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Today's minyan is an opportunity to spiritually prepare for Purim — featuring a drash by Rabbi Sharon Brous! Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen Become A Builder! https://www.mishkanchic...

At our March 7th service, we were joined by guest speakers Nadav Tamir, an accomplished Israeli diplomat who serves as J Street Israel’s Executive Director, and Ezzeldeen Masri, a respected Palestinian educator who serves the U.S. Director of Outreach for OneVoice Movement and serves as the Chief Field Officer for the PeaceWorks foundation. The pair spoke candidly with our community about the peac...

Join Rabbi Lizzi for an intimate conversation with Rabbi Benjamin Resnick on his provocative and timely novel, "Next Stop." In her review of Next Stop for the Jewish Book Council, Megan Peck Shub asks, “What would happen if, say, Israel collapsed into a black hole, triggering a global cataclysm that magnetically beckoned every Jewish person in the world? And what if the resulting antisem...

Hello, and welcome to Contact Chai. At our March 1st Saturday morning service, Rabbi Lizzi shared a drash about the dangers of trying to drown out our boredom with distraction and silence our doubts with idolatrous certainty. How can we find God and make meaning when life gets chaotic and scary, or worse — really, really boring? You Are So Not Invited To Mishkan's BMitzvah Mishkan's Grow...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen Become A Builder! https://www.mishkanchicago.org/support/be-a-builder/ New Builder Orientation — February 27th https://www.mishkanchicago.org/event/new-bui...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our February 21st Friday service. Last week was very difficult, so we have included Rabbi Lizzi’s introductory remarks addressing our grief and pain after this opening segment. Then, you will hear a brief musical interlude curtesy of our Davening Team, followed by drashing on the theme of Repro Shabbat, an initiative of the National Council of Jewish Women wh...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen Become A Builder! https://www.mishkanchicago.org/support/be-a-builder/ New Builder Orientation — February 27th https://www.mishkanchicago.org/event/new-bui...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Saturday morning service on February 15th, when Rabbi Steven delivered a personal sermon on the important nuances of teshuvah — repentance. Repentance and repair are core Jewish values, but what do we do when reconciliation is not possible? You Are So Not Invited To Mishkan's BMitzvah Mishkan's Grownup Purim Party is on March 13th at the Chop Sh...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen **** For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar , and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on February 7th, when we celebrated Shabbat Shira, the joyful Shabbos when we sing extra songs to recall the Splitting of the Sea. Rabbi Lizzi connected the momentous but rather frightening first step toward freedom across the Red Sea to the courageous steps toward liberation taken by civil rights activists. How can we follow in their footsteps? ...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Saturday morning service on February 1st, when Rabbi Steven shared about his recent rabbinic mission trip to Poland where he learned about the long history of Eastern European Jewish culture, a legacy nearly eradicated by the Holocaust. Many survivors owe their lives to non-Jews who refused to be bystanders. As Jews, we are called to do the same for our n...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Friday night service on January 24th when Builder Kalman Resnick, an immigration lawyer and legal expert, gave a detailed breakdown of the impact that Trump’s executive orders will have on millions of our neighbors. As Jews, our scriptures demand that we treat immigrants and foreigners as equal citizens, for we “were once strangers in Egypt.” What can we...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen **** For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar , and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues...

Our Saturday morning service on January 18th, 2025 fell just two days before Martin Luther King Day, which also just so happened to be Inauguration Day, ushering in the second term of the Trump presidency. Just like in the Exodus story of our parshah, Pharaoh is back. Well, technically, it was two different pharaohs, the one Moses fled from and the one that he stood up to, but you get the idea. Wi...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen **** For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar , and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues...

At our Friday Night Shabbat service on January 10th, Rabbi Steven delivered a sermon on the strategic necessity of hope in dark times. In Joseph’s day, the land of Egypt was a refuge, and his family enjoyed wealth and prestige and political power. But in just a few generations, their descendants were enslaved by a tyrant in that same land. In a day when the freedom and stability that we sometimes...

It is nearly the end of Mishkan’s 13th year of creating inspired, down-to-earth Judaism. If you value the work that we do, help us to sustain Mishkan for another year by making a donation by December 31st — think of it as a BMitzvah gift for our community! Donate : https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/donate Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yo...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Saturday morning service on December 21st when Rabbi Steven delivered a vulnerable and fascinating sermon on the niceties of celebrating Hanukkah as a Jew-by-Choice and in a time of rising antisemitism. How do we muster the courage to shine our light for all the world to see when the world is so frightening? Donate : https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/don...

It is nearly the end of Mishkan’s 13th year of creating inspired, down-to-earth Judaism. If you value the work that we do, help us to sustain Mishkan for another year by making a donation by December 31st. Are you a Builder? Come celebrate 13 years of Mishkan at our BMitzvah Bash on January 25th. Register now! Sponsorships are available if you can give a little extra help us ensure the next 13 yea...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Friday service on December 13th. Rabbi Lizzi recounted the ancient tale of the rivalry between Jacob and Esau in light of the Festival of Lights. Just as Jacob learned from his youthful mistakes and Esau put aside vengeance, the rabbis learned from the mistakes of the Maccabees, and their rather loose retelling of the Hanukkah story continues to this day...

It is nearly the end of Mishkan’s 13th year of creating inspired, down-to-earth Judaism. If you value the work that we do, help us to sustain Mishkan for another year by making a donation by December 31st. Are you a Builder? Come celebrate 13 years of Mishkan at our BMitzvah Bash on January 25th. Register now! Sponsorships are available if you can give a little extra help us ensure the next 13 yea...

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Saturday Morning Service on December 7th. Rabbi Steven delivered a sermon in which he made us all jealous of a recent trip to see the Northern Lights, and also edified us on the nature of awe from both a theological and neuroscience perspective. How can we cultivate this profound and uncanny sensation of the divine in our daily lives without vacationing i...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen **** For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar , and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues...

At our services on November 22nd, we were honored to hear a guest drash from Sarah Garza Resnick, Mishkan Board Member and CEO of Personal PAC, an organization dedicated to advocating for women's rights and abortion access. How can we meet this difficult political moment without getting overwhelmed with dread and defeatism? The answer lies in our tradition and in our community. **** For upcom...

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself , or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai. https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen **** For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar , and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues...