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always say: “Don’t behave yourself,” and next year be at the same time and place at our events.

See you at my programs! Roman Fridman

Yehuda Lebovits,

Executive Director

It is bitter sweet to announce that Ro-man will be transitioning into a three work day semi-retirement this month. Music is an integral part of the life of Park Plaza thanks to the work of Roman. We will continue maintaining all of our musical programs by bringing in addi-tional musicians. We wish Roman only the best in semi-retirement. Thank you to our residents, families and friends for another wonderful Passover. We specifically want to thank our hard working and dedicated staff for their work in making this year’s Passover a massive success: Chef Sam and our kitchen and wait staff. They did a tre-mendous job in preparing and serving food for all of our residents and guests. Thanks to Selvin and his maintenance staff for setting up our spaces, and keep-ing our building running smoothly. Thanks to Leticia and the housekeepers for preparing all of our guest rooms and keeping our building looking immacu-late. Finally, thank you to our office and administrative team for their hard work

May 2015 Volume 7, Issue 5

Seymour Abrams,

Chairman

On behalf of the Board of Directors we would like to acknowledge Roman Frid-man for his 25 years of service to the North west home. We congratulate him on this new phase of life. Another Passo-ver has come and gone. What a joyous thing it was, to spend time with family and friends. It felt as good as a Passover from our childhoods. Next year, we should all spend another enjoyable Passo-ver together at Park Plaza in good health. As spring arrives, the weather is getting nicer and more enjoyable. Make sure to get some fresh air, sit outdoors and enjoy the beautiful park. Seymour Abrams

SPEICIAL MESSAGE FROM ROMAN My dear residents of Park Plaza! Beginning May 1, 2015, I am transitioning to part time at Park Plaza since I will be turning sixty-five this month and I wish to have more time to spend with my family. I will be working three days a week: Mon-day, Wednesday and Friday. I will contin-ue leading programs and perform for you. During the past seven years working for Park Plaza which is part of my twenty-five years working for the Northwest Home I have felt a special attachment to all of you and will continue to do my best to bring you joy, satisfaction and relaxation through music and personal attention. As I

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in organizing and running all the events. This month, the celebrations continue with Mother’s Day, Jerusalem Day, Shavu-ot, and Memorial Day. Please join us for a high tea and concert, on May 10th at 2:30pm in honor of Mother’s Day. We look forward to celebrating our beautiful mothers together. We are coming up on the home stretch of our bathroom renovations. The South and West wings have been completed, and all residents from these wings have returned to their permanent apartments. Renova-tions on the East wing (Apartments 601-609, 501-509, 401-410) have started. We are now in the process of moving the 3rd and 2nd floors of the East Wing. Adina will be contacting residents and families to coordinate their temporary moves. Renovations last about 3-6 weeks. Approximately around mid-June, our ad-ministrative and medical offices will be moving into the new West Wing Addition. Construction will then be moving towards the lobby. Be prepared for some noise and a few detours as our crews work swiftly to complete the remodel. If you have questions about this next phase of the renovation please contact Yehuda. We ask for everyone’s patience

Looking Back

PARK PLAZA WELCOMES NEW RESIDENTS TO OUR COMMUNITY

Please welcome the following new residents to Park Plaza:

Aron and Miriam Chen Robert Schuffler Salomon Amar Beverly Rubin

and cooperation as we move towards completion. We will keep everyone ap-prised of new changes that could occur during this last phase of construction. This past April we remembered the trage-dy of the Holocaust, and honored our res-idents who survived its perils:

Sylvia Applebaum Guta Berneman Hilda Braun Leo Braun Aaron Chen Miriam Chen Phyllis Dicker David Figman Sylvia Fishman Larry Heimlich (A’H) Sigy Liker Miriam Loterstein Lonia Mosak Toby Nudelman

Aron Pogos Anni Rodin Sam Rosen Bella Rubin Cyrla Sauerhaft Margot Schlesinger Barbara Steiner Magda Sternberg Michael Volkman Sheva Wakschlag Helen Weitzberg Gershon Young Clara Zenner Bracha Zlotnick

