SJO girls close out tournament with a loss, Miller leads team's scoring effort
NORMAL - Atleigh Miller, a freshman, came off the bench to score eight points, leading St. Joseph-Ogden's offensive production in their 59-26 loss to Rockford Lutheran (11-4) at the State Farm Holiday Classic on Saturday. The Spartans (6-8) finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.
The Lady Crusaders held the Spartans to just 12 points in the first half while padding their half of the scoreboard with 37 of them. Rockford Lutheran kept their foot on the gas in the second half, scoring another 23 points to advance to the Small School division's consolation championship game five hours later against Sacred Heart-Griffin.
Trying to help dig the Spartans out of the hole early on, Addison Brooks, normally an outside shooting threat, was held to just six points from a pair of three-pointers. Timera Blackburn-Kelley contributed a pair of baskets also finishing with four points.
Lady Crusaders' Soraya Parker led all scorers with 23 points. Teammate Wrigley Meanovich added another eight points with Shauna Jones finishing the semifinal with seven points, rounding out the top three scorers.
St. Joseph-Ogden returns to action in the new year on January 4 in a home non-conference game against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.
December 14, 2024 .::. 39 Photos
Commentary |Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life
by Leor Sinai, Rabbi
Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn singing the Am Yisrael Chai chant, we’d sing it with great excitement and with great pride. And then I remember myself as a young adult, growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, always ending my talks, and my social media posts, with the chant: Am Yisrael? (audience) Chai. I remember how friends and colleagues thought it was cute, reminiscent of a time when they too may have sung the song as kids, they’d chuckle. That’s what I was known for, I was the guy who people knew would scream out AM YISRAEL CHAI wherever and whenever possible. Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn singing the Am Yisrael Chai chant, we’d sing it with great excitement and with great pride. And then I remember myself as a young adult, growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, always ending my talks, and my social media posts, with the chant: Am Yisrael? (audience) Chai. I remember how friends and colleagues thought it was cute, reminiscent of a time when they too may have sung the song as kids, they’d chuckle. That’s what I was known for, I was the guy who people knew would scream out AM YISRAEL CHAI wherever and whenever possible. Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
The earliest use of the slogan appeared as early as 1895 in a Zionist songbook
Fast-forward to post October 7, 2023, Am Yisrael Chai has once again re-emerged as the rallying cry for the global people of Israel. My wife jokes that I should’ve copywritten the slogan back then, not that I think that would’ve been possible, but boy I would’ve been a millionaire by now! The reality is that we stand at an intersection of historic proportions, a point of reference requiring us to rise to the challenges confronting our people, once again elevating the rallying cry: Am Yisrael Chai!
I know, I see it all over social media, and I hear it all the time, you do too, and I love it.
Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
The earliest use of the slogan appeared as early as 1895 in a Zionist songbook, and again at the Second World Jewish Conference in 1933, summoned to fight Hitler's new Nazi regime through economic boycott. Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise ended the final address by declaring to the crowd: "We are prepared to defend ourselves against the will of Hitler Germany to destroy. We must defend ourselves because we are a people which lives and wishes to live. My last word that I wish to speak to you is this – our people lives — Am Yisrael Chai!"
And again, on April 20, 1945, five days after the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated, British Army chaplain Rabbi Leslie Hardman led a Friday evening Shabbat service for a few hundred survivors at the camp. Knowing the service was being recorded by Patrick Gordon Walker of the BBC radio service, a Jewish army chaplain proclaimed "Am Yisrael Chai!, the children of Israel still liveth" after the group sang the anthem Hatikvah at the conclusion of the service.
The slogan reemerged in 1965, when Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was asked to compose a song ahead of a planned Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) rally in front of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations in New York on April 4, 1965. While in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia, Carlebach wrote and first performed "Am Yisrael Chai" before a group of youth in Prague.
At each of these historic instances the slogan Am Yisrael Chai served as a living reference and driving force inspiring Am Yisrael at its most challenging times – The People of Israel LIVE!
Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
Fast-forward to today, we know that Am Yisrael Chai isn’t merely a slogan, rather Am Yisrael Chai is a way of life with a purpose that is projected forward from generations before our time to future generations yet to be born, driving our active participation in reclaiming, retelling, and realizing our story. Just as in the examples shared above, so too today, the slogan serves our current global Jewish anchor of hope and forward moving existence.
Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
Our ancestors who outlived exile and perpetuated Jewish life for 2000 years in exile
The question is how do we perpetuate and live this value? By doing something about it. By being an active participant and not a bystander. By getting involved in every which way possible, by educating yourself, educating your children, and sending your kids to Jewish youth group and sleepaway camps, and by educating your community. It means getting involved in your local synagogue/temple, in a local communal organization, and getting involved with a cause that directly impacts Jewish Peoplehood and Israel, and it means role modeling for your children and others.
Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
What kind of ancestors will we be to our future generations?
My hope is that we will be just as amazing as those who came before us. Our ancestors who outlived exile and perpetuated Jewish life for 2000 years in exile, ancestors who witnessed the rise and fall of empires, ancestors who maintained their Jewish way of life—in hiding if needed, ancestors who survived the worst that humanity has to offer during the Holocaust, ancestors who came out from the ashes of the Holocaust to make the dream of the modern nation state of Israel, a reality.
And now it is our turn, Generation Zion, to choose life!
In the future, this period of history will be learned about, talked about, and will be celebrated. Who knows? It may become a holiday (think Hannukah or Purim) where we read a megillah, pray and sing, make kiddish, eat a meal, maybe candy, and celebrate that the People of Israel live, all because you, we, did something about it.
And remember: Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
Rabbi Leor Sinai is Principal of Sinai Strategies, a consulting agency focused on advancing Global Jewish – Israel relations, Education, Leadership Development, and Organizational Advancement. Sinai also serves as a motivational speaker, sits on the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors as Chair of the Youth Aliyah & Absorption Committee, and serves on the board of Atchalta—a non-partisan think tank advancing social cohesion and national resilience in Israel. Originally from New York, Sinai made Aliyah with his family in 2011.
Prep Hoops |Thursday Basketball Scores
Girls' Basketball
Attica 39Oakwood 47 Caydence Vermillion hit seven three-pointers on her way to a team-high 23 points and 15 rebounds against the Red Ramblers. Gracie Hanner hauled in 11 rebounds of her own, finishing nine points and five assists for the Comets.
Armstrong 27
Unity 36
Unity 53
North Vermillion 54 Kera Dunham tallied 15 points and Nora Thomann, a freshman, contributed another 13 in the non-conference win for the Falcons. Thomann led her team with eight rebounds and three assists. Dunham credited with six steals and four assists.
St. Joseph-Ogden 29
Bishop McNamara 41 The Spartans fall in State Farm Holiday Classic action at Normal West. Senior Katie Ericksen scored three treys to lead SJO's scoring effort with nine points.
Boys' Basketball
Oakwood 37Tuscola 94
Harding Academy 52
Champaign Central 60 Maroons' Cayden Love shot 75% from the free throw line on his way to a team-high 16 points. Chris Bush and Luke Swanson nudged Central in the non-conference win with 13 points each. Love, a sophomore, collected four steals in the win.
St. Joseph-Ogden 56
Winnebago 42 Coy Taylor led SJO's scoring effort with 19 points. Tanner Siems added another 14 points and Collin Thomey chipped in 10. The trio, frequent visitors to the free throw line, made 12 of their 17 attempts.
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Outlasting a talented Tri-Valley squad, SJO basketball advances to State Farm tournament quarterfinals
BLOOMINGTON - The St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team trailed on the scoreboard for 19 minutes of their quarterfinal game against Tri-Valley (10-1) at the State Farm Holiday Classic. That was until Spartan Coy Taylor sank a field goal with 4:57 left in the game to give his team the one-point go-ahead, 41-40. Persistent and tenacious, SJO (5-3) held the late game lead to win by two 44-42 at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center on Friday.
St. Joseph-Ogden's Coy Taylor tries to dribble around El Paso-Gridley's Chancesaye Maxon during last December's small school title game at the Shirk Center. Up by two and with less than two seconds on the game clock, St. Joseph-Ogden lost the back-and-forth game 49-48, thanks to a 20-footer launched by Maxon at the buzzer.
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
One game away from making a third-consecutive appearance in the tournament's championship contest, St. Joseph-Ogden will face a familiar foe at 4:30 PM on Saturday at Normal West High School. The Spartans will be looking for revenge on El Paso-Gridley, last year's small school champs, after suffering a heart-breaking loss in a buzzer-beater at the Shirk Center last December.
More SJO sports news ~
- SJO girls fall in opener at State Farm Holiday Classic, Erickson leads scoring effort
- Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High
- 3 Spartans deliver double-digits in 14-point win over Bago at State Farm basketball tournament
Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High
BLOOMINGTON - Rebounding from their 41-29 loss to Bishop McNamara on Thursday, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team advanced forward in the consolation bracket at the State Farm Holiday Classic after holding off a huge second-half surge from Normal University to win, 36-33 on Friday. The victory guaranted SJO at least a fourth-place finish in the consolation bracket.
In an outstanding defensive effort, the Spartans held the Pioneers to just two free throws in the second quarter, taking a 22-9 lead into the locker room at the half spearheaded by senior Sara Kearney's seven points. Kearney added another bucket in the third quarter to finish game two at the tournament with a team-high nine points.
SJO got off to an explosive start thanks to a three-pointer from Addison Brooks, Kayla Osterbur, and Hayden Dahl. Brooks went on to finish with eight points, tied with Timera Blackburn-Kelley as the team's second-leading scorer. Osterbur sank another trey in the final quarter to finish with six points, rounding out the top four scorers.
Kendyl Schroeder led U-High's offensive effort with 11 points. Scoreless in the second and third quarters, Schroeder bookended the drought with six points in the first frame and five in the fourth.
The Spartans, who improved their record to six wins against seven losses, return to Normal Community High School for a 1 PM semifinal game against Rockford Lutheran.
More SJO sports news ~
More SJO sports news ~
- SJO girls fall in opener at State Farm Holiday Classic, Ericksen leads scoring effort
- Franzen leads Spartan girls at regional cross country meet, next stop sectionals for SJO
- 3 Spartans deliver double-digits in 14-point win over Bago at State Farm basketball tournament
Think a toy is unsafe? There are options available to report the potential danger to children
by Terri DeeIllinois News Connection
Don Fountain, with the law firm Clark Fountain, believes consumers' assumptions about toy reliability are not always accurate.
CHICAGO - The National Retail Federation expects people will spend nearly $989 billion by year's end on holiday shopping but the costs cannot compare to an injury or death due to unknowingly buying a faulty product. Many children's toys are manufactured in countries like China and India. In their haste to avoid possible Trump administration tariffs, a few safety steps may have been skipped before sending them to the States, said one product liability attorney. Don Fountain, with the law firm Clark Fountain, believes consumers' assumptions about toy reliability are not always accurate. "The general public has this notion that the government checks and tests all the products that we buy: 'Surely somebody has tested all these things and they're safe for my children or my family,' But in reality, that's not how it works," Fountain explained. "The government doesn't have the resources or the ability, or I don't think even the interest in doing that." The Consumer Product Safety Commission website lists thousands of unsafe or problematic items. Fountain notes complaints listed on the site are due to public grievances, not government detection. He recommends the commission's website to report or search for information about unsafe products. The Commission's November 2024 report said last year, hospital emergency rooms treated children ages 7 months to 14 years for nearly 232,000 toy-related incidents linked to choking, chemical burns or poisoning. Fountain also identified sharp or pointed objects, small pieces and moving parts on toys as hazards that could be fatal. "Pinch points are a real problem," Fountain noted. "Things where two pieces come together that can cut or pinch or trap somebody, or choke somebody. Anything that gets hot, anything that involves fire or spark or fireworks, those types of things." Research on toy safety by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund said balloons, toys with magnets, or those constructed with chemicals like lead or chromium can cause lifelong health issues. Fountain recommended taking photographs and keeping the defective product and its packaging, as well as a purchase receipt to support your case should legal action occur.
Illinois farmers await proposed Trump tariffs, questioning how they will affect their agribusiness operations
Photo: Wolfgang Eckert/Pixabay
by Terri DeeIllinois News Connection
Increased political instability on the global front and greater export competition is creating anxiety for agricultural producers.
CHICAGO - A new president will move into the White House in less than a month and Illinois farmers are questioning whether Donald Trump's tough talk on tariffs will become a reality, and how his decision will affect their livelihood.
