene while also leading classes at CorePower Yoga in her free time.

Starting his culinary career in the center of Chicago working at GT Fish & Oyster, Vlad moved up through the ranks hungry to learn more about food and the execution of fine dining cuisine. He found himself working for The Alinea Group and worked his way up from commis to Chef De Partie and the grill station, followed by working as a sous chef for Boka Restaurant Group at GT Prime. After the Covid shutdown, he left his job and created a podcast for chefs called Late-Night With Chef starting a conversation about how Covid affected them, what the Covid pivot was, and what they are up to now. Vlad is also working on his social media presence and creating cooking content, along with operating a small private dinner business.

"Producing a Virtual Jewish Cookbook that will be accessible to the whole Jewish community and on all social media platforms. Project will start with 7 produced episodes showcasing the most important Jewish food that you should cook at home. My goal is to make cooking Jewish food accessible and explained by a culinary professional and recipes adjusted to a home kitchen. Making this available 24/7 online and making it an essential tool for Jewish recipes."

Russian-American violinist Aviva Chertok is a performer and teacher in the Chicago area. She holds a Masters in Music from the Royal College of Music in London, and B.M. from the University of Michigan. Aviva has performed around the U.S.A, England, Israel, Canada, and China, and is currently a Regular Member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Aviva founded the Jewish Student Union at her high school, and became involved with Hillel and the Jewish community during her undergraduate studies in Ann Arbor. She actively engages with Jewish communities through her music, such as giving the 75th anniversary concert for Shomrei Hadath Synagogue in London.

"My project is for a theatrical concert that features violin and piano, along with an actor. Firstly, I would like to present the music of classical Jewish composers, some well known such as Kreisler and Bloch, and others unknown to many, such as Lazare Saminsky and Darius Milhaud. In addition, I would showcase the music of one living Jewish composer (Jonathan Leshnoff in particular, if he is willing to participate), in order to present to our community the rich and ongoing contributions of Jews to classical music. However, this is not a typical concert program in that I would like to bring to life these composers. I will write a script and have an actor act out, as the composer, a speech or conversation with me before each piece. For the living Jewish composer, I would use a TV or projector to show a recorded conversation I had with the composer himself."

Alexander Gutfraind is a lecturer at the Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University of Chicago. He earned a Bachelor's and a Master's from the University of Waterloo in Applied Mathematics and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He was born in Belarus and grew up in Israel. He lives in Skokie with his wife and young son.

"I will develop resources for Russian Jews of all ages to build their genealogical trees. This will include 1. Videos, 2. Website, 3. Live hands-on sessions."

As a Sustainability Advisor and Marketing Specialist by day, and an artist and designer around the clock, Irina’s passion shines through with everything that she puts her hands on. Her involvement in Jewish educational projects spans from being a group leader in various projects for young adults to art and design specialist: infusing the curriculum with Jewish educational wisdom, developing staff training manuals, and leading training courses for informal Jewish educators. She was previously a RSJ Community Emissary in the San Francisco Community Federation, focused on leadership development programs for young adults. Irina’s international background and wanderlust, enhanced by her passion for Jewish education, brings a special touch to her educational programming.

"Interactive art workshop series with a sustainable twist. Art as a way to educate people about the 3 R’s, with a goal helping the environment (Reduce | Reuse | Recycle). Over the years, additional Rs were added to the environmental discourse: Renew | Rethink | Repurpose. "

Each workshop will have 3 main pillars:

• Arts & Crafts - Material exploration in the form of crafts
• Sustainable Awareness - Waste as a resource
• Jewish Education - learning Jewish traditions and values in a creative way

The project's goals:

• Teach and inspire participants to express themselves through arts and crafts.
• To raise awareness about waste and materials around us by finding DIY (Do It Yourself) ways to Reuse, Renew, Recycle and Repurpose them.
• Educate how sustainability and environmentalism is rooted in Jewish traditions and values.

Yana Polonsky was heavily involved in Russian Hillel, assisted in organizing events and weekend retreats, and taught a School of Madrichim class. Yana graduated from the RAJE program back in 2019 and is currently in the RAJE 2.0 program.

Yana Polonsky put together a discussion circle for Jewish women, which began in person and moved to a virtual setting when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Meetings have ranged in topics from relationships to spirituality and one’s Jewish journey.

Tanya Raytman is a 26- year-old currently working as a Financial Analyst for Ulta Beauty. Tanya graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2016 with degrees in Finance and Marketing, where she was involved in Hillel on campus. She has been involved in various Jewish organizations since she was 12 years old. These organizations have always been an important and fundamental part of Tanya’s identity. Tanya hopes to connect with people in the community to learn more about her Jewish roots through stories that are similar to her own.

Baked by Babushka is a project by Tanya Raytman and a group of her friends. Tanya’s team has been collecting recipes from RSJ families to compile an RSJ cookbook, in the process running an Instagram page with recipes, giveaways, and fun posts.

Irene Keselman was born and raised in Wheeling, Illinois. Her passion for performing in talent shows, recitals, and concerts started at a young age. In 2017, she joined “Bravo” Community Theater, which allowed her to learn the art of acting and apply her musical and dancing talents to become a better-rounded individual. Participation in plays produced by “Bravo” Community Theater and “By The Way” Community Theater allow Irene to express herself in different, creative ways. In addition to growing her creative side, Irene also learned to connect on a deeper level with multi-generational, diverse communities through distinctive volunteering efforts. Collaboration with assorted organizations and interactions with a broad spectrum of individuals equipped Irene to lead a meaningful life serving others through learning, justice, and faith. Currently studying at Loyola University Chicago in a dual degree program to earn her Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration with a Business Administration Minor and an MBA, Irene hopes to continue growing as an individual and inspire others through the various ways in which she engages with the community.

Irene Keselman planned a theatrical performance of "My Name is Manya", a Russian play with Jewish themes and traditions based on a story about life before and after war. While the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected Irene’s project, she has continued to work to make the performance possible once in-person events are safe again. Irene has been working with Bravo Theater, which began work on the play in September 2020. The casting took place virtually, and the cast is now full, consisting of 12 actors. While it is hard to predict when it will be safe to perform the play in person, the cast has been rehearsing virtually on a regular basis and will continue to rehearse in person once safe.

Arsenii Kibenko was born in Sverdlovsk, USSR (now Yekaterinburg, Russia) in 1989. He studied Filmmaking (BA) and Philosophy (MA). In Russia, he used to work as a University Instructor at Ural Federal University, teaching Religious Studies subjects. He was involved in many educational and cultural activities in cooperation with the Jewish community in Yekaterinburg. Arsenii moved to the US in 2017 with his family. Arsenii’s passion is facilitating social, cultural, and educational activities.

In Chicago, Arsenii conducted contemporary Religious Studies research exploring the life of different communities using sociological methods and alternative ways of research, such as filming and audio recording. Arsenii’s other interests include bicycles, road trips, books, playing music, and meeting new people.

Anna Korzhenevich (Kazyanskaya) was born and raised in Yaroslavl, Russia, in the family of professional musicians. Already as a little child, she started performing on stage together with her twin-sister and father. After the Jewish Cultural Center opened in Yaroslavl in 1991, Anna and her sister Katia (Kate Elbert) started performing there regularly, singing various songs in Hebrew and Yiddish. Their dad, Yakov Kazyansky, was writing two-voice original arrangements for them. In 1995, Anna and Katia participated in the Jewish song contest Alleluia-95 in Moscow, Russia, and won the second prize. After graduating from the Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University in 2000, Anna started working as an Assistant Director at the JCC in Yaroslavl. In addition, Anna and her sister participated in Klezmer festivals in Russia and Ukraine, as well as participating in various Jewish conferences in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, and others. Anna and her sister became very well-known in the Russian Jewish world and were often referred to as “Russian Barry Sisters”. In 2003, Anna, Katia, and Yakov Kazyansky released a CD of Yiddish songs called “Abisl Glick”. It is currently available for purchase on Amazon. In 2005, Anna moved to Chicago and started working for the Jewish National Fund. In 2010, Anna and Katia were invited to participate in the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival. After graduating from University of Illinois at Chicago with MBA in Finance and Accounting, Anna started working for the family educational business Chess Scholars/Afterschool Enrichment Solutions. Anna and her husband sold the business in 2018, and now she is looking forward to get involved in something she always had passion for – Jewish music and education. Anna currently resides in Riverwoods with her husband and two little daughters.

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“A student and Teaching Assistant of Menahem Pressler, who survived German Nazi in 1939, escaping to Palestine.” Israeli Pianist of the Bloomington Trio, Ilya Friedberg has been described as an “Artist who puts his listener to a musical magic” by pianist Menahem Pressler. Ilya’s music has taken him to Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Jerusalem Theater, Small Philharmonic Hall of St. Petersburg, and various venues across United States, South America, Israel, and Europe. Ilya is a passionate chamber musician and is a sought-after collaborator among the members of Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Carol Vaness, Timothy Noble, Mark Kaplan, Alissa Margulis, Alexander Buzlov, and Pacifica Quartet who described him as an “Exceptional chamber musician” In the fall of 2017, his creative force has enabled him to successfully launch the inaugural Variation Project. It is a collaboration between Ilya, J. S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and 15 composers. The project excitedly combines Ilya’s two passions as a pianist/composer. His compositions include “Boheme Fantasy for Viola and Piano”, Breaking Silence series, and “6 Studies on Extended Technique for Piano Solo” Being a passionate educator, Ilya finds working with the new generation of pianists fun and inspiring. He has given masterclasses at Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel-Aviv University, Adamant Music School, and at Stellenbosch International Piano Competition where he was invited as a Jury Member. He served as Mr. Pressler’s studio and teaching assistant and is an active artist-faculty at Indiana University’s Summer String Academy, and Sonad Project Born in Moscow, Ilya stepped into the world of music by watching his mother teach piano. Soon after he started his education at Gnesin School for Gifted Children. After immigrating to Israel, he studied piano with Luisa Yoffi and was influenced by Lazar Bendersky and Vladimir Silva. He continued his education at Oberlin with Sanford Margolis and at Indiana University with Menahem Pressler. His other musical influences are legendary jazz master David Baker, pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, composers Claude Baker and Douglas Hofstadter. With flutist Roy Amotz, his first cd “Dreams” featuring works of Reinecke and Rachmaninoff is available on Amazon Streaming and iTunes.

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Dr. Polina Pine is an Israeli scientist who resides in Glenview IL, she was born in Russia and was actively involved in Jewish community back there. As a child she participated in many Jewish summer and winter camps organized by Sochnut haYehudit. In 1996 she immigrated to Israel. While living in Israel and studying at Technion towards her degree in Chemistry she worked as a counselor in Jewish summer camps in Russia and Canada and volunteered in Russian speaking communities in Israel.

The goals of the project were to bring all ages of Russian Speaking Jews in Chicago together and increase awareness about modern Jewish life in different countries such as Israel, Russia, and other countries. Jewish life in these countries historically has been very close-knit. We planned to bring professional artists, athletes, and activists from the aforementioned communities. In the framework of this project we held two workshops.

The first event was a "Maccabiah Games Quest,” which took place on July 14th at 12:00 pm at Krug Community Center. The event’s aim was to connect the Chicago Russian Jewish Community to Jewish and Israeli analog of Olympic games. The activities engaged about 35-40 people. Parents and children had the opportunity to learn about the games organized by the Maccabi World Union, as well as an opportunity to participate in sport quests. This project was designed and led by Alexander Pain, a Russian Jewish community activist and former Director of the Hesed Jewish community for elderly people in Orenburg. Alexander is a professional educator with more than 35 years of experience on various educational platforms.

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Danielle Levsky has been a journalist, graphic designer, copy editor, marketing consultant, English teacher and instructional designer. But, through every job and employment opportunity, she has always been a writer. Danielle has reviews on theater, music and film; features on social justice oriented performance and DIY theatrical spaces; news articles on community read-ins and local government housing development operations; op-eds on cultural traditions, what it means to be Jewish, women’s everyday experiences and more. Her work has been published by Newcity Magazine, Hellogiggles, Mental Floss, Thrillist, Pittsburgh City Paper, among others. Before launching her professional career, Danielle earned a B.A. in English writing with a minor in French language and literature from the University of Pittsburgh. There, she worked at The Original Magazine in the roles of writer, editor, assistant graphic designer, head designer and finally, Editor-in-Chief. She also completed a semester abroad at the Cours de Civilisation Française through l’Université Paris-Sorbonne in Paris, France during her sophomore year. In her spare time, she writes poetry on demand with Poems While You Wait. You can view her writing resume here. She has additional resumes for marketing/communications, technical writing/instructional design and project management.