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5/3/2015 7:00 PM Allan Kaye Pianist with Singer Ralph Wilder 5/7/2015 7:00 PM Jeff Winter Guitarist and Singer 5/7/2015 11:15AM Outing to Spertus Museum with Roxanne Abrams 5/10/2015 2:30PM Mother’s Day High Tea 5/10/2015 3:00 PM Mother's Day Concert featuring Shirley Todd 5/12/2015 5:00PM Mexican Theme Dinner 5/14/2015 2:15 AM The Israeli Documentary “Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front” 5/14/2015 7:15 PM Mike Basin Piano/Accordion 5/17/2015 Jerusalem Day 5/17/2015 7:15 PM Aaron Burnstein with Ruby Harris Guitar/Singer 5/18/2015 2:30PM Jerusalem Day Musical Program 5/21/2015 7:15 PM Health Lecture with Dr. Douglas Steinberg 5/21/2015 Outing to Horseshoe Casino 5/23/2015 Holiday of Shavuot begins at sundown 5/24/2015 First Day of Shavuot 5/25/2015 11:00AM YIZKOR– Second Day of Shavuot 5/25/2015 Memorial Day 5/26/2015 2:30PM Roman’s Memorial Day Sing-a-long 5/27/2015 2:30PM Birthday Party 5/28/2015 7:15 PM Joanne Stein, “Life as Jewban– The Jewish Community of Cuba Today” 5/31/2015 7:15 PM Mike Omara

Summer is coming quickly and we have a lot to look forward to:

Prom Annual Family Ice Cream Social

Spelling Bee Chicago River Boat Tour

Outing to Chicago Botanic Gardens

Mark Your Calendars: May Events

Looking Forward

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Park Plaza will accept any current maga-zines for our library. Residents and fami-lies, who have magazines to donate, can leave them with our front desk staff. Thank you to Clara Kornfeld for this idea. PARK PLAZA’S MONTHLY FESTIVE THEMED DINNERS We hope you are en-joying our monthly themed eating experi-ences at Park Plaza. This month’s Mexican Themed Dinner will take place on May 13th. Please let Executive Chef Sam know what culinary tastes you would like to see and we will do our best to feature them on our menu for everyone to taste and en-joy. PARK PLAZA’S UNITED ZIONIST ORGANI-ZATION (“UZO”) comprised of Hadassah, Na’Amat, ARTZA and AMIT meets monthly. This month’s UZO is May 14th at 2:15PM and will feature the Israeli Documentary “Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front” If you want to socialize while supporting and sharing your love for the State of Isra-el, come for these fun, entertaining, and educational meeting events. Refreshments provided. Watch our bulletin boards and weekly activity sheets for upcoming pro-grams. AM YISROEL CHAI! WE LOVE HEARING YOUR SUGGESTIONS. If you have an activity, outing, or program idea, please contact Roman our Activity Director, Adina or Rabbi Falk.

We are excited to bring you new outings and activities in 2015 as well as some old favorites. Sign-up sheets for outings will be placed in the transportation book at the front desk as soon as dates are final-ized. Look for these exciting events in your weekly schedule and announcements! If you have an activity, outing, or program idea, please contact Roman our Activity Director, Adina or Rabbi Falk.

CURRENT EVENTS Do you enjoy discussing news and cur-rent events? Then join us for Park Plaza’s new Current Events group. We are excit-ed to have Mayer Sherman, Professor June Sochen, Leah Polin, Charlotte Glass and Regine Schelessinger for our current events series. Current Events is held on Sundays at 3:00pm on the 2nd Floor. TALKS AND TALES WITH ADINA Interested in sharing stories and stimu-lating discussion? Please join Adina for Talks and Tales every Monday at 10:30am in Room 100. Each week we will share in refreshments and have different topics, stories and conversation. Anyone can join at any time! See You There! HEALTH LECTURE SERIES AT PARK PLAZA- This month’s Health Lecture, is given by audiologist Dr. Douglas Steinberg. His lec-ture on hearing will take place at 7:15PM on May 21st. We look forward to seeing you there.

