vital information: Fwd: News From Agudas Yisroel of Illinois 25 Sivan, 5783/June 14, 2023

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From: Agudah <info@agudahil.org>
Date: Wed, Jun 14, 2023, 5:01 PM
Subject: News From Agudas Yisroel of Illinois 25 Sivan, 5783/June 14, 2023
To: <agentemes4@gmail.com>

June 14, 2023 | 25 Sivan, 5783

Last Monday evening, representatives from several cities around the Midwest convened in Cleveland, Ohio for the annual MALL (Midwest Agudah Lay Leadership) conference. See below to read the complete article.

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TONIGHT! Attend Your Legislators' Town Hall Meetings! It's important constituents ask elected officials about your priorities. Residents of the 50th and 39th Wards (Villivalam/Olickal), as well as Lincolnwood residents need no registration. If you live in Skokie or Evanston (Gong-Gershowitz/Gabel/Fine), click here to register or to submit a question. See below for more details.

Agudath Israel of Illinois, along with our coalition partners, issued a joint statement regarding the legislature's delay in addressing the Invest in Kids Act's looming sunset. See the full statement below.

Senator Ram Villivalam's office will be holding Constituent Service Hours at Agudath Israel of Illinois. See the flyer below for details.

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Cleveland Hosts Midwest Agudah Lay Leadership Conference

Rabbi Simcha Dessler, Menahel of the Beis Chinuch Harav Dessler (Hebrew Academy of Cleveland) delivering divrei bracha at breakfast prior to a tour of their newest campus.

Rabbi Chaim Helman, executive director of of Naaleh Cleveland, describing the broad range of mental health services the organization provides to the Cleveland Jewish community.

Rabbi Avrohom Adler, Director of the Cleveland Chesed Center, describing the services of the Center while leading the delegates on a tour of the facility.

Last Monday evening, representatives from several cities around the Midwest convened in Cleveland, Ohio for the annual MALL (Midwest Agudah Lay Leadership) conference. For ten years now, the Agudah of Illinois has facilitated the MALL group to maintain communication amongst the cities as they address the various challenges they faced and share ideas and projects that have seen success. Besides for the relationships and support, many conferences have resulted in tangible takeaways including a new Agudah office in one city, and multiple service organizations opening around the Midwest.

This year's day and half conference had 23 attendees representing 11 cities and focused on four specific areas: constituent service management, foundation funding, developing new leadership, and small town growth. Presenting attendees included R' David Kushner of Amudim Community Resources from Philadelphia, PA and R' Boruch Rothenberg of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit from Detroit, MI. Tuesday morning began with Shacharis and breakfast at the recently expanded Hebrew Academy of Cleveland which was followed by a tour of the nearby Cleveland Chesed Center. Throughout the day, time was dedicated to cities sharing ideas for projects and asking general questions. Conversations were very practical and many participants left the conference eager to share what they had learned. Josh Bennett from Cleveland remarked, "Even though Cleveland was one of the larger communities represented, I can envision multiple projects being launched based on models we hear about from our colleagues all over the Midwest."

Rabbi Ari Strulowitz, director of operations of Agudath Israel of Illinois, emphasized the need to create a structure of communication throughout the year. "As much as we can accomplish in one day of meetings, the possibilities are endless if the conversation continues beyond this gathering," said Rabbi Strulowitz. Avi Rubin from Detroit said, "To think about how many tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews were represented in that room and yet to recognize how much of an impact can be made by any individual willing to help is truly empowering." Over the years, MALL has proven to be a great forum for strengthening Orthodox communal growth and we look forward to seeing what this year's efforts will yield.