Mishkan Chicago is a Progressive

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation, located in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in the United States. The congregation was founded in 2011 by Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann and was loosely modeled after

IKAR IKAR is a non-denominational Jewish congregation and community founded in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. The congregation was founded in 2004 and is led by rabbi Sharon Brous, who was one of its founders. History IKAR (transl ...

in Los Angeles, where Heydemann served as a rabbinic intern. The congregation was a member of the

Jewish Emergent Network The Jewish Emergent Network is a network of seven independent Jewish congregations in the United States. Founded in January 2016, the network shares a "devotion to revitalizing the field of Jewish engagement, a commitment to approaches both tradi ...

Overview

The congregation describes its mission as "lead(ing) people toward more purposeful, more connected, and more inspired lives." The organization creates "Jewish spaces to bring your whole self, and be part of something larger than yourself." It also engages in social justice efforts in the city of Chicago, including refugee resettlement and partnership with the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. Unlike a traditional

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, Mishkan Chicago does not have a fixed worship space, and uses multiple locations throughout the Chicago area. The community serves over 5,000 people each year, including over 1,400 for annual

High Holiday In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, the ...

services. Mishkan also provides holistic mental health services, including support groups, through Maggie’s Place. Launched in 2017, Mishkan received a grant through the Jewish United Fund to support their work in this field. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Mishkan transitioned its services to a wholly-online format using

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...

and held High Holiday services using a mix of asynchronously-recorded video, live video, and socially-distanced events.

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in the United States 2011 establishments in Illinois 21st-century synagogues in the United States Jewish Emergent Network Jewish organizations established in 2011 Non-denominational Judaism Synagogues in Chicago Unaffiliated synagogues in the United States