Park Plaza News

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THANK YOU TO LAST MONTH’S GUEST RABBIS, SPEAKERS, AND PERFORMERS. Rabbi Shaanan Gelman, Carlebach Combo Band, Mrs. Marsha Smagly, Eli Wald, Elise Ginsparg, Cantor Pavel Roytman, Violinist Alex Kofman and Pianist Gail Mangurten of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, Brett Walkow, Rabbi Shlomo Pontos, Rabbi Dov Lerner, Ira Clair and Family, Rabbi Michael Myers, Mayer Sherman, Bane Djorjevic, Nicolae Feraru, Rabbi Aaron Kraft, Podia-trist Dr. Robert Cohen, Bais Yaakov High School, Bob Schwartz, Thomas Mesa and Pianist Shirley Trissel, Council Cues Choir from the National Council of Jewish Wom-en, Lubavitch Girls High School, Ruby Harris, Tanya Melamed, Pianist An-drei Chuyko, Dina Zimmerman VOLUNTEERS, DONATIONS, AND SPON-SORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME AT PARK PLAZA Thank you to Hersholt and Leah Rosman for their donation to the syna-gogue. Thank you to the family of Sylvia Ray for the flowers that were on display in the greeting area. Thank you to the Miller Family for their generous donation in memory of Rita Wind. Thank you to Hel-en Berger and Roslyn Pressner for their donations in memory of Rabbi Jack Frank. Thank you to Les and Ethel Sutker for their generous donation; and Evalynn Green-berg and Maureen Berger for their dona-tions in memory of Larry Heimlich. If you would like to volunteer, make a do-nation, sponsor a program in honor or in memory of a special person, or special oc-casion, there are plenty of opportunities at Park Plaza. Contact Yehuda for more in-formation.

Resident Recognition

Someone You Should Know Margot Schlesinger

Margot Schlesinger moved to Park Plaza last year. She has been a fixture in the West Rog-ers Park neighborhood for over 50 years, along with her late husband Chaskel Schle-singer. Her story of survival is a unique and incredible tale, one that she has told many times. Like many holocaust survivors, she didn’t just survive one single peril, but a long string of many. She says her life was saved 25 times; and having her name on Schindler’s List was just one of those. Be-cause she was saved, she was able to help save others. She quotes the old adage in Jewish Law, “If you save one life, you save the whole world.” Margot, her husband ,and three daughters emigrated to the U.S. in 1953 and reunited with her brothers and sister. She and Chaskel worked hard to raise their daughters and instill them with a strong education. Margot kept busy after her husband passed in 1999, but decided to move to Park Plaza last year. Margot expressed her love for Park Plaza; she enjoys being close to family and friends, and having all the amenities that Park Plaza provides.

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Dear Park Plaza, Amazing! I am writing to let you know how much we appreciate everything you did to make our family Pesach wonderful. My father, Leon Gutman, was surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and the joy on his face was unbelievable. You really made this all pos-sible for him and for our family.The chil-dren could sit at the Seder table and share their homemade school projects with my father (their Haggadahs and their Seder plates and their kiddish cups). And my fa-ther could hear them sing the Ma Nishtanah a hundred times. The children were able to share a closeness with their great grandfather and he was able to share complete Nachas from these chil-dren. I also want to thank all the dining room staff. They were wonderful and always cheerful and friendly. They really made the meals a very special part of the day. We were all so impressed with the won-derful life Park Plaza provides for the resi-dents. The apartments are beautiful, the davening was beautiful, the food was deli-cious, the staff is so kind. The enormous array of activities really enhances every-one's lives. Park Plaza is truly an impres-sive place. I recognize the tremendous effort it takes to organize all the details of this visit, es-pecially on Pesach. Please know that we appreciate all the effort that you and all the people at Park Plaza put into planning our visit and our Pesach with my father.

What People Are Saying

Families are encouraged to join

their loved ones and celebrate their

birthdays. We celebrate during

lunch on the day of a resident’s

birthday and at our monthly

Birthday Party. May we all

celebrate many more birthdays

together in good health and

happiness.

Happy Birthday to our dear

residents and neighbors.

We hope you enjoyed your

very special birthday.

Sylvia Cember May 5th Dennis Klein May 7th Rosalind Taragin May 10th Sylvia Applebaum May 15th Sheva Wakschlag May 15th June Alter May 22nd Leon Gutman May 25th Leo Braun May 25th We will be celebrating all May resident birthdays on Wednesday the 27th at

2:30p.m.

Happy Birthday

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My grandchildren told me they want to live at Park Plaza! With much gratitude, Naomi Samet

PARK PLAZA’S RABBI This year there are three events of Jewish significance in May. The Hebrew months of Iyar and

Sivan occur during May. The first date is Lag B’Omer. Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer time period between the hol-idays of Passover and Shavuot. On this day we mark the cessation of the divinely sent plague that occurred during the Omer period among Rabbi Akiva’s many students for not showing proper respect for one another. Lag B’Omer this year is Thursday, May 7th. The second date of significance is Yom Yerushalayim / Jerusalem Day. This day marks the anniversary of the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, and the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty following the Six Day War in 1967. This year Jerusalem Day occurs on Sunday, May 17th, and we will be celebrating the day with an exciting musical program on Monday, May 18th.The third date of Jewish significance is the holiday of Shavuot. Shavuot begins the evening of Saturday, May 23rd and ex-tends through the night of Monday, May 25th. The name of the holiday of Shavuot means “weeks.” The holiday comes at the conclusion of counting seven weeks of the Omer, starting from the second day of Passover. The central event in the history of the Jewish people that we commemo-rate on Shavuot is the receiving of the To-rah at Mount Sinai. On Shavuot, we strive to re-enact this moment, and re-receive the Torah each year and declare as our an-

Mazel Tovs and Memorials

MAZEL TOV: Bernard and Muriel Finkel on the en-gagement of their grandson, and on the birth of a great-grand daughter. Ben Lebovits on the birth of a great-grandson, and the engagement of a grandson Bella and Sussman Rubin on the birth of a new great-grandchild.

IN MEMORIAM: On behalf of the entire staff at Park Plaza Retirement Center, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of:

Baruch Pelc Belle Shedlow Blanche Serota

Landon Zuckerman Larry Heimlich

Rabbi Jack Frank Clara Zenner

May their families be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Yerushalayim and know of no further sorrow.

PARK PLAZA IS UPDATING OUR EMAIL LIST and would like to send you and your loved ones a digital copy of the Park Plaza Post and our weekly activity schedule. If you would like to be added to our email list, please send your request to

Yehuda@park-plaza.org

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Columns and Contributions

tain a well-balanced diet. This means getting the proper vitamins and nutrients that the body needs to maintain a good healthy balance. One of these items in particular is very important for the heart, especially in those who are age 30 and over. Omega-3 fatty acids which can be found in fatty fish like salmon or whitefish and alpha-linolenic fatty acids which are found in plant foods like walnuts or Al-monds, help boost the immune system, reduce blood clots, and protect against heart attacks. They also increase good cholesterol (HDL) levels, lower triglyceride levels, protect arteries from plaque buildup, are anti-inflammatories, and help lower blood pressure. Even if you don’t like fish or nuts, try to add some to your diet. Other heart healthy foods that we serve are: acorn squash, blueberries, to-mato, carrots, avocado, broccoli, kidney beans, cantaloupe, asparagus, oranges, papaya, oatmeal, tuna, tofu, soy beans, sweet potato and red wine. This month is Mother’s Day! We encour-age you to invite your families to come celebrate Mother’s Day with you here at Park Plaza. Please make sure to let the front desk know if you will be having guests for any meals so we can ensure we have adequate seating. Have a great month of May! Sam Landman Executive Chef

veNismah - we will do G-d’s command-ments and we will strive to understand them. In addition to all of the holiday prayer services, we will also have special Torah learning opportunities throughout the holiday. The Yizkor memorial service will take place during the morning ser-vice of the second day of the holiday on Monday, May 25th. Wishing all of our residents and their families, good health and well-being, as well as a rich and meaningful celebration of the holiday of Shavuot, Rabbi Yitzchak Falk