“With my family, community and my own rich experiences in mind, I created a collection of creative nonfiction essays. Creative nonfiction, which is also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction, is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. My collection focused on the many facets of my identity, specifically honing in on my Jewish, American, Ukrainian, and Soviet heritage and how they have informed my experiences as a woman, feminist, and writer. These essays were be distributed and shared with my various communities to gain feedback, critique, commentary, and generally involve interested people in a conversation of what the collection is about and what immigration-focused pieces should be about. My process included:

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The Performance ‘Art Chaos Brodsky’ took place on March 29th. 15 RSJ artists were involved in the performance and there were 83 people in the audience.

“The main idea was to create and put on stage a play about Brodsky through collaborative process with innovative laboratory approach combining multiple study of the author's work, the circumstances of his life of Jewish decent in the Anti-Semitic environment in the former Soviet Union.

The way that the project was put together is through combining elements of theater, performance and live music. It was a collaboration of 15 individuals. During the rehearsals we explored Brodsky’s work and biography, and how his Jewish descent influenced both aspects. After a thorough examination, we have come up with an interactive performance, engaging audience members to participate. The main topic that was addressed is the lack of belonging that Brodsky experienced. The Soviet Union had forced him to flee and Brodsky never found peace with it. Although the USA had accepted Brodsky as their own, he, as a poet, never felt like he fit in. This isolation was deeply explored and portrayed in the performance of “Art Chaos Brodsky”. The culmination point of the project is a finished play which demonstrates and familiarizes Chicago Jewish community with one of the most prominent, well-acknowledged literature figures of 20th century as well as Nobel prize winner "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity.” The play took place in Des Plaines, IL, in a space provided by Tet-A-Tet Theater.

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Polina Imas came to the US from her native Moldova in 1993. She began her high school career at a NY public school in the Bronx. Shortly after, her family moved to Chicago where Polina attended a combination of public and Jewish day schools, graduating from Niles North in 1997. In college Polina pursued a dual program for voice performance and engineering graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in Engineering (Computer Science). After starting a family, Polina chose to pursue a career in music education where she eventually founded a community music school which offered private lessons to families as well as established music and arts programs within Jewish Day schools in the Chicago area. More recently, Polina has returned to the field of technology where she works as a business intelligence analyst, providing visual representations of data for decisionmaking.

Jewish Women’s Research Internship (JWRI) was a 6-month (09/18-02/19) paid selective internship for 8 high school age girls from Russian-speaking Jewish families. The recruitment was lower than planned. The internship included college-level discussion forums with a panel of Jewish women professionals, representing a wide range of life and career paths. Interns will explore questions such as what are the society’s expectations of girls/women? What obstacles and challenges Jewish girls and women face in achieving personal fulfillment in all aspects of their lives? What does it take to generate educational opportunities and social change in the context of your immediate circle and the Jewish community at large? The goal of JWRI is to empower the participants to take what they have learned into their communities and further impact their environment through project work which began as a result of this internship. She has started a pilot version of this project in partnership with Heritage Congregation she is part of before applying for Tikkun Fellowship. The goal was to try and see if this is something she can indeed organize for the community. She apologized for not mentioning the pilot project in her Tikkun application and definitely want to partner up with RJD to launch this internship. From Polina on Oct 29, 2018:

“Today we stepped away from our agenda to discuss yesterday shooting at the Tree of Life. One of the girls shared the poem she wrote on the subject”

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Inna has been working on a theatrical performance with 12 Russian-speaking Jewish children ages 5-12 to introduce them to the holiday of Chanukah in a fun and playful way, learn its history and traditions. The classes began on October 3, 2017 and took place twice a week. The teachers included a musician Klara Melamed, Sergey Mezhericher and others. The play took place after RJD’s large Chanukah celebration event for young families on Sunday, December 17th at Congregation Jeremiah and was viewed by 35 families. The survey filled out by Inna is included with this report.

BIO: Inna Peschanskaya came to Chicago in 1999. She graduated musical college in Belarus, Grodno. Inna also graduated Oakton community College with honor and received diploma of social worker. She is known in Community as the leader and organizer of many social projects involving both adults and children.

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The Jewish Contribution to Jazz was a series of concerts dedicated to historic Jewish figures in American Jazz featuring performances of songs written by greats like George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Billy Joel. The target audience was the Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors, clients of the CJE Holocaust Community Services. The concerts were designed to introduce Jazz to those unfamiliar with the genre and underscore the important role Jews played in the its evolution. The program was composed of a set of 10 songs performed by Felix on the bass guitar. Felix has had three concerts for 78 RSJ Holocaust survivors total.

BIO: Felix Markman was born in Ukraine at fall of Soviet Power in 1991. His family was incredibly fortunate to immigrate to the United States of America in 1993 with the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Felix’s family first acclimated to life in America in Skokie Illinois before moving to Buffalo Grove in 1995 where Felix attended K-12 education, graduating from Stevenson High School in 2009. Felix graduated from the University of Illinois in 2013 and has since been working in the software industry. His interests include Ice Hockey, Business/Economics/Finance/Entrepreneurship/Technology and… of course, Jazz.

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Talia has produce a series of art classes for children, teens and adults culminating in "The Art of Jewish Heart," a showing of students' works to raise interest in Jewish culture and heritage. "By the end of this project, students will have the option of donating some of their artwork to Jewish facilities," she said. "I would like to engage as many people as I can." Prilutsky owns Art Studio ARTISHOCK in Wheeling, providing fine art classes for students ages 4 through adults.

First part of Talia’s project – 3 adult Social paining classes took place on April 10, 17 and 24 at her studio in Wheeling. 27 people have joined the classes. Each class had educational lecture about Chagall, step by step instruction to draw the painting, traditional Jewish food and wine during the social break. Best works from these classes will be exhibited at the Art festival, Talia’s third part of her project.

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Marina was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. She became passionate about theater from early childhood. As active participant in school drama group, played in few successful school productions. In 1992 Marina traveled to Israel and spent a year studying religion and culture. Upon return to Kiev in 1994, she became active member of Betar movement. Marina mastered organizational skills and became popular leader in the community. During college years majoring in Childhood Education and Judaism in International Solomon University, Marina participated in college Comedy Club productions (KVN). After immigration to United States, Marina continues personal and professional development. Working for Sears Corporation, running daycare and managing healthcare practices were important steps in realizing her dream of owning business, interacting with children and being part of artistic circle. She established The Bravo Theater in 2008 with the goal of preserving Russian language and culture.

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Jane was born in Minsk, Belarus and immigrated to Chicago in September of 1989 with her parents and older brother. She was 5 years old when the move happened, and have a vague memory of her time in Minsk. Jane grew up in Buffalo Grove, IL and graduated from Stevenson High School. While attending high school, she held several babysitting jobs which helped uncovered one of my strengths, working with children. Jane then attended Bradley University in Peoria where she received Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Administration, with a minor in Psychology. While working in Human Resources, she pursued a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education while simultaneously earning a certification in Skin Care Therapy. With this new found education, she worked in the Chicago Public Schools for two years before opening a Continuing Education Beauty School for Skin Care Therapists in the Chicago land area. Jane has also worked with Young Families Department of the JUF.

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Irina was born in Minsk, Belarus and immigrated to the U.S. with her family at the age of 15. Her first introduction to Judaism was in a small synagogue in Minks where several Jewish organizations and agencies were allowed to come after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This experience has ignited her thirst for Jewish 3 learning and as sh learned, she wanted to share the beauty of Judaism with others. Irina served as a president in college Hillel, taught Sunday school in Am Shalom for many years, organized classes for women and Jewish holiday celebration for children.

