2025 Festival Program
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Join us from 11:00am 5:00pm
Click here to make a contribution to help us produce the Festival.
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Greater Chicago Jewish Festival 2025
Stage Schedule
CRAIN MALING STAGE
11:00 am Kol Zimrah
11:30 am Tracy Friend and Kyra Goldman
12:00 pm Kol Sasson – The Festival “House Band” since 1980
12:45 pm David Broza
1:30 pm Listen Up! A Cappella
2:00 pm Jewbiquity
2:45 pm Rabbi Joe Black
3:30 pm David Broza
4:30pm Community Sing*
JUF STAGE
11:00 am Jay Rapoport
11:30 am The Alef Beats
12:00 pm Kol B’Seder – Jeff Klepper and Danny Freelander
1:00 pm Shakshuka
1:30 pm Maxwell Street Klezmer Band
2:30 pm Ovadya
3:15 pm Kol B’Seder – Jeff Klepper and Danny Freelander
4:00 pm Rabbi Joe Black
4:30 pm The Internationals
3:00 pm Community Dance at Food Demonstration Tent
Community Sing – 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm
*Please join with many of our performers as we create an inspirational and fun sing-a-long experience at the Crain Maling Stage. We will be celebrating the music of Peter Yarrow and Stuart Rosenberg who were good friends of the Festival and who helped shape its musicality.
Author Tent Participants – GCJF
12:00 – Alina Rubin “Abigails Song”
12:30 – Jacqueline Saper “From Miniskirt to Hijab”
1:00 – Jamie Wendt “Laughing in Yiddish” & “Fruit of the Earth”
1:30 – Jeremy Raskin “Kids Sing Along”
2:00 – Sarah Aronson “Brand-New Bubbe”/”Just Like Rube Goldberg”/”Abzuglutely”
2:30 – Audrey Barbakoff“The Schlemiel Kids Save the Moon”
3:00 – Arianna Brooks “My Mushy Matzah Ball”/ “My Happy Hamentashen”/”Carissa The Crane”
3:30 – Leslie Handler “What Did You See Out Your Window Today?”/ “Come on Home When the Street Lights Shine or the Cowbell Clangs!”
Art Fair Participants
Chantal Blaustein, Broken Beauties Mosaics:
Mosaics, Ceramics, Glass Deerfield, IL
bbmosaics@yahoo.com
Helene Davitz, Judaica Lights LLC
Digital Art, Lights Glenview, IL
Judaicanitelights@gmail.com
Ahuva Elany, Ahuva Elany Unique Copper Art:
Copper Art Work, Jewelry, Richon Le Zion, Israel
aelany@gmail.com
ESEK
Ceramics, Jewelry, Printmaking, Israel
https://esek.biz
Ronit Furst, Eye on Devon by Yair Elias
Hand painted Eyewear Chicago, IL
https://eyeondevon.com/
Sandie Fershtman, 3 Sisters Plates:
Mixed Media, Troy MI
threesistersplates@gmail.com
Betsey Fiddler
Ceramics, Skokie, IL
Fiddlermom1@yahoo.com
Sue-Ellen Flescher, SU.EL Designs
Jewelry, Greenacres, FL
su.eldesigns18@gmail.com
Antonio Garcia, ONIDAL
Digital Art, Chicago, IL
antonio@amgarcia.com
Debbie Gorin, No Runing With Scissor
Drawing, Painting, Jackson, NJ
debbiegorin@ohelfamily.org
Devorah Haggar, Devorah Designs:
Mixed media, photos, Chicago, IL
devorah@devorahdesigns.com
Anshie Kagan, AnshieArt:
Paper, Wall Art, Chicago, IL
Anshie@gmail.com
Rachel Kohn, Rachel Kohn
Jewelry, Chicago, IL
emailrachelkohn@gmail.com
Polly Kortlander, Pollyarts:
Mixed Media, Chicago, IL
polly@hrmchicago.com
Ellen Lebowicz and Michael Beitscher, Firesign Crystal Jewelry
Jewelry, Morton Grove, IL
Elsel3@yahoo.com
Marjorie Lesko, Mosaica Creations
Mosaics, Ann Arbor, MI
mwlesko@icloud.com
Rachel Mckinney, Universal Ancients
Hand Beaded Ceramic Wall Pieces, Mukwonago, WL
Rpmckinney4@gmail.com
Moshe Monzon, Moshe Monzon Studio
Jewelry, Wall Art, Judaica, Yehud Monoson, Israel
Mail2goldie@gmail.com
Yehudit Newman, Beads of Blue Water:
Jewelry, Berrien Springs, MI
Deetnewman@gmail.com
Bar Rodin, Motek Jewelry
Jewelry, Chesterfield, MO
bar@motekjewelry.com
Ira Salzman, Yitzchak Shabsi Judaic Art
Jewelry, Painting, Sculpture, Chicago, IL
Ira147@comcast.net
Kricket Schwartzberg, So Kricket
Textiles, Cincinnati, OH
Kricket3@gmail.com
Debbie Steiner, Debbie Steiner Glass Art:
Glass, Jewelry, Buffalo Grove, IL
debbie@debbiesteinerglassart.com
Mindy Stillman, Klaygirl Kreations:
Ceramics, Chicago, IL
Klaygirl.kreations@gmail.com
Erica Schultz Yakovetz, Schultz Yakovetz Judaica:
Calligraphy, paper, Merrillville, IN
erica@yakovetz.com
Madeline Zimberg:
Fiber, Wall Art, Royal Oaks, MI
Madyz1017@gmail.com
Ahuva Elany
The following are Co-Sponsoring organizations of the festival:
We acknowledge The Book Stall of Winnetka, IL for their support of the Author’s Tent
American Friends of Magen David Adom
Americans for a Safe Israel
AMIT Children
The ARK
CCL Shul Members
CJE SeniorLife
Chaiway Riders – Jewish Motorcycle Club
Chicago Breslov
Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema
Chicago YIVO Society
Clean Speech Illinois
Congregation BJBE
Congregation B’nai Shalom
Congregation Kol Emeth
Congregation Or Shalom
Emanuel Congregation
Eshel
Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation
Gift of Life
Hadassah Chicago-North Shore
Hebrew Seminary: A Rabbinical School for Deaf & Hearing
The Institute of Jewish Chaplaincy
JCC Chicago
JCFS Chicago
JRC
Jewish Committee on Scouting
Jewish Defense League
Jewish Family Experience
Jewish Free Loan Chicago
Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois
Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. – Department of Illinois
JUF/IsraelNow
Keshet | For LGBTQ+ Equality in Jewish Life
La’briut
Lakeshore Jewish Funerals
Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois
Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois
Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois
Magshimey Herut North America
Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago
Masa Israel Journey
NCSY
National Council of Jewish Women
Naale Elite Academy
North Suburban Synagogue Beth El
No Shame on U
Oak Park Temple
Park Plaza Retirement Community
Rochelle Zell Jewish High School
Sarnoff Center for Jewish Genetics
Schneider for Congress
The Selfhelp Home
SHALVA
Shaarei Chinuch Day School
Shalom Memorial Park and Funeral Home
Shomrim Society of Illinois, Inc. (First Responders of the Jewish Faith)
Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership
StandWithUs Midwest
StreetWise
Temple Chai
Temple Har Zion
The Tikvah Center for Jewish Recovery and Healing
Torah Learning Center
Weinsten & Piser Funeral Home