PARK PLAZA’S EXECUTIVE CHEF Hello Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the slowly warming weather! Pesach is finally be-hind us! I hope everyone en-

joyed the delicious and elaborate food we served here over the holiday. Since spring is here, that means it’s almost fruit season again! So be sure to put in your request for your favorite fruit to be put on the menu. My produce repre-sentative tells me that plums will be in season very shortly, so look forward to seeing more fresh plums followed by peaches and nectarines. Expect our can-taloupe and honeydew to be sweeter and juicier towards the end of the month. We have been making Thursday dinners our Heart healthy dinner. We try to incor-porate foods that promote heart health. It is very important for all of us to main-

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redness or sores. Deeper toe boxes, soft inserts that support your arch or even a custom made insert is very important. And get your yearly free shoes from Med-icare if you are diabetic! Everyone should alternate the shoes they wear daily and if your feet have de-creased sensation; turn the shoes over before you put them on in case some-thing has fallen in the shoe. Walking on a foreign object all day will cause a sore by day’s end and you may not even feel it because of poor sensation! If your feet hurt…come see us for recom-mendations and foot therapy. Happy feet make happy people! Your therapy team at RPI

ISAC KAPULSKI REBIRTH By Isac H. Kapulski

At a time when nature seems to have gone into hibernation, when humans and all sorts of creatures seek shelter from the relentless and merciless cold and wind that penetrates the very mar-row of our bones, causing shivers enough to make us tremble for what may seem to be an eternity… …and while covering ourselves with layer upon layer of clothing, we seek the com-fort of warmth that slowly starts to permeate throughout our body, we go on reminiscing of the glorious and warm days that keep marching on at the end of spring, ushering the arrival of summertime, which we await with great

THE WELLNESS CORNER: Warm weather is slowly ap-proaching, which brings a smile to all of us as the sun

shines and we get to go out for a breath of fresh air. Remember to stay hydrated while sitting outside under the sun and al-ways apply sun screen to protect your skin and prevent complications from sun dam-age. Feel free to stop by the wellness center and have your blood pressure checked be-tween 1:00-2:00PM Monday through Fri-day. Annette Fontanez RN, BSN

RPI THERAPY Walking Well There are many factors that affect how we walk, but let’s think about your shoes

which have a major role in determining your gait. Simply stated, they affect your feet and ankles which in turn affect your knees, hips and low back. If your shoes fit poorly or if you have pain-ful bunions, neuromas or callouses, you will change the way you walk which can throw off your balance and even make your body work harder than it needs to. Slip on shoes increase your fall risk be-cause you step in such a way to keep those shoes on. Always wear a shoe with a back; even in the summer. Anyone with diabetes, neuropathy, poor circulation, hammer and claw toes need to pay attention to the shoe’s fit and visu-ally check your feet for skin breakdown

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expectations… …we envision the appearances of blue and sunny skies, the chirping of newborn chicks; the first blossoms of what hope-fully will become a kaleidoscope of beau-tifully mesmerizing colors and hues that will dress up nature as it awakens from its long winter slumber… …A sense of delightful and inspirational hope seems to inundate our souls and being, and, as if looking through a virtual crystal ball, we seek to take a peek at the latent and pregnant possibil-ities of a rebirth of expectations…a desire for perhaps, this time, as the buds blossom into a bountiful cache of beauti-ful flowers, our dreams will once again be transformed into reality… …we envision parks, playgrounds, back-yards, gardens, replenishing their green mantle of newly-sprouted grass blades; multi-colored butterflies flutter-ing in the air – even fireflies flickering as darkness descends, welcoming the night… We eagerly await, perhaps this time, the unfolding of the Sukkat Shalom – The Tabernacle of Peace that will ultimately engulf our entire planet; We anxiously and deeply inhale all of our aspirations for a better world and hope to exhale the product that simmers in our souls, an era that will eventually and ultimately lead us to that long-awaited Tikkun Olam - a better world - healed, renewed and exuberantly reinvigorat-ed…