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Born in Chicago, Illinois, Franklin Drob learned to speak Russian fluently from his grandmother. At the age of 16, he began to take his academic pursuits and self-study seriously. By the age of 18, Franklin received seven scholarly first class awards and scholarships to DePaul University, where he became a National Honor Roll student. While in college, Franklin met his first mentor, a retired hedge fund manager with more than 40 years of meditation and yoga experience who taught him to always at least teach one yoga class a week and try to maintain a spiritual life. Franklin is now an international yoga teacher who has combined training both in business and in health and meditation as a lifestyle brand. With the support and guidance of his local rabbi, Franklin then reapplied himself and became involved in the Russian-speaking Jewish community to remember how to speak Russian colloquially and to continue the culture of his family. As a result, he was selected as part of a pilot program to be part of the first Davi Spain trip and then resident of the Chicago Russian-Speaking Moishe House.

During those three years of volunteering, he has hosted more than 100 programs, including Shabbat dinners, holiday celebrations, social soirees, Hebrew lessons, collaboration with synagogues, Russian guitar sing-along events and "good karma" cafés and has been flown out to Israel to speak and network with other young Jewish innovators around the globe. Outside of the young professional group engagement, Franklin also was able to provide services to the Jewish Elderly community in the form of Chair Yoga to alleviate symptoms of fatigue to improve well-being and stress. Outside of weekly work life, you can find Franklin around the globe co-hosting wellbeing and yoga retreats and leading next level think tank workshops, where he utilizes his Industrial Psychology accreditation for profile-scoring personality dimensions to assess leadership potential, career success and personal development. His vision, skills, resources and abilities are to bridge positive people, missions and organizations worldwide.

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ESTHER GROSS, Rolling Meadows, has offered 3 classes of Jewish-Israeli cooking classes for recently engaged or married couples. "This project brought community members into the kitchen-and everyone speaks the same language in the kitchen," she said. "Participants were introduced to Jewish customs, Israeli culture, and great cooking techniques with inspirational chefs." Challah-making, Passover, Israeli foods, and Shabbat dinner are among the class themes.

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There is an incredibly meaningful composition by Olivier Messiaen called "Quartet for the End of Time". It was written and first performed in German camps while Messiaen was a prisoner of war in 1940. Because of the appreciation for musicians the Germans gave him an opportunity to compose this piece for the existing musicians at the camp: pianist, clarinetist, violinist and cellist. The story of the premier is a story of struggle, friendship, survival, intense obstacles, hardship and death. And yet through this music there was so much hope given to the prisoners. It was premiered to the hungry, freezing cold, suffering people, all of whom came to experience the healing power of music.

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“Cry Baby Meets Audrey Hepburn” is a play loosely based on Marianna’s childhood, immigration experience as Jewish refugee from the Former Soviet Union, and adaptation to modern American society. The play switches between memories and Russian and American cultural realities to present the adaptation and challenges of a Russian Jewish girl much like myself. Her family members and those with whom she has had formative experiences follow her through the play and the audience navigates her worlds with her. Musical interludes utilizing Russian and American songs tie together the protagonist’s worlds. The fragmentation and struggle to adapt, belong, and logically place the emotional and cultural pieces together in a coherent way is the focus of this play. This play was initially conceived and developed under Stockyards Theatre Project in the fall, which encourages the development of strong roles for women in theatre. Marianna hopes that my play can provide an emotional catharsis for other Russian Jewish immigrants in the US while simultaneously bridging the Russian Jewish adaptation experience with a broader audience. She thinks it would be wonderful to make it available to the Russian Jewish and Jewish community of Chicago as well as the broader community.

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Growing up both in Soviet Union and Israel, Julia would like to share with the community what it is like to be a child in Israel compare to the Soviet Union. She would like to introduce Israeli Board games to RSJ young professionals during the traditional Israeli dinner. She also wants to tell the participants of her event about varies opportunities in Israel such as Masa Israel Journey.

Brief Bio: Julia just recently moved to Chicago from Israel with her husband. She volunteers at the Jewish Day School and JCC and is looking for a job as a bioengineer.

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Julia would like to implement a community-wide effort to connect younger generations with Russian-speaking WWII veterans and to have a community-wide celebration and commemoration of 70th Anniversary of Victory in WWII that will include children from preschools, elementary schools and high schools. She believes that whether through attendance of the events, visits with the veterans or working in a classroom on thank you cards and art pieces to present to veterans will create memorable and unforgettable experiences for the children and put a seed that will keep the traditions going for years to come and appreciate the history and our heritage.

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Elina would like to create two professional videos (5 minutes each) that she will produce, direct and oversee editing on. The videos will feature two families’ journeys of immigration from an intergenerational point of view. She wants to feature the parents, grandparents and adult children (and in some cases the young children of the parents) recounting the same events. What does each generation remember/notice about their time in the Soviet Union, Italy, Austria or their early days in the U.S. What does each generation appreciate about their life now? What does each generation miss about the Soviet Union?

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Alex wants to organize Tu Ba'Av Israeli Mini Festival for young Jewish Adults (21-40). The event will consist of high end entertainment, musicians, Djs, Israeli food and anything related to “Israeli Love Parade” type of theme. The goal is to shoe the modern Israeli culture and to unite the Jewish community on a celebration of love and to help emerging Jewish artists and entertainers get noticed.

Brief Bio: With an innate sense of creativity flowing through his veins that can only stem from his firmly planted musical roots, Alex Kislov is paving his own road in the EDM streets. Moving to the US from Israel at the age of 10, Kislov quickly transitioned to life in the new country. His mother and sister's interest in Electronic music influenced his first musical experience at the early age of seven and eventually lead the way to his calling as an Electronic music artist. Little did he know at that moment that he would go on to become one of Chicago's finest. This same passion drove him to enter his first ever DJ competition, The Jammin' on the Wolf festival mix competition where he took first place and headlined alongside EOTO and Break Science. Later, Kislov would go on to perform at some of Chicago's most elite music venues including Soldier Field for Spring Awakening, North Coast Music Festival, Wavefront Music Festival, the Aragon Entertainment Center, Concord Music Hall, and Congress Theater where he played a remarkable set on New Years Eve for Porter Robinson and friends. Alex is a student at the DePaul University in Chicago. He is involved in J-Life and RAJE Chicago.

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On Sunday, October 19th at Nichols Concert Hall an acclaimed violinist David Lisker, Tikkun Fellowship recipient, a Juilliard graduate and former student of legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, presented an unforgettable event celebrating the lives and music of Jewish composers affected by the Holocaust. David, along with 6 renowned musicians from the U.S., Europe and Israel, performed works by 9 inspiring individuals, 8 of whom perished in concentration camps. “This project allowed me to introduce inspiring composers, their stories and music to the Chicago public; bringing them out of the shadow of the Holocaust, and into the spotlight”, said David. Over 400 people attended the concert, including 75 Holocaust survivors.

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Russian-speaking Jewish photographer and RJD’s 2014 Tikkun Fellow Igor Kogan organized an exhibition for college students and the Chicago community. His work includes photos from Beta Israel and Felasha villages in Ethiopia where Ethiopian Jews used to live prior to immigrating to Israel. He captured some unique photo artifacts on their way of life.

In November, ‘Ethiopian Exodus: in search of lost tribes’ began to travel around Chicagoland High Schools as a part of a Hebrew learning program. Igor presented his photos and shared his experience traveling around Ethiopia. Anna Gorbikoff, RJD’s Board member and Igor’s mentor on this project presented the students with the video about Ethiopian immigration to Israel and facilitated a discussion.

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Inna and Matvey Kostukovsky, brother and sister and RJD’s 2014 Tikkun Fellows were working on a collaborative project. Inna is a professional photographer. Her objective was to create portraits of a group of Russian - Jewish World War II veterans in the Chicagoland area and put together an online exhibition for young Jews in the community. The project serves as a tribute to our veterans and a reminder to younger Jewish adults that we are fortunate to live in the United States today because of the experiences and sacrifices of the older generation.

Matvey is a professional music and sound recorder. His idea for the project involved creating memoir-like audio recordings of life stories of the Jewish elderly in their own words. The goal was to preserve important memories of their youth that relate to significant events in Jewish history, their contributions to the Jewish people, and simply interesting stories that would otherwise be lost and forgotten. These people’s lives and stories will undoubtedly become important lessons for future generations of the Jewish community.

