A Trip into Knowledge
Written by: Jessica Rubens
Peoria, IL - On Sunday, November 2nd, Rabbi Langsam and 5 Bradley students traveled to Chicago to further their Jewish education through a program called Sinai Scholars. Sinai Scholars is a 10-week national Jewish education course, offered through Bradley’s Chabad. The program includes weekly discussions, a trip to Chicago, and a Shabbat experience.
The day in mention, started out like any other, with a chill in the air and a need for coffee. But this day turned out to be so much more. The students and Rabbi Langsam piled into a minivan ready to start the 2 and a half plus hour car ride.
When they finally arrived in the Chicagoland area, they started with a delicious meal at the dairy kosher restaurant, EJ’s Pizzeria in Skokie. For some of the students like freshman, Luke Gutman, this was their first experience with a kosher restaurant. “It was a fun and delicious experience,” Gutman said enthusiastically.
After pizza, the day continued with a demonstration by a local scribe. He demonstrated how the parchment for sacred texts is created and the proper steps to making it kosher. Ben Packman, a freshman at Bradley, described his experience with the scribe, “The scribe was very interesting. It was cool to see how much work goes into making a sacred text.”
After the scribe, the students had a unique experience of visiting the Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC). There, they heard from the head Rabbi, Rabbi Reiss. Ron Taxer, a junior at Bradley stated, “It was my favorite part of the trip. It was interesting meeting Rabbi Reiss and learning about the Jewish court system.” Along with learning about the Jewish court system, they also learned about different kosher laws that the CRC monitors.
Learning about kosher laws, and what it means to keep kosher, it only makes sense that the students visited a local Mikvah, (an area where Jews can make their dishes kosher before they enter a home) and had a kosher ABC hunt in a Jewel Osco.
By that time, all the students and even the Rabbi were hungry. So they stopped a popular kosher meat restaurant, Taboun Grill. The students feasted on shwarma and pita. Jessica Rubens, a senior at Bradley said, “I went to school close to Taboun Grill. All my friends talked about how delicious it was. A bit jealous that I had never tried it, I was excited to find out that this is where I was having dinner. Let’s just say, delicious doesn’t even explain how good it was.”
Before they knew it, it was time to go home. After a long day of learning and eating, most of the students fell asleep on the ride back. However, it is without a doubt, that on November 2nd, the students received an experience unlike any other.
Click here to see pictures from this amazing trip