The National Corn Growers Association said a trade war with China could reduce corn and soybean exports nationwide by millions of tons. The projection could harm Illinois farmers, in a state that is second in the nation for corn acreage.
Ben Palen, co-owner and manager of Ag Management Partners, a Denver-based sustainable agriculture advisory firm, said increased political instability on the global front and greater export competition are creating some anxiety.
"I just don't think that you can have a coherent and consistent policy for agriculture if you go from one crisis to another," Palen argued.
Last weekend's last-minute spending bill in Congress to keep the government running through mid-March includes $10 billion in one-time payments to farmers, and another $20 billion for those affected by natural disasters in the last two years.
During Trump's first term, emergency aid was sent to farmers affected by the initial trade war. But the emphasis now is a push for budget cuts, which could include rolling back billions in unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Palen looks to legislators to identify new markets for farmers to sell their crops and thinks it is not the time to dwell on trade disputes.
"I think farmers are very good at production," Palen pointed out. "It's just part of our DNA; we want to produce, produce, produce."
The most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture data for 2022, showed Illinois farms and ranches produced almost $27 billion in products, a 55% increase from 2017.
Exposing misconceptions about infant nutrition for new moms
by Tim DitmanOSF Healthcare
Photo: Jonathan Borba/PEXELS
- Breastfeeding moms generally don't need to change their diet. Drinking a caffeine-heavy drink before breastfeeding may keep your baby awake longer than normal. After drinking alcohol, wait a few hours to nurse.
- Moms can also generally stay on medication while breastfeeding. Talk to your health care provider if you have questions or if you have a medical procedure.
- If you smoke, do so after breastfeeding. Then wait a few hours to nurse again.
- Have breast milk you can't use in feeding? Use it on baby acne or in their bathwater.
Do I need to change what I put in my body while breastfeeding? This covers a lot of ground, from a mom’s diet to whether she should abstain from alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and medication.
Diet:
Healthy eating is always good. But Anderson says new moms generally don’t have to change their diet for breastfeeding. If your diet is heavy on certain things (like garlic or dairy) and you notice your baby is extra fussy, you can try changing your meals. A provider may also want to test your baby for allergies.
Alcohol and caffeine:
Drink these in moderation and with precise timing, Anderson says.
“Babies are very sensitive to caffeine. If you have a cup of coffee and nurse right away, the baby is going to be awake for a lot longer than normal,” Anderson explained.
“That doesn’t mean you have to not drink coffee. Just maybe not add three shots of espresso to your morning coffee,” she adds with a smirk.
For alcohol, Anderson says the drink will filter out of your breastmilk like it filters out of your blood. So after having a couple of alcoholic drinks, wait two to three hours before breastfeeding or pumping.
“The breastmilk isn’t ruined. You just need to give it time,” Anderson says.
But here’s a lifehack if mom feels full of breast milk and wants to pump right after having a drink: Go ahead and pump, and use the milk on your baby’s acne or in their bathwater. Just keep it away from their mouth.
“It’s antimicrobial. It’s antibacterial. It’s moisturizing,” Anderson says, singing the praises of breast milk. “Our babies are in the most perfect environment in the womb. Once they’re born, their world is cold, dark and dry. They can get dry skin, acne or cradle cap [greasy or flaky spots on the scalp]. Breast milk is a great way to prevent or heal those things.”
Medication and other health care issues:
Anderson says most medication is safe to use while breastfeeding. In fact, it’s important to stay the course – for example, with mental health medication – so you can be the best mom possible. Talk with your health care provider if you have questions.
If you have a medical procedure, also get advice from a professional. For example, Anderson says if you get a hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan for a gallbladder concern, you’ll be radioactive for around 24 hours. Don’t breastfeed during that time. Or if your breasts feel full and you have to pump, dump the milk down the drain.
Tobacco:
Anderson admits it’s tough to kick the habit. But she reminds moms: infants are very sensitive to nicotine. It can disrupt the child’s sleep and feeding and even interfere with organ development. Secondhand smoke can increase the risk of a respiratory infection and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
If you’re smoking with a new baby at home, do so after breastfeeding, then wait two to three hours before nursing again. Wear one jacket while smoking so you don’t get an odor or residue on a lot of your clothes or the baby.
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