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Jennifer Stone, RJD’s 2014 Tikkun Fellow has organizes a series of 6 cooking classes for 9 Jewish girls from single-parent families or families with ill parents. She partnered up with Chabbad to use their kosher kitchen together with Rabbi’s wife taught girls to cook delicious and simple kosher meals so they can help their families. Each girl created a cooking journal after the classes and sent RJD thank you notes being grateful for this opportunity. Girls asked not to be photographed during the classes.

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On May 18th Yom Ha'atzmaut Family Concert gathered close to 200 people to celebrate Israel’s 66th Birthday. Organized by RJD’s Tikkun Fellow Lina Ostrov and a musician Natasha Bodansky and sponsored by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, the concert featured 23 individual and group performances. 25 children from the Russian-speaking Jewish families were preparing for over a month and sang Israeli and Jewish songs, danced, played piano, guitars, violin, cello and recited poems. The concert was held at Solomon Schechter Day School in Northbrook and the school’s band, directed by Marsha Rosenson, performed at the concert as well.

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Masha Chernyak's ideas was to allow our littlest Jews to learn the wonderful history of Jewish people as told through plays that are captivating and children friendly. Puppets bring to life stories and help facilitate further discussions between children and parents about Jewish history. Children can interact with various characters, making the entire experience more memorable.

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Olga Kilstein’s ideas was to supply ideas for Russian speaking parents on how to incorporate Jewish traditions into their daily lives and around the holidays by using the Positive Parenting approach. Positive Parenting allows parents to raise responsible and respectful children. It is based on the Adlerian ideas of mutual respect and social action.

One six-week workshop for parents of toddlers was offered by Olga in August at a private house. It was attended by 8 parents. As part of the workshop they discussed the value of feeling of belonging and how this feeling could be developed through cultural customs and traditions.

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Aleks’s Tikkun project is called JukeboxGroove, a workshop and a musical composition exploring and celebrating the immense contribution of Jewish musicians around the world to the formation and development of modern global music culture. Workshop took place on Sunday, November 17th at the Terra School in Glenview. The JukeboxGroove project featured clarinetist Matvey Kostukovsky and pianist Paul Goldman in an interactive music presentation highlighting the works of prominent Jewish musicians and composers of several different genres, including klezmer, classical, jazz, and popular music. The concert gathered over 70 people of all ages. Musicians talked about the influence of Jewish music and Jewish musicians on world music and performed for the audience.

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Jewish painter from the Ukraine, Yefim Rudminsky (1937-1994). Virtually unknown in the U.S., Rudminsky is a world-class artist, who is the pride of Jewish culture and must be known by Jews worldwide. RJD in conjunction with Signature of Art Gallery, Glencoe, held a premier art event curated by Natalia Kogan: a reception of paintings by the late Ukrainian Jewish artist Yefim Rudminsky on Sunday, November 10th, 2013. Through her Tikkun fellowship, Natalia organized an exhibition of Yefim Rudminsky's paintings, thus raising the local Jewish community’s awareness of an important cultural figure, who left a lasting impact on Jewish history. This exhibition was a unique opportunity for Chicago’s young Jews to be reminded of the rich Soviet-Jewish heritage, to which many of them have a connection. This was a reflection on forgotten talents, a chance to look at the past and find in it new sources of inspiration and strength. The Exhibition also took place at the Daley Center in Chicago November 3rd - November 17th. 2013. The reception and both exhibitions involved over 300 people in the Chicagoland area. See photos from the exhibition.

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15 children from the Russian-speaking Jewish families ages 5 to 14 were enrolled in this project. Pintele Rehearsals took place every Sunday during the summer for two hours and resulted in a final performance, in Russian language, “Joyous professions” on September 8th, 2013. The performance gathers over a 100 people including the families of young actors and guests from the community. During the sessions children learned some basic of craft of acting in a conservatory approach that involves exercises, scene work and theatre games designed to develop performance skills and technique. Through theater games they learned to develop creativity and self-expression. Sergey mentor Russian-speaking cantor Vicky Glikin of Congregation Solel of Highland Park helped the fellow to involve Jewish Music in the performance. See photos from the performance.

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