North Lawndale students learn about their neighborhood's Jewish heritage
CHICAGO (CBS) – More than 100 years ago, North Lawndale was predominately Jewish. On Wednesday, members of the Jewish community went to meet with young people, who now call North Lawndale home.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported, it was a day filled with education and creating unity among two communities.
Young people who live in North Lawndale and attend Herzl School of Excellence received an education in the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. In the early 1900s, North Lawndale was the heart of the Jewish community in Chicago.
"Now it is one of the beating hearts of Black Chicago, so the more we can draw these communities together, who have so much to work on together, the better we'll be in the long term," said Dan Goldwin of Jewish United Fund.
At the corner of Douglas Boulevard and Millard Avenue in North Lawndale, is the first-ever Chicago Sukkah Design Festival. Each sukkah, or hut-like structures has great importance for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The sukkahs are the temporary structures Israelites lived in, when they traveled for 40 years through the desert after the exodus from Egypt.
"It was different," said eighth grader Brandon Hightower Jr. "I never knew about this type of holiday, so for real, I liked it."
"It made me feel good because it's like you could learn about different cultures and everything, even if you're not from that culture," said Peyton Williams, a seventh grader.
After the holiday, all the sukkahs are going to be transformed into permanent structures, to be used by the community. One will be a mini museum and it's going to be housed inside historic Stone Temple Baptist Church, which was once a synagogue in North Lawndale. Stone Temple is seeking donations to help create the permanent mini museum exhibit.
Other sukkahs will be turned into a farm stand and food distribution center, another into a book nook.
Students are also joining forces with members of the Jewish community in a beautification effort in North Lawndale.
"It was good to come together from different races and pick up trash from the community," Hightower said.
"It was a great time coming out here and I made some new friends and it was a really good day today," said Khameron Moses, a fifth grader.
The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival and community clean up was the creation of the Jewish United Fund and Stone Temple Baptist Church.
"This shows unity across out city, across lines, across racial lines and we're excited about that," said Reshorna Fitzpatrick, executive pastor of Stone Temple Baptist Church. "We want to see each other as one race and that's called the human race."
The sukkah structures will be in place through Oct. 16. There will be daily events from 5 p.m. through 8 p.m. at the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival in North Lawndale.