JEWISH HUMOR Morah Rachel is reading her class the sto-ry of Chicken Little. She gets to the part where Chicken Little tries to warn the farmer. “So Chicken Little went over to the farmer and said, ‘The sky is falling, the sky is falling.” Morah Rachel then asks her class, “What do you think the farmer said?” Little Moshe raises his hand. “I think he said, ‘I can’t believe it! A talking chicken!”

SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM NAOMI This month I will be departing Chicago to move to Austin, Texas. It has been a pleas-ure to work here at Park Plaza over the last year and a half. I am eternally grateful for the experience I have gained here, but more importantly for all the people that I have come to know and love. Thank you all for making Park Plaza a wonderful place to work.

Happy Mother’s DayHappy Mother’s Day

From Park Plaza From Park Plaza

Happy Jerusalem Day

From Park Plaza

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Park Plaza Services

NOTARY SERVICES AT PARK PLAZA If you have documentation you need no-tarized, no need to go out. Our very own resident Isac Kapulski is a notary and will notarize you documents at no charge. Have your state I.D. or drivers license ready and he will gladly assist by notariz-ing your documents. Isac is only available for notarizing during lunch and dinner times. Please see Isac at table #18 in the side dining room.

DENTIST AT PARK PLAZA Dentist, Dr. Lisa Blumofe has been making regular monthly visits at Park Plaza. We are pleased to hear such positive feedback coming from residents who have already seen her. Dr. Blumofe is available to see patients on the third Tuesday of every month. To set up an appointment please call Dr. Blumofe at 847-660-8355.

DR. MARNI GOLDBERG Many residents see Dr. Goldberg at Park Plaza in the doctor’s office located in Room 426. To schedule an appointment or arrange a house call, please call Dr. Goldberg at 847-674-2251.

CHICAGO MITZVAH CAMPAIGN COMPLI-MENTARY HOSPITAL VAN SERVICE In addition to our Park Plaza van service, the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign will pro-vide residents with round trip transporta-tion to St. Francis, Evanston and Skokie doctor’s office adjacent to the hospitals (or within a block or two of the hospital). To sign up for this complementary service, please stop by the front desk. Any ap-pointment the Mitzvah campaign can’t ac-commodate, Park Plaza will.

PARK PLAZA SHABBAT ZMIROT (SINGING) Thank you to Art Gordon for leading our Friday night Shabbat Zemirot. Continuing the lovely tradition of singing songs on the Shabbat is meaningful and enjoyable for everyone at Park Plaza. Please join us for a moving Shabbat evening.

PARK PLAZAS BEAUTY SHOP Viviana, Park Plaza’s professional beauti-cian is here every Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 am-2:30pm for haircuts, trims and shampoos, for both men and women. To schedule you appointment call Viviana at (847) 452-2941.

PARK PLAZA’S WOMEN’S TEHILLIM PRAY-ER GROUP (PSALMS) meets for a half an hour on Sundays and Tuesdays at 6:30 pm in our Movie Room (Room 504) Our women's prayer group joins tens of thou-sands of other groups around the world praying for good health, peace, and pros-perity, now more important than ever. If you have anywhere from a few minutes to a half an hour to spare, if you long to offer prayers for a personal need, or if you would like to experience the power of group prayer...in Hebrew or English, your-choice...please join us on Sundays and/or Tuesdays at 6:30p.m., room 504.

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Park Plaza Retirement Center

6840 N. Sacramento Ave.

Chicago, IL 60645

Phone: 773-465-6700

Fax: 773-465-2490

E-mail: yehuda@park-plaza.org

Park Plaza

Remembers